Enshrining Japanese People in Taiwan: Contemporary Anthropology from Gui to Shen

2022/06/23

One day, I received an email from a researcher of Taiwanese indigenous societies saying they had visited a religious facility called Donglong Temple, where Japanese people involved in the Mudan Incident are enshrined as gods. The Mudan Incident refers to the 1871 incident where 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 became 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 today would likely be condemned as violations of international law—and the Japanese who later became rulers, are now being worshipped as gods?

Actually, I had visited temples in Taiwan where Japanese people became gods several times before. Among these gods are some with miraculous powers who grant various wishes. I had felt a vague sense of unease toward 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 "god" became linked with State Shinto and took on the meaning of "heroic spirits" who gave their lives for the country. From that context, it would mean that Taiwanese people also recognized the souls of those who served the Empire of Japan as gods—in other words, that Taiwanese people affirm Japanese colonial rule, and furthermore, that such beliefs are evidence of Taiwanese people being pro-Japanese.

But is that really the case? Why do they enshrine Japanese people as gods? 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 people as objects of worship 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 moved beyond a religious context 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.

Enshrining Japanese People in Taiwan: Contemporary Anthropology from Gui to Shen

Yuko Mio (Editor)

Keio University Press

384 pages, 5,940 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.