All historic sites
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217 sites · page 5 of 10
Basianshan Forest Station
八仙山林場
One of Taiwan's Three Great Forest Areas (三大林場) during the Japanese colonial period, alongside Alishan and Taipingshan. Operated from 1915 to 1963 in Heping District, Taichung, the station extracted massive quantities of valuable Taiwanese cypress (hinoki) and camphor timber through an extensive 99-kilometer railway network. During WWII, operations were taken over by the Taiwan Development Corporation (台灣拓殖株式會社) and timber output peaked at 43,000 cubic meters in 1943 to meet wartime military and industrial demands. Now preserved as the Basianshan National Forest Recreation Area.
Batongguan Traversing Trail (Japanese Era)
八通関越嶺道（日本統治時代）
A 125-kilometer mountain patrol road built by the Japanese colonial government across Taiwan's Central Mountain Range between 1919 and 1921, connecting Nantou and Hualien. Constructed under armed police escort to control indigenous Bunun communities, the trail featured dozens of police stations and fortified positions. It now lies within Yushan National Park and is maintained as a historic hiking route.
Beitou Museum (Kazan Ryokan)
佳山旅館（北投文物館）
Originally built in 1921 as the Kazan Ryokan, a premier Japanese hot-spring inn in colonial Taiwan, this building is said to have served as a Japanese military officers' club during WWII and to have hosted kamikaze pilots for their final meals before missions. Now the Beitou Museum, it is one of Taiwan's finest preserved two-story wooden Japanese structures and a designated historic monument.
Beitou Public Bathhouse (Beitou Hot Spring Museum)
北投温泉公共浴場（北投温泉博物館）
The Beitou Hot Spring Museum, originally built in 1913 as the Hokutō Public Bathhouse — described as the largest and most lavish public bathhouse of its day, and often called the largest in East Asia — served multiple roles during the Japanese colonial era in Taiwan. During the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05), the Imperial Japanese Army established a convalescent hospital in Beitou for wounded soldiers, and throughout the colonial period the hot spring district functioned as a rest and recuperation area for military personnel, government officials, and elites. During WWII, inns in Beitou are said to have hosted kamikaze pilots for their final meals, and wounded soldiers were treated in the district. Some accounts also associate the area with wartime comfort stations (慰安所). After decades of neglect following Japan's withdrawal in 1945, the bathhouse was restored and reopened as a museum in 1998.
Bopiliao Historic Block
剝皮寮歴史街区
A remarkably preserved historic street in Taipei's Wanhua District, spanning the Qing Dynasty, Japanese colonial, and postwar eras. During Japanese rule, the 1905 Urban Improvement Plan (市區改正) transformed the area by opening Guangzhou Street behind the old shophouses, creating distinctive "two-faced shops" with Qing-era facades on one side and Western-influenced Japanese colonial facades on the other. Designated as school land in 1941, which inadvertently preserved the streetscape from redevelopment for decades.
Camphor Factory Ruins (Nanzhuang / Daxi)
樟脳工場跡（南庄・大渓）
Ruins and heritage sites associated with Taiwan's camphor industry in Nanzhuang (Miaoli County) and Daxi (Taoyuan). During the Japanese colonial period (1895–1945), Taiwan supplied roughly 80% of the world's camphor. The colonial government established a monopoly in 1899, with camphor bureaus in Miaoli and other mountain-adjacent prefectures. The industry's expansion into indigenous mountain territories was a primary driver of the "aboriginal pacification" (理蕃) policy, leading to violent conflicts such as the 1902 Nanzhuang Incident. Camphor was essential for manufacturing celluloid, smokeless gunpowder, and medicines, making Taiwan a strategically vital colony.
Chaozhou Airfield
潮州飛行場
A Japanese Army airfield established in the 1930s in Chaozhou Township, Pingtung County, southern Taiwan. It served as a fighter base during WWII, housing Ki-43 Hayabusa and Ki-84 Hayate fighters for the defense of southern Formosa, and was divided into two sections — Chaozhou Airfield and Chaozhou East Airfield.
Chiayi Park & Kagi Shrine Ruins
嘉義公園・嘉義神社跡
Chiayi Park, established in 1910 during the Japanese colonial period, contains the ruins of Kagi Shrine (嘉義神社), one of the three shrines in Taiwan raised to kokuhei-shōsha rank in the 1940s. The shrine was founded in 1915, elevated to kokuhei-shōsha rank in 1944, and its main hall was destroyed by fire in 1994. Its former office buildings now serve as the Chiayi City Historical Relics Museum, while stone lanterns, komainu statues, and the sandō approach path remain intact.
Chikan Tower (Former Japanese Army Garrison Hospital)
赤崁楼（旧・陸軍衛戍病院）
Originally Fort Provintia built by the Dutch East India Company in 1653, Chikan Tower in Tainan was converted into a Japanese Army Garrison Hospital (陸軍衛戍病院) after Japan began colonial rule of Taiwan in 1895. The historic fortress complex, including the Haishen Temple and Wenchang Pavilion, served military medical purposes during the Japanese period before being restored as one of Taiwan's most important national historic monuments.
Chuhuangkeng Oil Mine
出磺坑油鉱
Taiwan's earliest petroleum extraction site, where a well hand-dug in 1861 is often described as Asia's first and the world's second oil well. During the Japanese colonial period (1895–1945), the site was developed by Japanese oil companies using modern drilling technology to deepen wells and boost production. Annual crude output peaked in 1927 at about 22,830 kiloliters. Now preserved as a heritage site with the Taiwan Oil Field Exhibition Hall, it remains one of the world's oldest continuously operating oil and gas fields.
Cihou Fort & Xiongzhen North Gate
旗后砲台・雄鎮北門
Twin Qing-dynasty coastal defense fortifications guarding the entrance to Kaohsiung Harbor, built in 1875 after the Mudan Incident under the direction of Imperial Commissioner Shen Baozhen. Cihou Fort (威震天南) commanded the high ground on Qihou Mountain while Xiongzhen North Gate (雄鎮北門) covered the low approach at Shaochuantou. During the Japanese colonial period, the original Armstrong cannons were removed; in WWII the Japanese military converted the fort into an anti-aircraft battery position and added concrete bunkers. Cihou Fort is a national monument of Taiwan (since 2019) and Xiongzhen North Gate a Kaohsiung municipal monument.
Dafen Police Station Ruins
大分駐在所跡
Ruins of a remote Japanese colonial police outpost in the Bunun indigenous territory of eastern Taiwan, established in 1911 on the Batongguan Traversing Trail. Site of the 1915 Dafen Incident, which triggered 18 years of armed Bunun resistance — the longest indigenous anti-Japanese campaign in Taiwanese history.
Dihua Street (Dadaocheng)
迪化街（大稲埕・永楽町通り）
Historic commercial street in the Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area of Datong District, Taipei, Taiwan. Known as Eiraku-chō (永楽町) during the Japanese colonial period (1895–1945), the street underwent major urban improvement under Japanese rule, resulting in distinctive Baroque-style shophouse facades. It served as the commercial heart of the Taiwanese business community throughout the colonial era, trading in tea, Chinese medicinal herbs, fabrics, and dried goods. The "Ten Consecutive Buildings" (十連棟), completed in 1912, are among the best-preserved examples of Japanese colonial-era commercial architecture in Taipei. The street itself largely escaped wartime air raids, preserving its historic streetscape.
Donghe Zen Temple (Soto Zen Daihonzan Taiwan Branch)
曹洞宗大本山台灣別院（東和禪寺）
The headquarters of Soto Zen Buddhism in colonial Taiwan, established in 1908 in Taipei's Dongmen District. Originally named Soto-shu Daihonzan Taiwan Betsuin (曹洞宗大本山台灣別院), it was one of the largest Japanese Buddhist temple complexes on the island. The reinforced-concrete main hall was completed in 1923, and a distinctive bell tower combining Edo and Momoyama architectural styles was added in 1930. After 1945 the temple was renamed Donghe Zen Temple (東和禪寺). The original main hall was demolished in 1993, but the bell tower survives as a designated Taipei City historic monument, restored in 2006.
Eluanbi Lighthouse
鵝鑾鼻灯台
Built in 1883 at the southernmost tip of Taiwan, Eluanbi Lighthouse is often described as the only armed lighthouse in the world, featuring fortress walls, gun ports, a moat, and a garrison. During the Japanese colonial period (1895–1945) the lighthouse was rebuilt in 1898 and upgraded with modern equipment. It was severely damaged by American air raids during WWII and reconstructed by the Republic of China in 1947.
Ensuiko Sugar Manufacturing Co. — Xinying Sugar Factory
塩水港製糖株式会社・新営製糖所
Headquarters of the Ensuiko Sugar Manufacturing Company (鹽水港製糖株式會社), one of the 'Big Four' Japanese sugar companies in colonial Taiwan. Established in 1907 at Xinying (新營), Tainan Prefecture, the factory grew into the nerve center of an empire that operated four sugar mills, three wartime alcohol distilleries, and two refineries in the Japanese home islands. During the Pacific War, its affiliated alcohol plants produced industrial ethanol from sugarcane molasses to supplement Japan's critical fuel shortages. Heavily bombed by Allied air raids late in the war, the factory was so badly damaged that cane had to be diverted to the neighboring Kishiuchi (岸內) mill. Taken over by Taiwan Sugar Corporation in 1946. The original 1908 European-style headquarters building (原鹽水港製糖株式會社總社辦公室) survives as a Tainan City Designated Monument.
Fengshan Airfield
鳳山飛行場
A late-war Japanese military airfield in the Fengshan area of Kaohsiung, Taiwan — listed as opened in December 1944 in what is now Daliao District — and the surrounding Fengshan military complex. The area served as a military staging area for southern operations during WWII; after the war the airfield was abandoned, while the former drill grounds and depots at Fengshan became the home of the ROC Military Academy and Army Infantry School.
Former Gangshan Naval Aviation Dormitories (Xingcun)
原岡山日本海軍航空隊宿舎群（醒村）
A surviving complex of 1940s Japanese Navy aviation officer dormitories in Gangshan District, originally built for the Kaohsiung Naval Air Group and the adjacent 61st Naval Air Arsenal. The buildings bear scars from the devastating October 1944 US bombing raids on Gangshan. Designated a cultural landscape in 2017, the site preserves tangible evidence of the air war over southern Taiwan.
Former IJA Taiwan Infantry 2nd Regiment Barracks
原日軍臺灣歩兵第二聯隊営舎
The former barracks of the Imperial Japanese Army Taiwan Infantry 2nd Regiment (臺灣步兵第二聯隊), located on what is now the Guangfu Campus of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Tainan's East District. Established in 1907 (Meiji 40) as one of only two infantry regiments garrisoned in Taiwan — both uniquely bearing the prefix "Taiwan" (臺灣) in their designation — the 2nd Regiment was responsible for defending all of southern Taiwan south of the Zhuoshui River, with its headquarters and main barracks in Tainan's Asahi-chō (旭町). The permanent barracks were constructed in two phases: the first phase (1902–1904) established basic facilities, while the second phase (1910–1912) produced the ornate red-brick buildings with Roman arched colonnades that survive today as National Monuments. During WWII, as the Taiwan Army (臺灣軍) was reorganized into the 10th Area Army in 1944 for the decisive defense of Taiwan against anticipated Allied invasion, the barracks — whose regiment had left with the 48th Division in 1940–41 — continued in use as an army base in the south. After Japan's surrender in August 1945, the compound was taken over by ROC Army units (the 2nd, 8th, and 10th Armies) and renamed Guangfu Camp (光復營區). In 1966, the site was transferred to NCKU, becoming the Guangfu Campus. Three surviving barracks buildings — now housing the Department of History, the Department of Industrial Design (Dacheng Hall), and the Institute of Art Studies (Lixian Building) — were designated National Monuments on 10 November 2003, representing the most complete surviving Japanese-era permanent military barracks in Taiwan.
Former Japanese Navy Fengshan Wireless Communications Station
海軍鳳山無線電信所
Built between 1917 and 1919 by the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Fengshan Wireless Communications Station was one of three major long-wave radio facilities — alongside Funabashi (Chiba, near Tokyo) and Hario (Sasebo, Kyushu) — designed to relay naval communications across the Pacific. During WWII, the station maintained southwest Pacific communications, conducted radio jamming, and monitored Allied fleet movements. After the war, the ROC Navy converted the site into a political prisoner interrogation and detention facility during the White Terror period. Designated a National Monument of Taiwan in 2010, the site is now open to the public as a heritage landmark.
Former Kaohsiung City Hall (Kaohsiung Museum of History)
旧高雄市役所（高雄市立歴史博物館）
The former Kaohsiung City Hall (高雄市役所, Takao Shiyakusho), completed in September 1939 during the Japanese colonial period, is one of the finest surviving examples of Imperial Crown Style (帝冠式) architecture in Taiwan. Designed by architect Ōno Yonezirō of the Shimizu Corporation, the reinforced-concrete building was erected on the banks of the Love River (formerly Takao River) in the Sakaemachi district (present-day Yancheng District). The building served as the administrative centre of Takao City under Japanese rule, functioning within the broader colonial governance structure headed by the Takao Prefecture Hall (高雄州廳). After Japan's surrender in August 1945, the building was taken over as the Kaohsiung City Government office, serving this role until January 1992. Designated a municipal historic site in 2004, it reopened in October 1998 as the Kaohsiung Museum of History — Taiwan's first municipal history museum.
Former Mitsui & Co. Taipei Branch
三井物産株式会社台北支店
The former Taipei branch of Mitsui & Co. (三井物産), Japan's largest trading conglomerate (zaibatsu), built from 1920, completed in 1922 and located at No. 54 Guanqian Road in Taipei's Zhongzheng District. Credited to Hirano Yūzō and Nomura Ichirō and built in the Tatsuno-style Renaissance Revival manner, the three-story building served as the headquarters for Mitsui's extensive colonial trading, banking, and insurance operations in Taiwan. Mitsui & Co. was instrumental in exporting Taiwan's key commodities — tea, rice, sugar, camphor, salt, and tobacco — while investing across virtually all sectors of the colonial economy. Originally situated in Dadaocheng along the Tamsui River, Mitsui relocated to the prestigious Honmachi (本町) commercial district as Taipei's economic center shifted. Its present simplified modernist form dates either from a 1940 rebuilding or, according to other research, from a 1946–1947 reconstruction by architect Lu Shu-sen after Allied bomb damage in 1945. After the war it served as the Veterans Affairs Council headquarters (until 1988), then housed Taiwan Land Bank offices, and later the Supreme Prosecutors' Special Investigation Division. Designated a Taipei City Municipal Historic Site in 1998, the building is currently owned by Taiwan Land Bank and remains closed to the public.
Former Outer Garden of Taiwan Shrine (Dazhi)
台湾神社外苑跡（大直）
The outer grounds (gaien) around the Taiwan Gokoku Shrine in the Dazhi area of Taipei — formally the outer garden of the Taiwan Shrine (臺灣神社外苑), within which the Gokoku Shrine stood — encompassing the surrounding military training facilities, sacred forest, and ceremonial approach areas distinct from the main shrine precinct. Planned from the late 1930s as part of the Taiwan Grand Shrine (台灣神宮) relocation project, the outer garden was designed to include martial arts training halls, ceremonial venues, and athletic facilities. During the war, Allied POWs from the nearby Taihoku No. 6 Camp were forced to perform earthworks and railroad construction in this area. The outer grounds now form part of the parkland and military zones surrounding the National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine.
Former Sanbankyo Japanese Cemetery (now Linsen Park & Kangle Park)
三板橋日本人共同墓地跡（現・林森公園・康樂公園）
Site of the largest Japanese communal cemetery in colonial Taipei, established in 1896 and formally laid out in 1900 with a capacity of approximately 8,000 graves across 6,000 tsubo. Notable burials included Governor-General Akashi Motojirō (1919) and the mother of Governor-General Nogi Maresuke (1896). After Japan's defeat in 1945, the cemetery was overrun by Nationalist military dependents and refugees who used tombstones as building materials, creating Taipei's largest illegal settlement with over 1,000 households by the 1980s. Forcibly cleared in 1997 under Mayor Chen Shui-bian, the area was redeveloped as Kangle Park (west, 2002) and Linsen Park (east, 2003). Two Shinto torii gates — originally erected in 1920 for Akashi's grave and in 1935 for his aide Kamata Masatake — were relocated to 228 Peace Memorial Park in 1997, then returned to Linsen Park in 2010, where they stand today.