The year of 1895 was the beginning of nearly 50 years of Japanese rule for Taiwan, and Taiwan’s Hakka culture, livelihood, industries, and so forth were all deeply influenced by Japan. This in turn led to Japan’s research into Taiwanese Hakka.

This exhibition aims to show the Taiwan-Japan interaction and exchange from the days of Japanese rule up to the present day. It explores the impact of Japan on Taiwanese Hakka culture, and how Japan shaped the development of this culture, as well as the lives of Taiwanese Hakka living in Japan.

Following their defeat at the First Sino-Japanese War, the Qing Empire ceded Taiwan and Penghu to Japan, a move which sparked the rise of rebel militia all over Taiwan who resisted Japanese rule – historically, this period was called the Japanese invasion of Taiwan. This period of resistance involved nearly all ethnic groups in Taiwan, with the Hakka people contributing the most in terms of manpower and resources. Japanese forces were met with strong resistance led by the Hakka people in the areas of Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Miaoli, and the war began to spread south all the way to the Liudui region in Kaohsiung and Pingtung.

The Japanese invasion of Taiwan impacted areas all over Taiwan for 20 years, and this was the genesis of a sense of Taiwan national consciousness for the groups of people living in Taiwan. Since 1895, Japan began to record its direct contact with the Hakka people of Taiwan.

Japan’s Shaping of and Impression on Taiwanese Hakka

After Japan took over Taiwan, the Government-General of Taiwan sought to have a grasp on the situation in Taiwan on the whole, so as to put in place the foundations and policies for their rule. Research and survey on land, habits, hukou (household registration), forestry, industries and so forth were conducted, and these had an impact on the use of Taiwan’s resources and the development of the various industries. The 1905 hukou survey cemented that Guangdong and Fujian were the denominations used to categorize the language of the Han people and the ethnic categories on the island.

The 50 years of Japanese rule resulted in numerous depictions of Taiwanese Hakka by Japan. These included notions of superiority by the colonizer, ideas to spur economic and industrial strength, plans to win over and achieve assimilation, and descriptions of change as a result of imperial spirit and dedication to war among other factors unique to the situation then.

Industry Layout and Modernization

The Japanese government – in a bid to resolve the issue of a lack of agricultural land, overpopulation, and the tightening of colonial power over their colony – prepared to move south. In the interest of national defense and assimilation, they guided the agricultural immigration of native Japanese. On the other hand, due to the building of railroads in Taiwan as well as the spurring of industrial growth, they pushed a second immigration for the Hakka people in Taiwan, moving them out of the areas of Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Miaoli.

Japan’s Western Culture

Elements of Western culture from Japan – such as new and modern styles of education, Western thinking, sports and physical activities, Western music, the expansion of the record and gramophone industry, Western-styled architecture, the use of modern architecture materials, and so forth – all had an influence on the development of language, music, architecture, literature, and sports among other facets for the Hakka people.

Taiwanese Hakka in Japan

Many Taiwanese went over to Japan during the period of Japanese rule, be it for education or business purposes, or when they were requisitioned by the Japanese authorities to be accompanying laborers to the military. The latter group included Hakka youths. Most were involved in the entertainment, hotel, café, Chinese restaurant, and real estate industries. Some of them became academics and doctors. On top of that, among the post-war second and third generation Hakka people, some became artistes active in the entertainment scene.

The Taiwanese Hakka people all over the parts of Japan formed associations with the Tsung Tsin Association (崇正會) at the helm, so as to care for one another and pass on the heritage of Hakka tradition, or to spur business cooperation. The association also holds meetups with like-minded associations overseas.

Taiwanese Hakka Research by Japanese Academics

During the period of Japanese rule, as a result of referencing records made by Western missionaries, the impact of the hukou surveys, as well as the spread of Lo Hsiang-lin’s (羅香林) later period teachings, the depiction of Taiwanese Hakka by Japanese academics underwent several changes.

In the 1970s, research on Taiwanese Hakka was in its infancy, and with the revival of the economy in post-war Japan, anthropologists came to Taiwan’s Hakka villages and began conducting research, seeing Taiwanese Hakka as a branch of the Han people.