Celebrating the 400th birthday of Zheng Chenggong (鄭成功), Hirado, Kyushu, July 13-14, 2024

On July 13-14, 2024, A group of over 30 students from Kyushu University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong travelled to Hirado (平戸), Nagasaki Prefecture (in western Kyushu), to attend ceremonies commemorating the 400th anniversary of the birth of Zheng Chenggong (鄭成功). We have organised student field trips to attend these ceremonies for several years now (see earlier posts below), but the 2024 event was special. For the first time in several years, the celebrations were attended by delegates from Fujian Province as well as from Taiwan. And this being the 400th anniversary of Zheng’s birth, the ceremonies this year were on a larger scale than in previous years. In 川内, the village near Hirado where the Zheng Chenggong Shrine is located, the event was marked by a Kamaboko (fishcake) Festival on July 14. Many students commented on the contrasting ways in which different groups at the various ceremonies represented Zheng’s historical significance. As well as being an enjoyable experience, the event also revealed the politics behind the public commemoration of the historical figure of Koxinga / Zheng Chenggong.

The chief dignitaries gather to mark Zheng Chenggong’s 400th birthday, Hirado Cultural Centre, July 13, 2024

The Deputy Mayor of Tainan pays his respects, Hirado Cultural Centre, July 14, 2024

Zheng’s statue is returned to his shrine, Kawachi village, July 14, 2024

A Zheng-themed puppet play, Kamaboko Festival, Kawachi village, July 14, 2024

Several students trying out headgear from Nan’an, Fujian at the Kamaboko Festival, Kawachi

Taiwan Field Trip, February 16-23, 2024

From February 16-23, 2024, we once again took a party of Tokyo University and Kyushu University students to Taiwan on a one-week field trip. Organised in collaboration with Prof. Tomoko Ako of Tokyo University, and with generous assistance from many Taiwanese partners, this year’s field trip took students to the east coast city of Hualien as well as to Taipei. In Hualien, we visited indigenous communities of the Atayal (泰雅族) and Taroko (太魯閣) tribes, and heard very different stories concerning their folk memory of the Japanese colonial period. In Taipei, students were offered a choice of several parallel guided itineraries over three days - with themes including public history / heritage; architecture; civil society activism and more. Partners at National Taiwan Normal University and National Taiwan University generously lent the use of their facilities, and students and/or faculty from both institutions joined one or two of our activities. The field trip culminated with presentations by the students sharing the insights gained from their experience in Taiwan.

Students practice archery at an Atayal village near Hualien

Monkeys in Taroko Gorge

Students share their reflections on the visit to Taroko Gorge

Changing the guard at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial, Taipei

With students at the National Palace Museum, Taipei

Seventh 台湾事情 (Taiwan Today) Symposium, December 2023

In mid-December 2023, the 7th of our annual Taiwan Today (台湾事情) symposia was held online (in Japanese). This year, the theme was ‘Exploring Taiwan History through Architecture and Literature’.

Student field trip to Hirado, July 13-14, 2023

On July 13-14, a group of over 40 students from Kyushu University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong visited Hirado to attend the annual Koxinga Festival and investigate the history of this town, with its strong historical associations with Japan’s overseas trade with East Asia (including Taiwan) and Europe. On the 13th, we were very fortunate to be able to attend a performance of a traditional-style Japanese paper play (紙芝居), relating the story of the life of William Adams, an English captain with the Dutch East India Company who spent the last twenty years of his life in Japan in the early 17th century (and is buried in Hirado). We also visited the Matsuura Historical Museum with its fascinating collection of artefacts from the Edo period and earlier. On the 14th, we attended ceremonies at the Koxinga Shrine, and visited the nearby Koxinga Museum.

The kami-shibai (紙芝居) performance telling the story of William Adams’ life

The students are welcomed by Mr Aki Oseki of the Hirado Relations Association

Honouring Koxinga at the Koxinga Shrine, July 14

Speech by representative of the Tainan City Government

Koxinga’s statue looks on.

Preparing for the ceremonial dance. For a full video, click here.

The ceremonial dance begins. For full video, click here.

The ceremony ends with child drummers.

Our Taiwan Fieldwork resumes - at last! The February 2023 field trip for Tokyo and Kyushu University students

In February 2023, after a Covid-induced hiatus of four years, Tokyo and Kyushu Universities resumed their joint fieldwork visits to Taiwan. Led by Prof. Tomoko Ako of Tokyo University, and Prof. Edward Vickers, Dr. Shiho Maehara and Dr. Kojiro Sho of Kyushu University, around 40 students joined this activity. During our week in Taiwan, we visited various sites in Tainan, including the National Museum of Taiwan Literature (where we were kindly hosted by the Director, Prof. Nikky Lin, and her colleagues), and the National Museum of Taiwan History (where the Director, Prof. Chang Lung-chih and his colleagues kindly hosted us). In Taipei, we visited NGOs involved in campaigning on women’s rights and on LGBTQ issues. We also heard a talk by Matsuoka Matoko (松岡誠) of Kyodo News, and visited heritage sites including the National Taiwan Museum, the National Human Rights Museum and the National Palace Museum.

Professor Nikky Lin, Director of the National Museum of Taiwan Literature, welcomes the group to the museum.

Night-time street-scene in Tainan

Prof.s Vickers and Ako with Prof. Chang Lung-Chih, Director of the National Museum of Taiwan History.

Visit to the Presidential Office Building, Taipei

Listening to a talk by Tsai Kun-Lin, a former prisoner and victim of the White Terror, at the National Human Rights Museum (former Jingmei Prison) on the outskirts of Taipei.

With Huang Chi-Wei and Juan Mei-Ying at the Taiwan Tongzhi (LGBTQ) Hotline Association in Taipei.

The students at the wrap-up workshop at National Taiwan Normal University

The Kyushu Taiwan Studies Program Film Series

In Spring, 2023, we held the third of a successful online series of screenings of Taiwan-related films, followed by discussions with film-makers and other experts. This time, the focus was not only on Taiwan, but on the filmic representation of ‘East Asia’ more broadly.

Posters of the earlier events (in 2021 and 2022) are displayed below.

The 6th 'Taiwan Today' (台湾事情) symposium

Over several weekends in December 2022, the sixth ‘Taiwan Today’ symposium, organised by Kyushu University’s Taiwan Studies Project, was held online. This year, presentations from prominent Taiwanese and Japanese specialists focused on the politics of Cross-Straits Relations.

Topical section of the International Journal of Taiwan Studies on Education

In January 2022, the International Journal of Taiwan Studies published a topical section on ‘Education’, edited by Tzu-bin Lin of National Taiwan Normal University and Edward Vickers of Kyushu University. Their introductory essay can be found here: https://brill.com/view/journals/ijts/5/1/article-p5_5.xml

Taiwan Today (台湾事情) webinars 2022

In January 2022, our annual ‘Taiwan Today’ symposium was held as a series of webinars.

Webinar: The Holocaust and its Heritage - Taiwan, East Asia and Beyond

On June 2, 2021, Kyushu University’s Taiwan Studies Program co-hosted a webinar on the Holocaust as heritage, focusing primarily on Taiwan and East Asia, and involving many international colleagues.