The Taiwan Grand Shrine () was the highest ranking Japanese Shinto shrine in Taiwan during Japanese colonial rule. It was located in Taihoku,

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 ...

(now

Zhongshan District, Taipei Zhongshan District ( Chinese: 中山區) is an administrative district of Taipei City, named after Sun Yat-sen, better known in Chinese as "Sun Zhongshan". Economy In the 1970s, the district was recognized as the center of the city's tour ...

). Among the officially sanctioned Shinto shrines in Taiwan, Taiwan Grand Shrine held the highest rank of them all. The

Grand Hotel A grand hotel is a large and luxurious hotel, especially one housed in a building with traditional architectural style. It began to flourish in the 1800s in Europe and North America. Grand Hotel may refer to: Hotels Africa * Grande Hotel Beir ...

stands at the shrine's former site.

History

Following the death of

Prince 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. Biogra ...

in 1895, the

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 ...

Nogi Maresuke Count , also known as Kiten, Count Nogi (December 25, 1849September 13, 1912), was a Japanese general in the Imperial Japanese Army and a governor-general of Taiwan. He was one of the commanders during the 1894 capture of Port Arthur from Chin ...

began planning for a shrine in Yoshihisa's honor. Originally, the plan was to construct the shrine at Yuanshan Park (, now part of Taipei Expo Park); however, Nogi's successor

Kodama Gentarō Viscount was a Japanese general in the Imperial Japanese Army and a government minister during the Meiji period. He was instrumental in establishing the modern Imperial Japanese military. Early life Kodama was born on March 16, 1852, in Toku ...

and chief planner

Gotō Shinpei Count was a Medical Doctor with Doctor of Medicine, a Japanese politician and cabinet minister of the Taishō and early Shōwa period Empire of Japan. He served as the head of civilian affairs of Taiwan under Japanese rule, the first direc ...

decided to move it across the

Keelung River The Keelung River () is a river in northern Taiwan. The Keelung River originates in the mountains west-northwest of the town of Jingtong in Pingxi District, New Taipei City, flows down to a rift valley and then flows ENE to Sandiaoling. Then ...

to Jiantan Mountain () for the site's higher elevation. The vantage point would allow the shrine to overlook the entire city, making it symbolic for the Japanese Empire's colonial power. The construction lasted between 1900 and 1901, and the completed shrine was dedicated to Yoshihisa and the . Kanpei-taisha In 1915, a railway station named was placed at the foot of Jiantan Mountain to serve the shrine. On April 12, 1923,

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wi ...

Hirohito, who would become Emperor Shōwa three years later, embarked on a two-week tour of Taiwan. In preparation for his visit to the shrine, was created leading up to the shrine from the city, with the crossing the Keelung River. The shrine was elevated in rank to Grand Shrine (''jingū'') in 1944 ( Shōwa 19) when Amaterasu was enshrined, making it the highest-ranking shrine in Taiwan. The opening ceremony of the new shrine was planned to be on October 28. However, on October 23, 1944, a cargo plane lost control and crashed atop the mountain where the Taiwan Grand Shrine was located, heavily damaging roughly half of the shrine. The shrine was never fully repaired due to Japan's surrender after World War II, and much of the shrine's materials were taken for construction projects elsewhere. In its place, the

was constructed in 1952, where it remains as a prominent landmark of the city.

Gallery

File:Taiwan Grand Shrine.jpg, A

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...

issued by the

of Taiwan Grand Shrine. The Imperial Seal is visible in the upper-right section. File:Taiwan_(Japanese_Colony)_1932_bank_note_-_10_yen_(front).jpg, Taiwan banknotes (10 yen banknotes) during the Japanese colonial era with the Taiwan Grand Shrine printed File:1923年日本皇太子裕仁訪拜臺灣神社_Japanese_Crown_Prince_Hirohito_on_the_way_to_Taiwan_Grand_Shrine.jpg, Prince Hirohito visits the Taiwan Grand Shrine during the Crown Prince Hirohito's visit to Taiwan (April 17, 1923) File:Copper cattle of Taiwan Jinja.JPG, This copper bull was originally located at Taiwan Grand Shrine but was moved to in front of

National Taiwan Museum The National Taiwan Museum (NTM; ), established in 1908, is the oldest museum in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was founded by the colonial government during Taiwan's period of Japanese rule. The museum is located in Zhongzheng District, T ...

after the end of World War II.

References

{{Authority control Jingū Shinto shrines in Taiwan 1901 establishments in Taiwan 1945 disestablishments in Taiwan Taiwan under Japanese rule 20th-century Shinto shrines

History

Gallery

See also

References