Tainan Prefecture Office

The Tainan Prefecture Office (台南州廳, Tainan Shūchō) was constructed between 1913 and 1916 under the direction of architect Moriyama Matsunosuke (森山松之助), one of the most influential architects of Japanese-ruled Taiwan. Moriyama, a student of the renowned Tatsuno Kingo, served as a technician in the Governor-General's Office Construction Division and designed several of Taiwan's most iconic colonial buildings, including the Taiwan Governor-General's Office (now the Presidential Office Building) and the Taichung Prefecture Office.

The ridge-raising ceremony was held on October 11, 1913, the building was completed in 1915, and it was officially inaugurated on May 20, 1916, when the Tainan Government Office (台南廳) relocated into the new structure. Between 1918 and 1920, two wings were added to the original V-shaped floor plan. The building employed a Late Renaissance architectural style with a European-Japanese fusion, featuring a tall Mansard roof, a prominent corner entrance portal with ornate columns and a balcony above, and cylindrical watchtowers positioned at each turning point along both wings. The façade combined brick, stone, and pebbledash to create a distinctive blend of modern and classical European aesthetics.

As the seat of the Tainan Prefectural Government, the building administered one of the largest prefectures in colonial Taiwan, overseeing the southern region that encompassed present-day Tainan, Chiayi, and Yunlin. The prefectural governor (知事) held supreme administrative authority over the region from this building.

On March 1, 1945, the Great Tainan Air Raid (台南大空襲) brought devastation to the city. The U.S. Army 5th Air Force dispatched two bombardment groups of B-24 Liberators: the 22nd Bombardment Group struck first with 500-pound general-purpose bombs, followed in the afternoon by the 43rd Bombardment Group dropping 500-pound incendiary bombs over the city center. The Tainan Prefecture Office, located in the heart of the administrative district, took direct hits. The incendiary bombs ignited the building's wooden interior and Mansard roof structure, which burned completely. The watchtower roofs, all wooden structural components, and interior furnishings were destroyed, leaving only the masonry outer walls and columns standing as a hollow shell. Other major landmarks damaged in the same raid included the Governor-General's Tainan Hospital, the Tainan Confucius Temple, and the Hayashi Department Store (林百貨).

After Japan's surrender, the burnt-out shell stood derelict for about four years. In 1949 it was given basic repairs — with a simple pitched roof — for the Republic of China Air Force Supply Command, which handed it over to the Tainan City Government in 1969. It served as Tainan City Hall for 28 years, from September 1969 until October 1997, when the city government relocated to the Anping District. The building was designated a municipal monument in 1998 and a National Monument in November 2003.

A comprehensive restoration project was undertaken to return the building to its original 1916 appearance while adapting it for museum use. The restoration, led by architect Chen Po-sen (陳柏森), carefully reconstructed the destroyed Mansard roof, watchtowers, and interior spaces based on historical photographs, original blueprints, and archaeological investigation. The restored building incorporated both the historic structure and sympathetic new construction, creating a seamless dialogue between old and new.

The National Museum of Taiwan Literature (國立臺灣文學館) officially opened on October 17, 2003, becoming Taiwan's first national museum dedicated to the literary arts. Operated by the Ministry of Culture, the museum researches, catalogs, preserves, and exhibits Taiwanese literary artifacts spanning indigenous oral traditions, classical Chinese literature, Japanese-era writing, and contemporary Taiwanese literature. The museum houses approximately 130,000 items in its collection.

The building stands as a remarkable example of colonial architectural preservation and adaptive reuse, bearing witness to Taiwan's complex history under Japanese rule, the devastation of American strategic bombing, and the island's post-war cultural renaissance. The scars of the 1945 air raid, though carefully restored, remain an integral part of the building's layered historical narrative.