Taiwan Nichinichi Shinpō (Taiwan Daily News)

The Taiwan Nichinichi Shinpō (臺灣日日新報, literally "Taiwan Daily Daily News") began publication on May 6, 1898, during the early years of Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan. It was created through the merger of two existing newspapers — the Taiwan Shinpō (臺灣新報) and the Taiwan Nippō (臺灣日報) — under the initiative of businessman Moriya Zenbei (守屋善兵衛) with strong support from Governor-General Kodama Gentarō. The newspaper quickly became the most authoritative publication on the island.

The newspaper's headquarters was located at Sakaemachi 4-chōme 32 (榮町四丁目32番地) in Taipei, corresponding to the present-day intersection of Zhonghua Road and Hengyang Road in Zhongzheng District. The original two-story brick building was completed in January 1908 (Meiji 41), designed by architect Kondō Jurō. The Sakaemachi district was the commercial heart of colonial Taipei, often compared to Tokyo's Ginza, making it a prestigious location for the colony's most important newspaper.

Throughout its existence, the Taiwan Nichinichi Shinpō published in both Japanese and Classical Chinese. From 1905 to 1911, a separate Chinese-language edition called the Kanbun Taiwan Nichinichi Shinpō (漢文臺灣日日新報) was published; before and after that, Chinese-language pages were carried within the Japanese edition until they were abolished in April 1937. The newspaper served multiple functions: it printed the official Government Gazette (府報) and the gazettes of both Taipei and Hsinchu prefectures, reaching a peak daily circulation of about 50,000 copies.

During the wartime period, the Taiwan Nichinichi Shinpō played a central role in the imperial propaganda apparatus. It actively promoted the Kōminka (皇民化) movement — the forced Japanization of Taiwanese people — and mobilized public support for the war effort. The newspaper published patriotic editorials, reported on military campaigns with imperial perspective, and suppressed dissenting voices. As wartime paper rationing and government controls intensified, on April 1, 1944, the Governor-General's Office merged the Taiwan Nichinichi Shinpō with five other newspapers into a single publication, the Taiwan Shinpō (臺灣新報), ending 46 years of continuous publication.

After Japan's defeat in August 1945, the former Taiwan Nichinichi Shinpō infrastructure was reorganized into the Taiwan Shin Sheng Daily News (臺灣新生報) under the new Chinese Nationalist administration. The original Sakaemachi building was eventually demolished during postwar urban redevelopment, and a modern commercial building now occupies the site. The newspaper's vast archives, spanning nearly half a century of colonial Taiwan's political, social, and cultural life, are now recognized as invaluable primary sources for historical research.