Hayashi Department Store

Hayashi Department Store (林百貨, also known as "Hayashi Hyakkaten" or colloquially as "Five-Story Building" / 五棧樓仔) was the first department store in Tainan and the second in all of Taiwan when it opened on December 5, 1932. Located in Suehiro-cho (末廣町), at what is now the corner of Zhongzheng and Zhongyi Roads, in the most fashionable commercial district of colonial-era Tainan — often called the city's "Ginza" — the store was founded by Hayashi Hōichi (林方一), a businessman from Yamaguchi Prefecture who died only five days after the opening, and designed by architect Umezawa Sutejiro (梅澤捨次郎).

The reinforced concrete building — popularly the "five-story building", though it has a smaller sixth level — was the tallest building in Tainan at the time and featured the first elevator in southern Taiwan (popularly called a "liu-long", 流籠), modern Art Deco architectural styling, and a rooftop garden with the Suehiro Shrine (末廣社), a small Shinto shrine installed in 1933. The store represented the height of colonial modernity and consumer culture in southern Taiwan.

During World War II, the building's prominence made it a target. As the tallest structure in central Tainan, it was struck during American air raids in 1945. The top floor was subsequently used for anti-aircraft operations. Bullet holes and bomb damage from these raids remain visible on the building's exterior walls and rooftop to this day, preserved as historical evidence of the war's impact on Taiwan.

After Japan's surrender in 1945, the damaged building was taken over by the Republic of China government. It served various functions including offices for the Taiwan Salt Factory and the Salt Police. The building gradually fell into disuse and deterioration over the following decades.

In 1998, Hayashi Department Store was designated a Municipal Heritage Site (市定古蹟) by the Tainan City Government. Major restoration work began in 2010 and was completed in 2013, carefully preserving the building's original Art Deco facade, the rooftop Suehiro Shrine, the historic elevator shaft, and the wartime damage marks. The store reopened to the public on June 14, 2014 as a cultural creative department store, with Tainan Mayor William Lai presiding over the ceremony. It now houses local crafts, cultural products, and exhibitions showcasing Tainan's history and farming culture, and has become one of the most visited heritage tourism destinations in southern Taiwan.