Yuko Mio: The Sweetness and Acidity of Pineapples

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

I cannot forget how, when I first started my research, telling people I was "going to Taiwan" would often elicit absurd responses like, "Thailand? I heard Thai food is spicy." Recently, however, I often hear things like, "I've been to Taiwan too," or "I just found out my grandfather was born in Taiwan." Above all, the massive donations from Taiwan during the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake changed many Japanese people's perception of the island. As a Taiwan researcher, I cannot help but be pleased that a relationship of neighbors helping one another 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 the pineapples that China banned from importing. These imported pineapples are exceptionally sweet—you can even eat the core—and I find myself buying them, turning a blind eye to the price and my weight.

By the way, while Taiwanese pineapples might seem like a newcomer compared to those from the Philippines, 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 the undeveloped areas of Ishigaki Island at the time, overcoming malaria and friction with locals to plant pineapples and manufacture 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 of 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 Overseas Chinese 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 fascinating from the perspective of Overseas Chinese studies. I would be happy if you could enjoy the sweetness of the pineapple while keeping in the back of your mind that it also contains a sour part: a history of hardship resulting from colonial rule and migration.