Continuity and breakdown: Taiwan’s customs service during the Japanese occupation, 1895–1945

Abstract

In 1895, following the defeat of Qing forces in the Sino–Japanese War, Taiwan was ceded to Japan, ending more than 200 years of Qing imperial governance of the island. As Taiwan became Japan’s first colony, its economy not only moved out of the orbit of the Qing Empire into that of Imperial Japan, but its customs system underwent significant change. Since the 1860s, a Western-style customs had been used on the island, but now it switched to the model (itself Westernized) adopted by Japan as part of the Meiji Restoration. In December 1943, in response to the unification of the marine transit system under wartime conditions, the Taiwan Governor-General abolished the customs and replaced it with the new Harbour Bureau. Two years later, in the wake of Japan’s defeat in the Second World War, Taiwan returned to Chinese rule. In December 1945, the late Qing customs institution was reinstated in Taiwan, while the Harbour Bureau, which had operated for less than two years during wartime, was also retained. These two systems were merged into a new mechanism to control Taiwan’s window onto the world; it has remained in use until today. In contrast to the liberalization that marked the administration of the Taiwan coast in the late Qing, the customs during the Japanese occupation was a device used to control the people, goods and ships that flowed into and out of Taiwan. The development of Taiwan’s customs system illustrates the ways in which continuity and breakdown characterize administrative mechanisms in line with the rise and fall of regimes. This article explores the formation of the Japanese customs system from the end of the shogunate to the Meiji Restoration, how it was transplanted to Taiwan, and the nature and significance of that shift.