Governor General of Taiwan

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Seal of the Governor General

The Governor General of Taiwan ( Japanese 台湾 総 督 , Taiwan Sōtoku ) was the highest Japanese official at the time of the Japanese rule on Taiwan from 1895 to 1945. He had his seat in Taihoku (Taipei) and was directly subordinate to the central government in Tokyo . He had extensive powers within the colony.

history

Kabayama Sukenori, first Governor General of Taiwan.

After the cession of the island of Taiwan by the Chinese Empire to the Japanese Empire through the Treaty of Shimonoseki as a result of the First Sino-Japanese War , the Japanese government appointed Admiral Kabayama Sukenori on May 10, 1895 as Taiwan's first governor-general. On March 31, 1896, the Japanese parliament passed a law that gave the Governor General of Taiwan far-reaching powers by granting him the right to legislate for the colony and intervene in the judiciary in addition to executive power. This law, mostly referred to as "Law 63" after its number, gave the Governor General, who was solely responsible to the Japanese central government, quasi-dictatorial power on the island.

The Governor's Palace in Taihoku, completed in 1919 and now the Presidential Palace of the Republic of China.

“Law 63”, initially limited to only three years, was extended several times; until 1919, the government only appointed military officers as governors-general. Both measures can be seen as a reaction to the fact that Taiwan was subject to frequent unrest and uprisings at the beginning of Japanese rule.

After the island was largely pacified, during the liberal phase of Japan ( Taishō democracy ) the office of governor general between 1919 and 1936 was continuously occupied by civilians, mostly members of the Japanese upper house . In addition, the powers of the governor general were reduced from 1922 and the laws applicable in Japan itself were increasingly transferred to Taiwan. From 1923, most of the provisions of Japanese civil and commercial law also applied in Taiwan, followed by the Code of Criminal Procedure in 1924. The residents of Taiwan were given, albeit to a very limited extent, participation rights at the local level. The establishment of a Taiwanese parliament, for which Taiwanese civil movements campaigned between 1921 and 1934, did not materialize.

In the course of de-democratization in the mother country and in view of the looming war with China , the military were again appointed to the post of governor-general from 1936. After the capitulation of Japan and the end of the Pacific War , the last Japanese Governor General Andō Rikichi formally handed Taiwan over to Chen Yi as representative of the Republic of China on October 25, 1945 , which brought the island back under Chinese rule.

List of governors

No. Surname Kanji background Term of office
01 Kabayama Sukenori 樺 山 資 紀 Admiral ( Imperial Japanese Navy ) May 10, 1895 - June 2, 1896
02 Katsura Taro 桂太郎 Lieutenant General ( Imperial Japanese Army ) June 2, 1896 - October 14, 1896
03 Nogi Maresuke 乃 木 希 典 Lieutenant General ( Imperial Japanese Army ) October 14, 1896 - February 26, 1898
04th Kodama Gentaro 兒 玉 源 太郎 Lieutenant General ( Imperial Japanese Army ) February 26, 1898 - April 11, 1906
05 Sakuma Samata 佐 久 間 左 馬太 General ( Imperial Japanese Army ) April 11, 1906 - May 1, 1915
06th Andō Teibi 安東貞 美 General ( Imperial Japanese Army ) May 1, 1915 - June 6, 1918
07th Akashi Motojirō 明石 元 二郎 Lieutenant General ( Imperial Japanese Army ) June 6, 1918 - October 24, 1919
08th The Kenjirō 田健 治郎 Member of the Terauchi Cabinet October 29, 1919 - September 2, 1923
09 Uchida Kakichi 內 田嘉吉 Member of the House of Lords of Japan September 6, 1923 - September 1, 1924
10 Izawa Takio 伊澤 多 喜 男 Member of the House of Lords of Japan September 1, 1924 - July 16, 1926
11 Kamiyama Mitsunoshin 上山 滿 之 進 Member of the House of Lords of Japan July 16, 1926 - June 16, 1928
12 Kawamura Takeji 川村 竹 治 Member of the House of Lords of Japan June 16, 1928 - July 30, 1929
13 Ishizuka Eizo 石 塚 英 藏 Member of the House of Lords of Japan July 30, 1929 - January 16, 1931
14th Ōta Masahiro 太 田 政 弘 Director of the Kwantung Lease Area January 16, 1931 - March 2, 1932
15th Minami Hiroshi 南 弘 Member of the House of Lords of Japan March 2, 1932 - May 26, 1932
16 Nakagawa Kenzō 中 川 健 蔵 State Secretary in the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sport, Science and Technology
May 26, 1932 - September 2, 1936
17th Kobayashi Seizo 小林 躋 造 Admiral ( Imperial Japanese Navy ) September 2, 1936 - November 27, 1940
18th Hasegawa Kiyoshi 長谷川 清 Admiral ( Imperial Japanese Navy ) November 27, 1940 - December 30, 1944
19th Andō Rikichi 安藤 利吉 General ( Imperial Japanese Army ) December 30, 1944 - October 25, 1945

literature

  • Harry J. Lamley: Taiwan under Japanese Rule. In: Murray A. Rubinstein (Ed.): Taiwan - A New History. Expanded Edition, ME Sharpe, Armonk (New York) and London 2007, ISBN 978-0-7656-1495-7 .
  • Oskar Weggel : The History of Taiwan. From the 17th century until today . Böhlau, Cologne, Weimar and Vienna 1991, ISBN 978-3-412-02891-6 , pp. 56-84.

Individual evidence

  1. Thomas Fröhlich, Yishang Liu: Taiwan's Immortal Anti-Colonialism : Jiang Weishui and the Resistance to Japanese Colonial Rule . , transcript Verlag, 2014, ISBN 9783839410189 , p. 33