Ikeda Kōjin (1884-1924), a graduate of Tokyo Imperial University’s Law School, was the ninth chief of the Taiwan Sotokufu Monopoly Bureau. From a low-ranking legal bureaucrat to a prominent civil official, he made a great impact on Taiwan’s monopoly system that generated huge revenue for the Japanese colonial government. Besides, the contacts he built between Taiwan and Guangdong, including Hainan Island, was also noteworthy.

Documents and manuscripts left by Ikeda Kōjin during his career life and records regarding his funeral were originally archived in the National Institute of Japanese Language. Through the “International Collaboration of Taiwan Historical Resources Acquisition Project,” the Institute of Taiwan History obtained the digital images of Ikeda’s papers, such as meeting minutes and attendance records, work logs, as well as list of his belongings.

Therefore, this collection (1910-1924) not only is comparable to the “Archives of the Monopoly Bureau of Taiwan Government under Japanese rule,” but also provides us an important source on observing a colonial official’s material life, bureaucratic interactions and networks, opium and camphor trade, activities of the Taiwanese in Southeast Asia, as well as the Government-General’s “Southward Advanced Policy.”

The collection of "Papers of Ikeda Kōjin" can be accessed through the “Taiwan Archival Information System” now.