Meiji Bridge Site (Zhongshan Bridge)

The Meiji Bridge (明治橋, Meiji-bashi) was one of the most symbolically and architecturally significant structures of colonial Taiwan. Spanning the Keelung River between present-day Yuanshan and Jiantan in Taipei's Zhongshan District, it served as the final and most dramatic element of the ceremonial approach to the Taiwan Grand Shrine (臺灣神社), the highest-ranking Shinto institution in the colony.

The first bridge at this location was completed in 1901 (Meiji 34), coinciding with the founding of the Taiwan Shrine itself. This initial structure was a Western-style iron truss bridge, functional but architecturally modest. Following the devastating 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, which demonstrated the vulnerability of iron structures, the colonial Government-General of Taiwan decided to replace it with a more earthquake-resistant design. Construction of the new bridge began in 1930 and was completed in 1933 (Showa 8). The rebuilt Meiji Bridge was a reinforced concrete arch bridge of exceptional elegance — 120 meters in total length with a 10-meter-wide central roadway flanked by 3.5-meter pedestrian paths on each side. Its granite railings were quarried from Tokuyama in Yamaguchi Prefecture, and pairs of ornamental bronze lamp columns adorned the bridge entrances. The graceful three-arch profile reflected in the waters of the Keelung River became one of colonial Taipei's most iconic images.

The bridge's cultural significance extended beyond its architectural beauty. In April 1923, Crown Prince Hirohito crossed the Meiji Bridge during his visit to Taiwan, reportedly admiring the river scenery. In the 1927 selection of Taiwan's Eight Scenic Spots (臺灣八景) organised by the Taiwan Nichinichi Shimpō, Taiwan Shrine was named one of two special "bekkaku" (別格) sites ranked apart from the eight. As the gateway to the Taiwan Shrine — the spiritual center of Japanese colonial authority — the bridge served as a powerful symbol of imperial presence, crossed by governors-general, imperial envoys, and countless worshippers making their way to the shrine.

After Japan's surrender, the bridge was renamed Zhongshan Bridge (中山橋) after Sun Yat-sen in 1946, when the approach road became Zhongshan North Road. In 1968, the distinctive granite railings and bronze lamp columns were removed and the deck was widened from 17 to 23 meters to accommodate increasing traffic, fundamentally altering the bridge's historic appearance. By the late 1990s, the aging bridge had become a focal point in debates over flood control along the Keelung River, with engineers arguing that its low arches impeded floodwater discharge.

After Typhoon Nari flooded Taipei in September 2001, Mayor Ma Ying-jeou announced in February 2002 that the bridge would be registered as a historic building and relocated after that year's flood season. Despite vigorous protests from heritage advocates, dismantling began on December 20, 2002, and the bridge was systematically taken apart and cut into 435 numbered stone and concrete segments. The components were transported to a storage site along the Keelung River (the former Zaichun swimming pool site) with official promises of future reconstruction at a new location. As of 2026, more than two decades after dismantling, the bridge components remain in open-air riverside storage — exposed to the elements, overgrown with moss, and visited only by occasional heritage researchers. No reconstruction site has been confirmed, making the Meiji Bridge one of Taiwan's most poignant examples of contested colonial heritage.