午夜剧场

One day, I received an email from a researcher of Taiwanese indigenous societies stating that they had visited a religious facility called Donglong Temple, where Japanese people involved in the Mudan Incident are enshrined as deities. The Mudan Incident refers to the 1871 incident in which Ryukyuan people who drifted ashore in Taiwan were killed by indigenous people, and the 1874 Taiwan Expedition carried out by Japan as retaliation. The government cleverly defined the Ryukyuans as Japanese and justified the punitive expedition against the indigenous people under the guise of a criminal investigation.

This incident served as the catalyst for modern Japan to acquire overseas colonies. How should we understand the fact that those involved in military actions in non-sovereign territories—actions that would likely be condemned as violations of international law today—and the Japanese who later became rulers, are now considered deities?

In fact, I had visited temples in Taiwan where Japanese people became deities several times before. Among these deities are those with miraculous powers who grant various wishes. I had felt a vague sense of unease regarding these temples, but after hearing from the aforementioned researcher, I felt I could no longer leave this unease unaddressed.

In the modern era, the Japanese "Kami" (deity) became linked with State Shinto, taking on the meaning of heroic spirits who gave their lives for the nation. Following that context, it would mean that Taiwanese people recognized the souls of individuals who served the Empire of Japan as deities—in other words, that Taiwanese people affirm Japanese colonial rule, and furthermore, that one piece of evidence for Taiwanese people being pro-Japanese can be found in such beliefs.

But is that really the case? Why do they enshrine Japanese people as deities? In this book, I have attempted to answer this question through surveys of nearly 50 temples.

I hope you will read the book for details, but let me say that by understanding the Japanese as objects of faith within the structure of the religious beliefs of Taiwan's Han Chinese people, a different world comes into view. Furthermore, in today's Taiwan, temples enshrining Japanese people have transcended religious contexts to create "Japan" as an object of consumption. Above all, I would like Japanese readers to set aside their desire for a narrative that Japan conducted "good" colonial rule in Taiwan and try reading this book.

Yuko Mio (Editor)

午夜剧场 Press

384 pages, 5,940 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are those at the time of publication.