Yuko Mio: The Sweetness and Tartness of Pineapples

2021/08/13

For over thirty years since I began live-in fieldwork in Taiwan as a graduate student, I have continued cultural anthropological research on religious beliefs, colonialism, globalization, and other topics.

I cannot forget how surprised I was by the nonsensical reactions when I first started my research; when I said I was going to Taiwan, people would say things like, "Thailand? I heard Thai food is spicy." Recently, however, I often hear people say, "I've been to Taiwan too," or "I recently heard my grandfather was born in Taiwan." Above all, the generous donations from Taiwan during the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake changed many Japanese people's perception of Taiwan. As a Taiwan researcher, I cannot help but be pleased that a relationship of neighbors helping each other has emerged, going beyond just being an easy travel destination.

Recently, amid increasing pressure on Taiwan from China, many Japanese people have been supporting Taiwan by purchasing their pineapples, which China banned from importing. These imported pineapples are exceptionally sweet and can be eaten down to the core; I find myself buying them, turning a blind eye to both the price and my weight.

By the way, unlike those from the Philippines, you might think Taiwanese pineapples are newcomers, but that is actually not the case. You may see pineapples from Okinawa or Yaeyama in supermarkets, and older generations might remember canned pineapples soaked in sweet syrup rather than fresh ones; if you trace their origins, you arrive at Taiwanese farmers and canners. Driven out of Taiwan during the colonial period, they settled in undeveloped areas of Ishigaki Island at the time, overcame malaria and friction with locals, planted pineapples, and manufactured canned goods. It is still not widely known that even after a national border was drawn between Taiwan and Yaeyama following World War II, immigrants and technicians from Taiwan supported the cultivation and processing of pineapples, contributing to the society of Ishigaki Island today.

The reason I have had more opportunities to visit Ishigaki Island in recent years is that I learned about the existence of migrants from my research sites in Taiwan. The Taiwanese community on Ishigaki Island was formed within the context of Japanese colonialism. Furthermore, while the Chinese diaspora are often imagined as merchants or entrepreneurs, Japan has a type of immigrant society that has received little attention until now—agricultural pioneers—which is also interesting from the perspective of Overseas Chinese studies. I would be happy if you could enjoy the sweetness of the pineapples while keeping in the back of your mind that they also contain a "sour" part: a history of hardship resulting from colonial rule and migration.