Taipei Sake Factory (Huashan 1914 Creative Park)

The Taipei Sake Factory (台北酒工場) was founded in 1914 during the Japanese colonial period when businessmen Abe Sanan and Fujimoto Tetsuji established the Nihon Hōjō Kabushiki Kaisha (日本芳釀株式會社) — a private winery producing sake, Butterfly Orchid wine (蝴蝶蘭酒), and ginseng wine. The enterprise grew rapidly from a small operation into one of Taiwan's leading alcohol producers, employing over 400 workers at its peak.

In 1922, the Taiwan Governor-General's Office incorporated alcohol into the colonial monopoly system. Unable to compete with the state monopoly, the private company was first temporarily requisitioned and then fully acquired by the Monopoly Bureau. The facility was renamed the Monopoly Bureau Taipei Sake Factory (専売局台北酒工場). Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the factory expanded significantly, adding fermentation halls, warehouses, bottling facilities, and a distinctive industrial chimney that still stands today. The red-brick buildings constructed during this era exemplified Japanese colonial industrial architecture designed for Taiwan's humid subtropical climate.

During World War II, the factory's role shifted to support the war effort. While continuing to produce sake, rice wine, and fruit wines for civilian and military consumption, the factory also manufactured industrial alcohol (工業用アルコール) derived from cassava and other materials for military applications. This industrial alcohol was critical for the production of synthetic fuels, solvents, and other wartime necessities. The factory operated at increased capacity throughout the war years to meet escalating military demand.

Following Japan's surrender in 1945, the Republic of China government took over the facility, renaming it the Taiwan Province Monopoly Bureau Taipei Wine Factory (臺灣省專賣局台北酒工廠). In 1949 it became the Taipei First Winery of the Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Monopoly Bureau. The factory continued producing rice wine, fruit wines, and the famous Taibai Liquor (太白酒) made from cassava. From the mid-1950s it developed fruit wines and became known as a fruit wine factory. In 1987, due to urban expansion, pollution concerns, and rising land values, the factory relocated to a new plant in Guishan, Taoyuan.

After a decade of abandonment, artists began occupying the derelict buildings in 1997, sparking a preservation movement. From 1999 the site was run as the Huashan Arts District (華山藝文特區); the Council for Cultural Affairs later took it over, and after a year's closure for renovation it reopened at the end of 2005 as the Huashan Creative Park, operating since December 2007 under the name Huashan 1914 Creative Park (華山1914文化創意產業園區). Today, the park preserves numerous original Japanese-era industrial buildings — including warehouses, the assembly hall, fermentation rooms, and the iconic chimney — while serving as one of Taipei's premier venues for art exhibitions, performances, film screenings, and creative industries. The site was designated a municipal historic monument, recognizing its significance as a tangible link to Taiwan's colonial industrial heritage.