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The Taiwan Shinminpo News Special – Opening of Hualien Port, 1939
The Taiwan Shinminpo News Special – Opening of Hualien Port, 1939

Publication date: 11 Oct 2023
Author: Chu Feng-chung, Kawashima Naoko |Staff member of the Archives of Institute of Taiwan History

The Taiwan Shinminpo and its related newspaper series were the only newspapers published by the Taiwanese during the Japanese colonial era. Among the contents, in-depth special reports on places, events and people are very important historical materials for studies on family histories and local regions. The Institute of Taiwan History has collected almost a hundred local news specials, covering topics such as economy and industry, infrastructure, cultural history, and school education. The issues presented include banana production and industrial economic trends, major infrastructure completion and current political situation, upgrade of towns and villages, rail service resumption and local development. The Taiwan Shinminpo carried what might not be described or documented in regular publications, such as local cultural characteristics and industrial histories, which were precious records for understanding our homeland. With the reference to the news special “Commemorative Special on Opening of Hualien Port” published in The Taiwan Shinminpo on October 1-2, 1939 and other archival collections of Institute of Taiwan History, this article focuses on the completion and opening of Hualien Port in 1939, detailing the construction process and its impact during the Japanese colonial era.

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"The Diaries of Taiwan Governor-general Den Kenjiro" Now Online
2012-03-07

As a part of the "International Collaboration of Taiwan Historical Resources Acquisition Project," the Institute of Taiwan History acquired and published the diaries of Den Kenjiro, Taiwan’s eighth Governor-general. In 2011, digitized annotations and full-text of 610,000 words of the diaries were collected in the "Taiwan Diary Knowledge Bank." Den’s diaries from 1919 to 1923 are now available online.

Den Kenjiro (1855-1930), born in Hyogo prefecture, was the first civilian Governor-general of Taiwan with a deep understanding of Sinology. Before being appointed to Taiwan, he served different posts, including the Chief of Police Department of the Kanagawa Prefecture, Director of Railway Bureau, member of House of Peers, Minister of Post and Communication, etc. During his term as Governor-general (1919-1923), Den promoted the policy of assimilation and carried out various reforms: he reformed the locality system, legalized Taiwanese-Japanese intermarriage, abolished caning as a criminal punishment, and expanded the public education system. He even recruited Taiwanese for high civilian positions as well. All these implementations are important issues for research on Japanese colonial rule.

Among the 19 Japanese governor-generals of Taiwan, Den Kenjiro was the only one who kept detailed records of his daily life and personal viewpoints on state affairs in Chinese for 40 years. Hence, his diaries are definitely valuable primary sources for studying modern Japan and Taiwanese history. You may explore Den Kenjiro’s diaries through the "Taiwan Diary Knowledge Bank."


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