[Taiwan Swift Advances and Culture: Park – 文化と躍進の台灣 bunka to yakushin no Taiwan “Taiwan’s culture and advancement”]
Item
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Title
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[Taiwan Swift Advances and Culture: Park – 文化と躍進の台灣 bunka to yakushin no Taiwan “Taiwan’s culture and advancement”]
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Creator
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Imperial Japan
Unknown photographer
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Date
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1935
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Description
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Color and black & white images printed on postcard, backing imagery and text printed in orange. Text in Japanese (Front: “文化と躍進の台灣”; “南の守護島”; “台中公園”; “陸橋”. Back: “郵便はがき”) and English (Back: “POST CARD”).
Originally produced in Japan or Taiwan. Donated by Paul Barclay to Lafayette College Special Collections. The images ip1835-1839 date to the 1935 (October 10 to November 28) Taiwan Expo held in Taipei.
The Taiwan Exposition was held in Taihoku Prefecture (Taipei) to commemorate the 40th year of colonial rule in Japanese Formosa (Taiwan) and ran for 50 days from October 10 to November 28, 1935. Exhibition sites included Zhongshan Hall in Ximending, Beitou hot springs, and Daitotei (Dadaocheng). The structure depicted in color is a bridge in Taihoku/Taipei on Zhonghua road. This self-evident depiction of Japanese power and influence over Taiwan communicates the empire’s ability to “civilize” a nation that they previously advertised as “untamed” or “savage”. Interestingly, a majority of the postcards depicting individuals are of rural settings and/or indigenous cultures, suggesting a standardized “uncivilized” state of being across the entire Taiwanese population.
To the tourists these postcards were designed for during the early-mid 20th century, it would appear that Taiwan became as prosperous only with the assistance of the Japanese, as suggested by the number of architectural images of Japanese-built structures (which were intentionally presented in an aesthetically pleasing manner compared to the less “refined” rural settings). None of the architectural images overtly indicate Taiwanese presence, particularly those in illustrated postcards, causing the Taiwanese population itself to become dissociated from these structures and locations of “culture and advancement”.
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Rights
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Copyright undetermined
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Bibliographic Citation
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Unknown photographer, [ip1835] [Taiwan Swift Advances and Culture: Park], 1935, ip1835, postcard. Special Collections and College Archives, Lafayette College, Easton, PA.
