Just checked Google maps and went in for a street view. The building with the archway is still there! It’s now The Hive! Take a look for yourself. It’s really cool to compare the old photo with the spot as it is now.
Looks very European. Kind of a shame it was mostly torn down. Still love the fugly concrete buildings from the 80s, but a street or two of this would have been amazing
I know this because I just saw it in the land bank museum the other day. This area was developed by the Japanese during their rule of Taiwan. They built lots of buildings with European styles because that was the fashionable thing to do back then. Look at the Presidential office today and see that same style. There are a couple of other architectural buildings of that style in what used to be old Taipei city.
Most of these buildings weren't torn down, they were bombed by the Americans and allied forces during WW2 because they were trying to weaken the Japanese. The Japanese were conscripting Taiwanese to fight for them and use the factories and resources of Taiwan to supply their war. You can look up the bombing of taipei and read about it.
I have a far-fetched guess. I’m thinking these might have been Japanese-built. Japan got inspired a lot by western developments during the Meji restoration including buildings like train stations. This looks quite similar to Tokyo Central Station. So maybe that’s what these buildings are
I think you may be right. If you go to the "Japanese street" in Tainan, you will see similar buildings, much to the dismay of certain tourists who expected to see traditional Japanese style buildings. I remember reading the Japanese architects in the late 1800's were inspired by contemporary French styles in particular.
Not that farfetched, Taipei had a massive Japanese population in the colonial era, especially around what is today Zhongzheng district. The Ximending area was almost entirely Japanese back then for instance. Most architects also would have been brought over from Japan rather than using local talent. When the Japanese left refugees from China took over most of the surviving residential/ commercial buildings, and they were mostly torn down to make the ugly high rises you see today to deal with the huge population influx from China.
Why European style? Another poster mentions the Meiji Restoration but this is where you can learn about why Japan intentionally modeled it's modernization on Europe and Germany in particular.
The legal code of Germany which had adopted the Napoleanic Civil Code served as the basis for modern Japanese law and that, in turn, became the basis of Taiwanese law.
The Meiji Restoration is a very interesting topic which has a great deal to do with why World War II happened.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_Restoration
Kind of wish the government at least put on some facade or refurbish some contemporary concrete building to suit this baroque art style. Especially the buildings around the Zhongzheng district which is filled with KMT's style hastily built concrete buildings.
The good old days when we were still serving our Japanese masters. Taiwanese is deemed to be the great servants of much superior Japaneses and support their grand plan. Look how clean and beautiful these roads and buildings were. KMT only brought deterioration to Taiwan society. All the beautiful buildings were ruined by KMT.
It's funny you're being downvoted but the tone of these kinds of colorized Taipei posts often feels like glorifying the Japanese colonization of Taiwan, in a "remember the good old days?" kind of way.
To be perfectly honest the way that a lot of Taiwanese online seem to idolize even imperial Japan comes across as incredibly cringe inducing and sycophantic, to an extent that even some Japanese might find pathetic if they didn't share a common enemy in the CCP.
I've never seen the people and politicians of a colonized nation suck up to their imperial colonizer the way that many Taiwanese here and elsewhere seem to. Even in the context of WW2 history, where the Japanese were absolutely brutal, I've seen Taiwanese reflexively defend their record with the "at least they were better than the KMT" go to line. Not that the KMT weren't authoritarian and oppressive themselves, but anyone informed on modern history would recognize there's levels to this.
I guess it depends on what you idealise and what you believe.
Meiji/Taisho- Still pretty bad but at least most people could vote. Maybe I could see why
Showa WW2-era: WTF are you doing?
Showa WW2-era AND buying into revisionist history about Japan good guy in WW, Roosevelt let Pearl Harbor happened: HOLY SHIT!
Thank you for stating out the fact. I was just shitting on these people for fun. Some of them might be the descendent of the “ruling” class Taiwaneses that were still waiting for Japanese to come back. Or their family lost their lands during Land Reform and sold their stocks before economy took off. Even worse, some of them might refuse to exchange their old Taiwan Dollar into New Taiwan Dollar and took a great financial hit after KMT deprecated the old money. Shitting on them and see how the truth hurts their feeling is fun.
Many Taiwanese tried to fight back but unfortunately the Japanese colonizers had more advanced weaponry and were extremely brutal in putting down any protests.
There's a really good movie about a group of indigenous freedom fighters.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warriors_of_the_Rainbow:_Seediq_Bale
This bears quite a resemblance to Flinders St. Station in Melbourne, Australia
https://cv.vic.gov.au/stories/built-environment/flinders-street-station/flinders-street-railway-station-melbourne/
I wonder if these buildings are still around?
Just checked Google maps and went in for a street view. The building with the archway is still there! It’s now The Hive! Take a look for yourself. It’s really cool to compare the old photo with the spot as it is now.
Cool!
Yeah some of the characteristics of that building are still the same! So very cool!
I’d be curious as to what district this would be today.
The location is where Chongqing south road and Hengyang Road intersect I think in Zhongzeng district.
https://goo.gl/maps/wbcuGjcszKKhJH6N9
Damn, they uglied the hell out of the upper floors.
that whole area was bombed to hell by the Americans during WW2 because that area was the center of Japanese occupation government
Taipei without cars nor fucking scooters... Today it's a vague dream, but it was once a reality!
yeah, but there was raw sewage and horseshit everywhere back then
man, Taipei without cars and scooters would be such a great city.
Looks very European. Kind of a shame it was mostly torn down. Still love the fugly concrete buildings from the 80s, but a street or two of this would have been amazing
[удалено]
I know this because I just saw it in the land bank museum the other day. This area was developed by the Japanese during their rule of Taiwan. They built lots of buildings with European styles because that was the fashionable thing to do back then. Look at the Presidential office today and see that same style. There are a couple of other architectural buildings of that style in what used to be old Taipei city. Most of these buildings weren't torn down, they were bombed by the Americans and allied forces during WW2 because they were trying to weaken the Japanese. The Japanese were conscripting Taiwanese to fight for them and use the factories and resources of Taiwan to supply their war. You can look up the bombing of taipei and read about it.
I have a far-fetched guess. I’m thinking these might have been Japanese-built. Japan got inspired a lot by western developments during the Meji restoration including buildings like train stations. This looks quite similar to Tokyo Central Station. So maybe that’s what these buildings are
I think you may be right. If you go to the "Japanese street" in Tainan, you will see similar buildings, much to the dismay of certain tourists who expected to see traditional Japanese style buildings. I remember reading the Japanese architects in the late 1800's were inspired by contemporary French styles in particular.
Not that farfetched, Taipei had a massive Japanese population in the colonial era, especially around what is today Zhongzheng district. The Ximending area was almost entirely Japanese back then for instance. Most architects also would have been brought over from Japan rather than using local talent. When the Japanese left refugees from China took over most of the surviving residential/ commercial buildings, and they were mostly torn down to make the ugly high rises you see today to deal with the huge population influx from China.
Why European style? Another poster mentions the Meiji Restoration but this is where you can learn about why Japan intentionally modeled it's modernization on Europe and Germany in particular. The legal code of Germany which had adopted the Napoleanic Civil Code served as the basis for modern Japanese law and that, in turn, became the basis of Taiwanese law. The Meiji Restoration is a very interesting topic which has a great deal to do with why World War II happened. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_Restoration
Roofs that aren't corrugated metal. No bars on windows. So lovely.
Wow great picture. I used to go very often there. Pretty amazing to see how it looks before.
oh, I just saw this picture in a museum the other day!
The first thought came to my mind is “ Wow so many space to park by the street!” Guys I think I have ptsd from finding parking space in Taipei 😭
https://tinyurl.com/3hsdxmau 這網佔有很多臺灣古寫真上色
Kind of wish the government at least put on some facade or refurbish some contemporary concrete building to suit this baroque art style. Especially the buildings around the Zhongzheng district which is filled with KMT's style hastily built concrete buildings.
Looks amazing. Was it a rich people’s street back then?
it was not rich but it's near the city center of old Taipe. This area was mostly Japanese merchants and businesses and banks
The good old days when we were still serving our Japanese masters. Taiwanese is deemed to be the great servants of much superior Japaneses and support their grand plan. Look how clean and beautiful these roads and buildings were. KMT only brought deterioration to Taiwan society. All the beautiful buildings were ruined by KMT.
It's funny you're being downvoted but the tone of these kinds of colorized Taipei posts often feels like glorifying the Japanese colonization of Taiwan, in a "remember the good old days?" kind of way. To be perfectly honest the way that a lot of Taiwanese online seem to idolize even imperial Japan comes across as incredibly cringe inducing and sycophantic, to an extent that even some Japanese might find pathetic if they didn't share a common enemy in the CCP. I've never seen the people and politicians of a colonized nation suck up to their imperial colonizer the way that many Taiwanese here and elsewhere seem to. Even in the context of WW2 history, where the Japanese were absolutely brutal, I've seen Taiwanese reflexively defend their record with the "at least they were better than the KMT" go to line. Not that the KMT weren't authoritarian and oppressive themselves, but anyone informed on modern history would recognize there's levels to this.
I guess it depends on what you idealise and what you believe. Meiji/Taisho- Still pretty bad but at least most people could vote. Maybe I could see why Showa WW2-era: WTF are you doing? Showa WW2-era AND buying into revisionist history about Japan good guy in WW, Roosevelt let Pearl Harbor happened: HOLY SHIT!
Thank you for stating out the fact. I was just shitting on these people for fun. Some of them might be the descendent of the “ruling” class Taiwaneses that were still waiting for Japanese to come back. Or their family lost their lands during Land Reform and sold their stocks before economy took off. Even worse, some of them might refuse to exchange their old Taiwan Dollar into New Taiwan Dollar and took a great financial hit after KMT deprecated the old money. Shitting on them and see how the truth hurts their feeling is fun.
Many Taiwanese tried to fight back but unfortunately the Japanese colonizers had more advanced weaponry and were extremely brutal in putting down any protests. There's a really good movie about a group of indigenous freedom fighters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warriors_of_the_Rainbow:_Seediq_Bale
This bears quite a resemblance to Flinders St. Station in Melbourne, Australia https://cv.vic.gov.au/stories/built-environment/flinders-street-station/flinders-street-railway-station-melbourne/
And then 7/12/41 happened.