Colonialism – Taiwan Insight

Taiwan Beer: Tradition, Trade, and Lager

23 September 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Jordan Laramore. This article explores how Taiwan Beer reflects the island’s turbulent political and economic history. Originating under Japanese colonial rule in 1919 and later shaped by ROC government agricultural policies, most notably incorporating local Ponlai rice, the brand evolved into a cultural icon. Today, Taiwan Beer faces market liberalisation, foreign competition, and cross-strait trade tensions, transforming from a state-managed monopoly into a powerful symbol of Taiwanese identity and resilience against economic coercion.

Expressing Emotions in a Colonial Text: Huang Fengzi’s Taiwan no shōjo (A Young Girl of Taiwan)

25 August 2026 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Anne Sokolsky. This article examines Taiwan no shōjo (1944), a collection of essays by Taiwanese writer Huang Fengzi, arguing that its emotional language reveals the complexities of colonial identity under Japanese rule. Through an analysis of competing voices and affective expressions, it explores how emotions, power, and cultural belonging shaped both the text and its colonial context.

Myths, Misread: Taiwanese Baseball’s Identity Gap

17 June 2026 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Jerry Chen. This article argues that myths surrounding youth baseball success and the “Chinese Taipei” designation obscure Taiwan’s complex history, while limiting global understanding of Taiwanese baseball and its evolving national identity.

An Old Book of Taiwan Studies: On Leo T.S. Ching, Becoming Japanese: Colonial Taiwan and the Politics of Identity Formation

19 May 2026 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Yu-Han Huang. Reflecting on formative undergraduate experiences, the author traces how studying Japanese colonial Taiwan and reading Leo Ching’s Becoming “Japanese” shaped his academic path. Ching’s analysis of colonial identity formation, despite criticisms, offered a framework to understand Taiwan’s complex identity and revealed how colonial legacies continue to influence Taiwanese self-consciousness.

Old Books in Taiwan Studies: Chou Wanyao’s “The kōminka movement: Taiwan under wartime Japan, 1937-1945”

18 May 2026 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Catherine Tsai. This article examines Chou Wan-yao’s study of kōminka policies in colonial Taiwan. The author argues that Chou’s work on the relationships between assimilation, identity formation, and wartime mobilisation has served as foundational to Taiwan-centred historiography in both Sinophone and Anglophone contexts.

JAPANESE ATROCITIES IN THE INVASIONS AND COLONISATION OF TAIWAN, 1874–1945: ISLAND VIOLENCE FROM THE EMPIRE OF JAPAN’S FIRST ENCROACHMENT TO THE END OF THE ASIA–PACIFIC WAR

5 May 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Charles R. Charrington. This article re-examines Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan by juxtaposing narratives of modernisation with documented violence. It traces military invasions, massacres, and coercive governance from the late nineteenth century to World War II, while situating them within broader imperial dynamics. Rather than advancing anti-Japanese sentiment, it foregrounds how colonial violence has been obscured despite its centrality to Taiwan’s historical formation.

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