All historic sites
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217 sites · page 7 of 10
Kenkou Shrine
建功神社
Kenkou Shrine (建功神社) was a unique Shinto shrine in Taipei, established in 1928 to honor individuals who contributed to Japanese colonial rule of Taiwan. Unlike most wartime shrines that solely commemorated war dead, Kenkou Shrine enshrined all those who had died in battle, on duty or in disasters in Taiwan since 1895 — soldiers, administrators, educators, police officers and others, Japanese and Taiwanese alike — as having "built merit" (建功) for the empire. Designed by prominent colonial architect Ide Kaoru, the shrine featured an unprecedented hybrid architectural style combining Japanese, Chinese, and Western elements, most notably a striking dome atop the main hall — a radical departure from traditional shrine architecture. After Japan's surrender in 1945, the shrine was converted into the National Central Library in the 1950s, and the site became part of the Nanhai Academy (南海學園) cultural complex. Today the former shrine building houses the National Taiwan Arts Education Center, and surviving stone balustrades (玉垣) from the original shrine can still be seen on the grounds.
Kensei Elementary School (postwar Taipei City Hall, now MOCA Taipei)
建成小学校（戦後の台北市政府、現・台北当代芸術館）
This building — the post-war Taipei City Government office, not the Japanese-era Taihoku City Office (台北市役所), which stood on the site of today's Executive Yuan — was originally constructed in 1921 as the Kensei Elementary School (建成小學校) for Japanese children during the colonial period. After Japan's surrender in 1945, it was converted into the Taipei City Government headquarters, serving as the administrative centre of the city for nearly five decades until 1994. Designated a municipal historic site in 1996, the building was transformed into the Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei (MOCA Taipei), which opened in May 2001 as the first museum in Taiwan dedicated exclusively to contemporary art.
Kikumoto Department Store
菊元百貨店
Taiwan's first modern department store, opened in 1932 in Sakaechō (榮町), Taihoku (Taipei) by Japanese entrepreneur Eiji Shigeta. The seven-story building — nicknamed 'Seven-Storied Sky' (七重天) — was the second tallest structure in colonial Taiwan after the Governor-General's Office. It featured Taiwan's first commercial passenger elevator and became the symbol of modernity and consumer culture in Japanese-ruled Taipei. The building still stands at 148-150 Boai Road in Zhongzheng District, now occupied by Cathay United Bank, and was designated a historic building by Taipei City Government in 2017.
Koshun Airfield (Hengchun Airfield)
恒春飛行場
The southernmost military airfield in wartime Taiwan (Formosa), located on the Hengchun Peninsula in Pingtung County. Established by the Japanese Army by 1941, the airfield served as a forward staging base for operations against the Philippines. Aircraft of the 50th Air Regiment (飛行第50戦隊) equipped with Nakajima Ki-27 fighters launched from Koshun to attack American forces in the Philippine Islands during the opening phase of the Pacific War in December 1941. Later in the war, the airfield functioned primarily as an emergency landing field for both Army and Navy aircraft, and was subjected to repeated Allied air raids from February through June 1945. The site remained unused for decades before reopening as the civilian Hengchun Airport in 2004.
Kōtōsho (Orchid Island)
紅頭嶼（蘭嶼）
During the Japanese colonial period (1895–1945), Orchid Island (Lanyu), then known as Kōtōsho (紅頭嶼), was designated by the Taiwan Governor-General's Office as an ethnological research area closed to the general public. The island served as a living anthropological laboratory where Japanese scholars—beginning with Torii Ryūzō's pioneering 1897 survey—studied the Tao (Yami) indigenous people and the island's tropical ecology. The colonial government prohibited settlement and development to preserve the indigenous culture in situ, in effect making it a protected anthropological research zone.
Lintianshan Forestry Culture Park (Morisaka)
林田山林場（森坂）
A major Japanese colonial-era logging camp and sawmill in eastern Taiwan, known as Morisaka (森坂) during the Japanese period. Established in 1918 by the Hualien Harbor Timber Company, the site expanded significantly in 1939 under Taiwan Xingye Company to supply timber for wartime military construction. Its well-preserved Japanese-style dormitory village and narrow-gauge forestry railway make it one of the most complete surviving logging settlements in Taiwan, now designated a historical village by Hualien County.
Longtan Airfield
龍潭飛行場
A concealed Imperial Japanese Army airfield constructed in the second half of 1944 in Longtan (龍潭), Taoyuan, northern Taiwan (Formosa). The base housed the 20th Fighter Squadron and the Makoto 16th Special Attack Squadron, operating 26 Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa and 14 Ki-84 Hayate fighters. During Operation Ten (天號作戰) in spring 1945, at least one special attack (tokkou) mission departed from Longtan. After the war, the site became the Republic of China Army Aviation 601st Brigade base (龍城營區), which remains an active military installation.
Madou (Mato) Airfield
麻豆飛行場
A Japanese military airfield constructed during WWII in Madou (then called Mato), Tainan, Taiwan. Originally part of the Meiji Sugar Company's Zongye factory complex established in 1910, the airfield was built as part of Japan's extensive network of over 50 airstrips across Taiwan. American bombers attacked the site in early 1945, finding it still partially under construction. The former sugar factory grounds now house the Tsung-Yeh Arts and Cultural Center, preserving several Japanese-era colonial buildings.
Meiji Bridge Site (Zhongshan Bridge)
明治橋跡（中山橋）
The Meiji Bridge (明治橋), later renamed Zhongshan Bridge (中山橋), was an iconic reinforced concrete arch bridge spanning the Keelung River in Taipei, connecting the colonial capital to the Taiwan Grand Shrine on Maruyama hill. Originally built as an iron truss bridge in 1901, it was reconstructed in 1933 as a graceful three-arch concrete bridge with granite railings from Tokuyama, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and ornamental bronze lamp columns — widely regarded as the most beautiful bridge in colonial Taiwan. In the 1927 "Eight Scenic Spots of Taiwan" selection, Taiwan Shrine was named one of two special sites ranked apart from the eight, and the bridge served as the ceremonial gateway on the approach road (參道) to the Taiwan Shrine. After Japan's defeat it was renamed Zhongshan Bridge in 1946. The bridge was controversially dismantled from December 2002 under Mayor Ma Ying-jeou's administration, ostensibly for flood control along the Keelung River. Its 435 stone and concrete components were stored at a riverside site for potential future reconstruction, but as of 2026 they remain in open-air storage, weathering and deteriorating with no confirmed relocation plan.
Nenggao Cross-Ridge Trail
能高越嶺道
A major Japanese colonial-era mountain trail crossing the Central Mountain Range between Nantou and Hualien counties in Taiwan. Built in 1917-1918 by the Japanese colonial government with 16 garrison stations for aboriginal control and police administration, it later became the route for Taiwan's first east-west power transmission line in the 1950s.
Nippon Kangyo Bank Taipei Branch (Now Land Bank Exhibition Hall)
日本勧業銀行台北支店（現・国立台湾博物館土銀展示館）
The Taipei branch of the Nippon Kangyo Bank (日本勧業銀行), completed in 1933 during the Japanese colonial era, was a major financial institution managing agricultural and industrial loans critical to colonial Taiwan's economic development. Designed by the bank's own building section with a monumental colonnade and Mayan Revival ornament, and built by Obayashi-gumi, the building exemplified Japanese colonial ambitions to project permanence and modernity. After Taiwan's retrocession in 1945, the building became the headquarters of the Land Bank of Taiwan (臺灣土地銀行) until 1965. Designated a municipal heritage site in 1991, it was extensively restored and reopened in 2010 as the National Taiwan Museum Land Bank Exhibition Hall (國立臺灣博物館土銀展示館), now housing natural history exhibits including large-scale dinosaur fossils and a preserved historical bank vault.
Qishan Sugar Factory & Railway Station
旗山製糖所（旗山驛）
Former sugar factory and narrow-gauge railway station in Qishan District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, built during the Japanese colonial period. Established in 1909 as the Qiwei Sugar Manufacturing Plant by the Takasago Sugar Company, the factory became a key node in southern Taiwan's extensive sugar railway network. During World War II, sugar production was intensified to supply alcohol fuel for the Japanese military, making the factory a potential industrial target; it is reported to have been damaged by Allied bombing. The distinctive octagonal-roofed Qishan Station (built 1913-1915), blending Tudor and Japanese architectural styles, is the best-known surviving station building of the Qiwei Line and is now preserved as a designated historic building and the Sugar Railway Story Hall museum.
Renzhiguan Gorge
人止関
Renzhiguan ("Where Humans Must Stop") is a natural gorge on Taiwan Provincial Route 14 between Puli and Wushe in Ren'ai Township, Nantou County. Formed by the Mei River cutting through sandstone, the narrow pass served as a historical boundary between Han lowland settlers and Seediq indigenous territory. In 1902, Seediq warriors exploited the gorge's natural defences to repel a Japanese military advance, and during the 1930 Wushe Incident, anti-Japanese Seediq forces considered extending their resistance to this strategic chokepoint.
Ruisan Coal Mine (Houtong)
瑞三鉱業（猴硐炭鉱）
A major coal mine operated by Ruisan Mining Company in the Houtong area of Ruifang District, New Taipei City. Ruisan was founded in 1934, when Li Jianxing leased workings previously run by the Mitsui-backed Keelung Coal Mining Company; its coal supplied wartime industry and transportation, and after the war it became the largest single coal producer in Taiwan. The site now serves as the Houtong Coal Mine Ecological Park.
Ruisui Immigrant Village Site
瑞穂移民村（水尾移民村）
Site of a Japanese government-sponsored immigrant village (官營移民村) established from the mid-1920s in Ruisui Township, Hualien County, eastern Taiwan. Part of the colonial policy to settle Japanese farmers in Taiwan's East Rift Valley, the village specialized in tobacco cultivation and was one of over ten immigrant settlements established along the eastern coast during the Japanese colonial period (1895-1945).
Sheliao Island Battery Group (Heping Island / Peace Island)
社寮島砲台群（和平島）
A multi-layered coastal defense fortification complex on Heping Island (formerly Sheliao Island) at the entrance to Keelung Harbor in northern Taiwan. The site bears traces of four successive colonial powers — Spain (1626), the Dutch (1642), the Qing dynasty (1886–1891), and Imperial Japan (1901–1945). The extant East and West batteries were entirely rebuilt by the Imperial Japanese Army between 1901 and 1903 as part of the Keelung Fortress system in preparation for the Russo-Japanese War. Armed with 27 cm Canet-pattern (加式) guns, the batteries employed a "mountain-embracing" (抱山式) concealment design that hid gun positions from seaward observation. The batteries were registered as historic buildings in 2004 and upgraded to Keelung municipal monuments in 2006.
Shengxing Station & Old Mountain Line Railway
勝興駅・旧山線鉄道（十六份驛）
The highest point (402.326m elevation) on the original Taiwan trunk railway mountain line, opened in 1907 during the Japanese colonial period. This wooden station in Sanyi Township, Miaoli County, served as strategic railway infrastructure connecting north and south Taiwan. The Old Mountain Line, completed in 1908, was an engineering marvel featuring nine tunnels, three bridges, and the steepest gradients on the western trunk line. Regular service ceased in 1998 when a new route opened; the station is now a designated historic site and popular heritage tourism destination.
Shuishang Airfield (Kagi South Airfield)
水上飛行場
A Japanese Army airfield established in 1936 in Shuishang (水上庄), Kagi District, southern Taiwan (Formosa). Home to the 14th Flying Regiment (飛行第十四聯隊) under the 3rd Air Group Command, it served as a key fighter and bomber base throughout the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War. Repeatedly attacked by USAAF and USN aircraft from 1944 to 1945, the site later became the civilian Chiayi Airport (嘉義機場, ICAO: RCKU) adjacent to the military Chiayi Air Base.
Songshan Tobacco Factory (Songshan Cultural and Creative Park)
松山煙草工場
The Songshan Tobacco Factory was built in 1937 as the Matsuyama Tobacco Plant of the Taiwan Governor-General's Monopoly Bureau, and is described as Taiwan's first modern specialised cigarette factory. During WWII, the factory produced cigarettes for both military and civilian consumption across the Japanese Empire. Featuring outstanding modernist industrial architecture designed by Japanese planners, the factory employed about 1,200 workers when production began in 1939. After ceasing operations in 1998, the complex was designated a municipal historic site in 2001 and reopened in 2011 as the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park.
Su'ao Port
蘇澳港
A strategic natural deep-water harbor on Taiwan's northeast coast, used by the Imperial Japanese Navy as a secondary naval facility during WWII. The port area included fuel depots, observation stations, and anti-aircraft positions, and was a key defensive point against anticipated Allied landings in the Yilan Plain.
Sun Moon Lake Hanbi Lou (The Lalu Historic Site)
日月潭涵碧楼
A Japanese-era lakeside inn on the Hanbi Peninsula of Sun Moon Lake — dated to 1901 in the popular account, but to 1916 in period records — Hanbi Lou was rebuilt as a two-story cypress guesthouse in 1928. It was reportedly prepared for Crown Prince Hirohito's 1923 tour of Taiwan, although he did not visit the lake. It later served as President Chiang Kai-shek's retreat. The Japanese building was demolished in 1966, its successor was destroyed in the 1999 earthquake, and a modern luxury hotel (The Lalu) opened beside the site in 2002, with a memorial hall preserving its history.
Taichung Prefectural Taichung First Middle School
台中州立台中第一中学校
Founded on May 1, 1915 as the first middle school in Taiwan established through Taiwanese initiative, the Taichung First Middle School (now Taichung First Senior High School) was created after central Taiwan gentry — led by Lin Xiantang (林獻堂), Lin Lietang (林烈堂), and others — petitioned the Japanese colonial government and raised over 240,000 yen to fund a school for Taiwanese students who were excluded from Japanese-only secondary institutions. The school's founding monument declares: "We Taiwanese people initially had no middle school; it is self-created here." During the kōminka (皇民化) period from 1937 onward, the school was subject to intensified Japanization policies, and in the final years of WWII students were mobilized for the war effort. The school remains active today as Taichung Municipal Taichung First Senior High School, with the original lecture hall preserved as a registered historical building.
Taichung Prison Martial Arts Hall
臺中刑務所演武場
A martial arts training hall (budokan) built in 1937 as part of the Taichung Prison complex during the Japanese colonial period. Used for kendo and judo practice by prison officials and police, it is the only surviving Japanese-era martial arts hall in Taichung. The symmetrical building features a traditional Japanese irimoya-style roof with a central shrine flanked by judo and kendo training areas. After a devastating fire in 2006, it was meticulously restored by 2010 and operated as the Daohe Liuyi Cultural Center from 2012 to 2023.
Taihoku Imperial University Library (now NTU Gallery of History)
台北帝国大学附属図書館（現・国立台湾大学校史館）
The Taihoku Imperial University Library (台北帝国大学附属図書館) was built in 1929–30 as the main library of Japan's seventh imperial university in colonial Taiwan. Designed in a Western eclectic style with distinctive arched windows, the two-story reinforced concrete building served as the intellectual heart of the university, housing academic collections that by 1944 ranked third among all nine imperial universities. The library supported the university's strategic "southward advance" research on tropical medicine, Southeast Asian resources, and colonial studies. After the war, it continued as the National Taiwan University Main Library until 1998; since 2005 it has housed the Gallery of NTU History (臺大校史館), preserving artifacts and documents from the colonial and postwar eras.