Former Kaohsiung City Hall (Kaohsiung Museum of History)

The former Kaohsiung City Hall (旧高雄市役所, Kyū Takao Shiyakusho), now the Kaohsiung Museum of History, is a landmark Imperial Crown Style building located on the western bank of the Love River in Yancheng District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Completed in 1939, it is one of only two surviving Imperial Crown Style buildings in Kaohsiung — the other being the former Takao Station (now the Old Kaohsiung Station monument) — and ranks among the most architecturally significant colonial-era structures in all of Taiwan.

Construction and Architecture (1937–1939)

As Takao (Kaohsiung) grew rapidly during the 1930s into Japan's primary staging port for the Southern Advance (南進政策, Nanshin-ron), the colonial government determined that the expanding city administration required a grand new civic building. Construction of the new Takao City Hall began on 4 January 1937 (Shōwa 12) under the supervision of architect Ōno Yonezirō (大野米次郎) of the Shimizu Corporation (清水組, now Shimizu Corporation). The building was completed and opened on 16 September 1939.

The design exemplifies the Imperial Crown Style (帝冠様式, Teikan Yōshiki), an architectural movement that emerged in 1930s Japan as a nationalistic response to International Modernism. The style graft traditional Japanese or East Asian roof forms onto modern reinforced-concrete Western-style buildings, creating a fusion intended to convey imperial authority and cultural identity. Key architectural features include:

• Symmetrical plan: A central tower flanked by two subordinate towers on each side, producing a balanced, dignified facade
• Imperial Crown roofline: The central section rises to the maximum height, capped with a Japanese-style hipped roof (入母屋造) with ornamental tiles; the flanking towers feature similar but smaller rooflines
• Reinforced concrete construction: Designed for earthquake resistance, appropriate for Taiwan's seismic environment
• Elegant colour scheme: The exterior is painted in light green and light yellow tones, lending the building a distinctive appearance along the riverside

The building faces east toward the Love River, creating an impressive visual axis from the opposite bank. The symmetrical design with its graduated tower heights was intended to convey civic majesty and authority.

Role in Colonial Governance

Under the Japanese colonial system in Taiwan, governance was organized at multiple levels. The Governor-General of Taiwan (臺灣總督府) in Taipei oversaw the entire island, which was divided into prefectures (州, shū). Kaohsiung Prefecture (高雄州) administered a large area of southern Taiwan from the Kaohsiung Prefecture Hall (高雄州廳), a separate building completed in 1931 in a Western Romanesque style. Within the prefecture, the city of Takao had its own municipal government — the Takao City Hall (高雄市役所) — which this building housed.

Note: The Kaohsiung Prefecture Hall (高雄州廳) and the Kaohsiung City Hall (高雄市役所) were distinct institutions occupying separate buildings. The Prefecture Hall, located nearby, served as the higher-level colonial administrative organ governing the entire Kaohsiung Prefecture. After the war, the Prefecture Hall building became the Kaohsiung District Court (高雄地方法院).

Wartime Significance (1941–1945)

Kaohsiung was strategically vital to Japan's war effort as the primary port and military staging base for operations in Southeast Asia. The city housed the Takao Naval Base, major fuel depots, and industrial facilities supporting the Southern Advance. The City Hall administered wartime civilian affairs including rationing, civil defense, labor mobilization, and air-raid preparations.

From 1944, Kaohsiung became a major target of Allied air raids. On 12 October 1944, during the Formosa Air Battle (台湾沖航空戦), US carrier-based aircraft launched devastating strikes against military installations throughout Kaohsiung. The bombing intensified in 1945, with the US Fifth Air Force dropping a total of 2,559.2 tons of bombs on Kaohsiung — the heaviest bombardment of any city in Taiwan. The Yancheng district surrounding the City Hall, along with Okayama and Zuoying, suffered the most severe damage. Remarkably, the reinforced-concrete City Hall building survived the air raids intact.

Postwar History

Following Japan's surrender on 15 August 1945, the Republic of China government assumed control of Taiwan. The building was taken over and renamed as the Kaohsiung City Government office (高雄市政府). It continued to serve as the seat of municipal government for nearly five decades.

The building also witnessed the tragic events of the 228 Incident in February–March 1947, when civil unrest following a confrontation in Taipei spread to Kaohsiung. The city government building was one of the sites associated with the subsequent military crackdown. Today, the adjacent Kaohsiung 228 Peace Memorial Park commemorates these events.

On 18 January 1992, the municipal government relocated to the new Siwei Administrative Center in Lingya District. After renovation, the former City Hall reopened on 25 October 1998 as the Kaohsiung Museum of History (高雄市立歷史博物館), becoming Taiwan's first history museum operated by a municipal government.

In 2004, the building was officially designated as a Kaohsiung Municipal Historic Site (市定古蹟), recognizing its architectural and historical significance. The museum today features permanent and rotating exhibitions on Kaohsiung's history from prehistoric times through the colonial era, wartime period, and modern democratic era. An English audio guide provides interpretation of WW2 history and Japan's wartime use of the port city.