CONTEXTS
PRE-SHOW & ACT ONE
PRE-SHOW
RED SUN RISES 1890 - 1930
Before the start of the show, sonic collages of archival music and sounds from the time of 1890's to 1930's ground the audiences into the context of Taiwan in the foyer.
The music and archival sounds used in this section are directly from the Kōminka era, these songs and soundscapes demonstrate the assimilation of languages and rapid industrialisation under Japanese occupation.
The performers passing through every few minutes signalise the passage of time in decades, where significant sounds were carried by them. These performers actions, props echo the documented images of the people at the time.
Some archival sounds such as Diū Diū Tóng-á - a song about the excitement of new railway leading to Taihako (Taipei) and 望春風 Towards Spring’s Wind are note-worthy, as these two songs were later banned, and modified into Japanese war songs under the policies of Kōminka and in 1940's - 1980's, under the influence of White Terror, once again banned due to its localised language and dialect. (see page Archival sounds and Music)
In the foyer, dancers emerge from the audience, they take their layer of clothes off, await for officers to grant them new uniforms - towards a better life, as subjects of the emperor.
During Kominka, Taiwanese were heavily rewarded and coerced to change their names into Japanese names, these pictures demonstrate Taiwanese students taking their ancestral shrines and names out to burn - symbolising getting a new life and new identity, and better future by demonstrating absolute loyalty towards Japan.
Perhaps not so different from today's idea of citizenship - when getting a passport with printed English name from New Zealand, changing of name, identity and allegiance were simply a choice to a better life. "My Mama told me, Ah Gong lived through a time where he was a second-citizen to the Japanese power. Confused by his identity and the new rulers of his land and body, at the age of 9, he traded his name Wang to a Japanese surname, all in hopes for a better future."
SCENE ONE: A BETTER LIFE 1930's
SCENE TWO: 1930
I WAS GIVEN A SEAT NUMBER
AND A MOTHERLAND
Education became an important tool for Taiwanese people to become 'Japanised'. In class, themes around Great East Asia Prosperity Sphere and the ambition towards conquering the western occupied lands of South East Asia became a common theme. Taiwanese children at the time learned that Japan was the Motherland, and that Japanese is the "National Language". All dialects, cultural practices were forbidden during this time of Kōminka movement.
SCENE THREE: 1930's
SIX HUNDRED MILLION COMPARIATS CREATING A NEW ERA
National flags are powerful visual symbols that represent a nation's history, culture, and values. Raising the flag daily serves as a constant reminder of these elements and fosters a sense of national pride and unity. Raising Japanese flags every morning in Taiwan's schools nation-wide promotes a sense of unity under the regime of Japanese empire, and promoting a sense of Japanese identity among the children.
SCENE FOUR:
I COULD NOT REMEMBER YOUR FACES
Peter Burke (2011) “It is important to ask the question, who wants whom to remember what, and why? Whose version of the past is recorded and preserved?” (p. 191).
Mnemonic engineering in Taiwan’s history involves deliberate efforts to shape collective memory, highlighting certain aspects while suppressing others, contributing to the island’s multifaceted and contested identity.
The way we remember, what we can remember collectively as a society is structurally designed by the society as a whole, and the regime in power. Remembering is an act of identity forming. How this identity should be formed, and remembered become crucial for ruling power to curate and craft. I may be thinking that I am remembering my families stories, yet I always remain doubtful of the way I remember, I can never become them in the past, to know, to see, to experience the events and make the same decisions they have made. I remember the memories, yet with time memories turn into history, an event, without a face.
SCENE FIVE: 1940 - 1945
SONG OF THE CIVIL AIR DEFENSE
During World War II, there were air raid precaution educational records that included songs and dancing as a part of training. To the exercises came radio calisthenics.
Radio calisthenics were a powerful tool of Japanese imperialism in Taiwan. They were used to promote Japanese nationalism, loyalty, and militarism among the Taiwanese people. Radio calisthenics were introduced as part of the government's effort to promote physical fitness and patriotism. As the radio calisthenics were often broadcast at times when the Japanese military was engaged in combat. This helped to create a sense of unity and solidarity among the Japanese (Taiwanese-Japanese) people and to boost morale on the home front. The government at the time believed that strong and healthy citizens would be more productive and loyal subjects. The exercises were seen as a way to prepare the Taiwanese students male and females for military service. On top of this the then Japanese colonial government used radio calisthenics to promote the idea of a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. This was a Japanese imperialist ideology that promoted the idea of Japanese dominance over East Asia.
In addition to its imperialist purposes, radio calisthenics also served other purposes. For example, they were seen as a way to improve public health and hygiene, and to promote social harmony and cooperation.
SCENE SIX:
1940's ARMED CHILDREN
LAST HOPE TO FULFILL THE AMBITION OF OUR EMPIRE
After the 1931 Mukden Incident (Manchurian Incident), Taiwan entered a "wartime regime."
Women's physical education classes shifted their emphasis towards national defence and military training. One crucial aspect of this training was the practice of the "naginata," which played a significant role in defensive training. During the occupation, Judo, Kendo, Naginata became instruments of colonial conditioning.
In 1945, the Japanese government promulgated the Voluntary Military Service Law, which gathered men and women of suitable ages into a national army of volunteers. Women were included in the combat training.（Photo credit: The Rise and Fall of Formosa, Japan (edited by Wang Zuo-rong)
SCENE SEVEN:
1945 RAID ON TAIPEI FORBIDDEN MEMORY
"Dodging air raids" is a memory shared by many older Taiwanese who experienced the Pacific War. The raids on Taipei during 1945 were significant events that marked the closing chapters of Japanese occupation on the island. The air raids, carried out by the United States and its allies including Republic of China part of its Pacific War campaign, aimed to weaken Japanese military control and infrastructure in Taiwan.
In 1945, two weeks after the air raid of Taipei, Japan surrendered and gave the island of Taiwan back to the then government - Republic of China (not People’s Republic of China) at the end of World War II. A crucial juncture in the transition of Taiwan from Japanese occupation to a new era under Chinese occupation. In 1949 ROC and its regime- Kuomintang (KMT) were defeated and the government retreated to the island of Taiwan. Since then the memory of Taipei air raid became a forbidden memory - KMT suppressed any discussion of Taiwan's Japanese colonial past. Post-war government of the Republic of China (ROC/KMT) emphasised the Anti-Japanese War in history education, and paid little attention to Taiwan history, the Taipei air raid was never mentioned.
It is important to note that the Taipei air raid is not the only event that has contributed to the confusion about the identities and history of Taiwan. The suppression of Taiwanese history by the ROC government has also played a role. As a result, many Taiwanese people are still learning about the full history of their island and its relationship with the United States and ROC (and today's China).
The identity confusion, fear and colonial burdens and the shift of being an 'enemy of China' to the 'lost descendants of the motherland' saturated the identity confusion many Taiwanese experience for generations to come. Including the disconnection my family experiences between my mother, her father, and myself, born onto the same land yet nations apart.
On 24 February 1938, Taipei sounded first ever air raid siren, Taiwan junior high school students retreating to shelter with teacher in mask.
In the late 1940s, the bombing by the Allies continued. When female students were in class, first aid kits and gas masks were kept close so that they could react to an emergency immediately.
“Curiosity kills the cat and Formosans (Taiwanese):
The photo's association with Taiwanese geopolitics is also noteworthy. Taiwan has a complex relationship with the US military. On the one hand, the US is Taiwan's most important ally against the invasion of China today. On the other hand, the US has also been accused of using Taiwan as a pawn in its geopolitical games. The photo suggests that the US military's attitude towards the Taiwanese people is often dismissive and paternalistic at the time. Whilst in today’s context, the need for US alliance and aids is essential for Taiwan to not be invaded by People’s Republic of China.