Shinto in Taiwan has its origins in the beginning of the 50-year
Japanese colonial rule of Taiwan in 1895 when the
Empire of Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...
brought their
state religion
A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular state, secular, is not n ...
,
Shinto
Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...
, to the island. The
Taiwanese
Taiwanese may refer to:
* Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien
* Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa)
* Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan
* Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan
* Taiwanese people, ...
were encouraged to adopt the religion in 1937 as the
Empire of Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...
began to intensify its
expansionist policy in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and used
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
as its base into southeast Asia. Of the Taiwanese who lost their lives fighting for the Japanese Emperor until the Empire's defeat in 1945, a total of 27,863 are recorded in the ''Book of Souls'' and enshrined as in
Yasukuni Shrine
is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Empire of Japan, Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, First Sino-Japane ...
in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
.
Japanese colonial rule
Between 1919-1936, the
colonial government in Taiwan began compulsory education of Taiwanese and emphasized
cultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's majority group or assume the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group whether fully or partially.
The different types of cultural assi ...
. In 1937, the Japanese Empire in Taiwan began the , a policy of converting and fully integrating the Taiwanese as Japanese citizens.
This was to be achieved by denying the Taiwanese of their Chinese heritage through the adoption of
Japanese name
in modern times consist of a family name (surname) followed by a given name, in that order. Nevertheless, when a Japanese name is written in the Roman alphabet, ever since the Meiji era, the official policy has been to cater to Western expecta ...
s and through use of the
Japanese language
is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ma ...
as their ; adopting Japanese aspects of life such as
Japanese clothing
There are typically two types of clothing worn in Japan: traditional clothing known as , including the national dress of Japan, the kimono, and , which encompasses all else not recognised as either national dress or the dress of another country.
...
,
Japanese cuisine
Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes. The traditional cuisine of Japan (Japanese: ) is based on rice with miso soup and other ...
, and
Shinto
Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...
. The use of Chinese dialects and practice of Chinese customs were discouraged and Chinese-language schools were closed. The Japanese sought to convert the aborigines by promoting the story of
Sayon as a patriotic Taiwanese.
Shinto shrines
The first Shinto shrine to be established in Taiwan was the Kaizan Shrine in
Tainan Prefecture
was one of the administrative divisions of Taiwan during the Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese rule. The prefecture consisted of modern-day Tainan City, Chiayi City, Chiayi County and Yunlin County.
Population
Administrative divisions
...
in 1897 but the most notable was the
Taiwan Shrine in
Taihoku Prefecture
Taihoku Prefecture (台北州; ''Taihoku-shū'') was an administrative division of Taiwan created in 1920, during Japanese rule. The prefecture consisted of modern-day Keelung, New Taipei City, Taipei and Yilan County. Its government office, ...
(now
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
) which was built in 1901 to honor
Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa
of Japan, was the second head of a collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family. He was formerly enshrined in Tainan-Jinja, Taiwan, under the name ''Kitashirakawa no Miya Yoshihisa-shinnō no Mikoto'' as the main and only deity.
Biograp ...
who died from illness whilst on a mission in Tainan to subjugate the Taiwanese rebellion. In 1932, Crown Prince
Hirohito
Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...
(later Shōwa Emperor) visited Taiwan on a tour to celebrate his inauguration as regent. In total, 204 Shinto shrines were built throughout Taiwan, but only 66 were officially sanctioned by the state. After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, many of the Shinto shrines were torn down by the
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
from
mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
, while others were replaced by martyr's shrines.
In modern times, two Shinto shrines were rebuilt:
Gaoshi Shrine
Gaoshi Shrine ( zh, t=高士神社, p=Gāoshì Shénshè), formerly known as , is a Shinto shrine located in Gaoshi, a Paiwan village in Mudan, Pingtung, Taiwan. With the original shrine destroyed by typhoon in 1946, a new shrine was rebuilt ...
and
Luye Shrine
Kunci Temple ( zh, t=崑慈堂, p=Kūncí Táng) is a Taoist temple located in Longtian Village, Luye Township, Taitung County, Taiwan. The temple grounds contain a reconstructed Shinto shrine known as Luye Shrine ( zh, t=鹿野神社, p=Lùy ...
. Only Gaoshi Shrine is still active, while Luye Shrine is not used to venerate any kami.
See also
*
List of Shinto shrines in Taiwan
On June 17, 1895 ( Meiji 28), Taiwan came under the rule of the Empire of Japan. In the following year on December 3, 1896, the first Shinto shrine was created in Taiwan. This was actually an already existing located in Tainan but renamed .
...
*
Taiwan under Japanese rule
The island of Taiwan, together with the Penghu Islands, became a dependency of Japan in 1895, when the Qing dynasty ceded Fujian-Taiwan Province in the Treaty of Shimonoseki after the Japanese victory in the First Sino-Japanese War. The sh ...
*
Political divisions of Taiwan (1895-1945)
The Republic of China (Taiwan) is divided into multi-layered statutory subdivisions. Due to the complex political status of Taiwan, there is a significant difference in the ''de jure'' system set out in the original constitution and the ''de ...
*
Governor-General of Taiwan
The governor-general of Taiwan ( ja, 臺灣總督, Taiwan Sōtoku) was the head of the Government-General of Taiwan in the Japanese era (including Formosa and the Pescadores) when they were part of the Empire of Japan, from 1895 to 1945.
The Jap ...
*
Formosan Army
The was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army recruited from, and stationed on, the island of Taiwan as a garrison force.
History
Following the First Sino-Japanese War, the Treaty of Shimonoseki transferred control of Taiwan from Qing dynasty ...
*
Tenrikyo
is a Japanese new religion which is neither strictly monotheistic nor pantheistic, originating from the teachings of a 19th-century woman named Nakayama Miki, known to her followers as "Oyasama". Followers of Tenrikyo believe that God of Origin, ...
References
External links
Shinto weddings become attractive to Taiwan couples
{{Religion in Taiwan