Collection Unveiled: Taiwan in Photo Albums from the Japanese Colonial Period
During Japan’s fifty-year rule of Taiwan (1895-1945), the ruling and development processes were extensively documented through photography. These photographic images were compiled into numerous “Shashin cho,” which were essentially photo albums featuring actual photos pasted on paper or printed images. Some of them were accompanied by simple descriptive texts or background information. These photo albums, as products of the Japanese rule era, cover a diverse range of topics and content. However, their creation was inevitably influenced by the political reality of Taiwan under Japanese rule, reflecting the colonial discourses and exhibition intent of the ruling power, regardless of whether the photographers and publishers were public or private organizations. As a result, they demonstrate specifically curated and arranged “viewpoints of the authority,” making them instruments of propaganda for colonial and political achievements. On the other hand, the abundance of photographic images anthologized in these photo albums, as precious cultural assets, have become precious image archives of Taiwan’s historical, cultural, economic, and social developments, providing records and testimonies to Taiwan’s developmental journey.
In 2015, the Ministry of Culture launched the “Plan of Rescuing National Photographic Assets and Establishing a Center of Photography and Images” and has been systematically collecting and acquiring Taiwan-related photographic assets since 2016. Currently, the National Center for Photography and Images (NCPI) houses seventy-two photo albums from the Japanese Colonial Period. In addition to continuing the digitization of the photographic collection according to the collection schedule, the NCPI has collaborated with universities, research institutions, and cultural-historical workers since 2020 to conduct further research and study the photos in some of the albums while making efforts to analyze and interpret relevant photographic content. The results of this ongoing endeavor are now available as open online resources on the NCPI website to share with the public.
Collections Unveiled: Taiwan in Photo Albums from the Japanese Colonial Period is an illuminating embodiment of the textual research, studies, and interpretations by several experts and scholars, namely, Chung Shu-Min, Shen Chia-San, Cheng Li-Ling, Hsu You-Hua, as well as Winston Chen (Wen-Sung) and his team. This exhibition, featuring more than 350 images selected from six themes across nine photo albums, comprises enlarged digital prints accompanied by detailed and compelling introductory guides accessible through QR codes, providing the audience with an expounding experience that includes image details and historical contexts. It is worth mentioning that the exhibition skillfully connects the people, events, time, and places depicted in these photo albums with the categorized photographic content. Through images, texts, and vivid introductions, the audience can gain insight into the social situations and everyday life in Taiwan under Japanese rule. This also includes the natural scenery, folk culture, and abundant resources of this period, as well as diverse aspects of colonial Taiwan, such as urban infrastructure, public health and endemic prevention, agricultural and hydraulic facilities, industrial development, and port and traffic constructions.
The Prince Regent Hirohito’s Visit to Taiwan—A Journey of Inspecting the Accomplishments in the Imperial Colony
Photo Album of Prince Regent Hirohito’s Visit to Taiwan comprises two volumes with 386 photographs documenting Prince Regent Hirohito’s twelve-day inspection journey in Taiwan from April 16 to 27, 1923. Prince Regent Hirohito arrived in Taiwan aboard the Japanese battleship “Kongō” and traveled on land by the “imperial train” specially prepared by the Taiwan Governor-General’s Office. Starting from Keelung in northern Taiwan, the Prince Regent then visited Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung, and later crossed the sea to Penghu before returning to Taipei, which was the politico-economic center at the time. The visit aimed to inspect the accomplishments of the Japanese governance and the colony's construction while promulgating imperial power and enlightenment. In Japan, this journey is historically known as the “Taiwan Gyoukei” (the imperial visit to Taiwan).
The eighth Taiwan Governor-General, Den Kenjiro, was the key figure in facilitating this visit. In order to welcome the Prince Regent, the Japanese officials in Taiwan not only carefully deployed guards for tight security but also utilized massive manpower and resources to arrange the visit. The mobilization of the entire island, from the central and the local governments to the private sector, made the “Taiwan Gyoukei” a significant event island-wide a century ago. Meanwhile, to reinforce the propagandist campaign for its governance of and accomplishments in Taiwan, the Japanese colonial government arranged for photographers to document Prince Regent Hirohito’s visit at every stop, visually and thoroughly recording the entire process to display the results of its rule of Taiwan in terms of politics, economy, society, education, and culture. Various types of photos and circulation modes were used for the “Taiwan Gyoukei,” leaving multiple versions of photo albums. Photo Album of Prince Regent Hirohito’s Visit to Taiwan in the collection of the National Center for Photography and Images has become a vital historical material to study Japan’s politico-economic relations in colonial Taiwan and the journey of Prince Regent Hirohito in Taiwan.
According to Photo Album of Prince Regent Hirohito’s Visit to Taiwan, the Prince Regent visited political and military organizations, attended formal ceremonies, and inspected important industries and production processes in Taiwan, including the camphor and sugar industries. Furthermore, he observed scenes and activities related to local customs, such as dragon boating and traditional duck-raising families. He also visited Japanese shrines and watched sumo wrestling, which was a gesture of promulgating Japan’s culture and tradition. The photo album also included images of massive crowds gathering to see the Prince Regent in places he visited. As archives, these photos evoke the historical reality and memories from a century ago.
The 1919 Cholera Pandemic in Taipei—Cholera Prevention and Control during Japanese Rule
In 1919, a cholera pandemic broke out in Taiwan, which became the origin of Overview of the 1919 Cholera Pandemic in Taipei. The Taipei Prefecture Hall under the Taiwan Governor-General’s Office, which was the pandemic prevention center at that time, compiled photographs taken during the prevention period into this photo album. It is now a precious archive documenting the administrative measures for public health and pandemic prevention during the period of Japanese rule.
The year of 1919 saw a global pandemic of cholera. As cases of cholera increased in China’s coastal regions, the Japanese colonial government soon became alert. However, in July, the ports in Penghu, Keelung, and Fengshan in Tainan Prefecture each reported one case. Subsequently, the pandemic started spreading via sea and land transportation systems in Taipei and Tainan. In northern Taiwan, hundreds of inspection officers (public health personnel) joined the prevention work, setting out from Taipei and then going to Keelung, Xizhi, Songshan, and Shilin to treat and prevent cholera. Despite their efforts, the pandemic resulted in an unprecedented death toll. From mid-August to early September, 62 Japanese and a staggering number of 1,296 Taiwanese patients were lost. Coping with the cholera pandemic, the Taipei Prefecture set up 345 checkpoints, 32 quarantine wards, and 21 shelters for healthy individuals. The other eight prefectures in northern Taiwan also lent a helping hand by sending manpower to assist with preventing the pandemic.
This photo album shows the pandemic prevention measures implemented during the Japanese colonial period. These include maritime quarantine and inspection at seaports, specimen quarantine and inspection, public announcement, sanitation promotion, environmental sanitization, vaccine injection, quarantine, disinfection, lockdown, sheltering, and relocation. The album also contains images of downcast patients in quarantine and the burying of dead bodies. In fact, the actual situation of the pandemic might be even more tragic than what the photos could ever depict. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the photo album offers a cautionary comparison and historical lesson for contemporary people.
Taiwan Shashin Tsuushin—A Guide to Southern Scenic Attractions
“Shashin tsuushin” is a form of journalism in Japan that mainly consists of photographs and texts. Taiwan Shashin Tsuushin is a photo album created based on this journalistic model and context. It contains 120 photos covering numerous topics such as scenic attractions, famous architecture, industrial facilities, unique flora and fauna, different terrains and topographies, and cultural customs throughout Taiwan. Each photo includes textual captions (i.e., titles, locations, descriptions). With both pictures and text, the photo album delivers a wide range of information about Taiwan.
This photo album covers extensively Taiwan’s scenic attractions, special products, customs, and culture, ranging from historical sites from the period of Dutch rule, folk religious activities brought to Taiwan by the Han Chinese people in Qing dynasty, to traditional indigenous tribes. It also includes photos of modernized city streets and parks constructed during the period of Japanese rule, architectural landmarks embodying the ruling power, and government-encouraged industries, including agriculture, forestry, fishing, and salt industries. Moreover, the album contains the “Eight Views, Twelve Sceneries, and Two Special Sites” gathered through an open call and voting event launched by a newspaper in 1927 and finally selected by experts and government officials. It is especially worth mentioning that each photo in the album can be read independently. Among the various captions, some highlighted the beautiful landscape that was suitable for outings, whereas some gave a detailed account of the transportation and fees that required visitors’ attention. Some even ended with slogans promoting tourism, such as “a vista never to be missed” or “a must-visit destination.”
Although the content of Taiwan Shashin Tsuushin is diverse and expansive, its arrangement is quite loose. It can be inferred that the images and text in this photo album were edited continually with a structure of news reports. A comparison to other photo albums from the 1930s reveals almost identical images and text or pictures of the same themes. So, it is likely that this album was published in the 1930s. This also indicates that these “sceneries” of Taiwan that appeared in different albums were repeatedly shaped by various types of media in the later period of Japanese rule to reinforce their “representativeness.” Thus, these images, whether intentionally or unintentionally, were imbued with the function and meaning of publicizing Taiwan as a colony to Japanese citizens and the effectiveness of colonial governance.