<Article>National Identity in Taiwan: How "Taiwan" Emerged under Japanese Occupation

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  • <論文>台湾におけるナショナル・アイデンティティ : 日本統治下における「台湾」の萌芽
  • 台湾におけるナショナル・アイデンティティ : 日本統治下における｢台湾｣の萌芽
  • タイワン ニ オケル ナショナル ・ アイデンティティ : ニホン トウチ カ ニ オケル 「 タイワン 」 ノ ホウガ

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The Republic of China converged to contemporary “Taiwan” through the formation of a complex identity. The facts that foreign governments ruled Taiwan since the dawn of history and that a certain social setting emerged through the KMT (Kuomintang) led by Chiang Kai-shek have greatly been involved in this context. Taiwan was a no man’s land for a long period of time. After being ruled by the Netherlands, Taiwan was governed by various foreign administrations and as a result of Japan’s governance, Taiwan became conscious of “Taiwan” for the first time. Several ethnic groups were coexisting in Taiwan for a long time. Those ethnic groups did not share the consciousness of being one nation and the groups were divided among themselves without one group being the clear governor of the island. This situation did not change in the Qing Dynasty; thus Taiwan was only governed partially. Getting integrated into Japan, the people living in Taiwan were made Japanese. However, due to the distinction by the Japanese people between people from in- and outside of Japan and discrimination of people from outside of Japan, the Taiwanese became aware of “themselves”. These people had a different national identity than Japanese people, which then functioned as a foundation for the creation of Taiwan. This study examines the emergence of Taiwan’s national identity under Japanese occupation. For the analysis, literary works by Japanese author Kawai and Taiwanese author Lu Yu Hua were used to see how Japanese people viewed Taiwanese people as well as how the Taiwanese accepted the governance by the Japanese empire. This study reveals that through Taiwan’s governance by the Japanese as well as through the fluctuation of boundaries between indigenous Taiwanese and Han Chinese the foundation leading to national identity in present-day Taiwan grew under Japanese occupation.

Journal

  • 国際日本研究

    国際日本研究 11 23-44, 2019

    Master's and Doctoral Program in International and Advanced Japanese Studies, Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba

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