Japanese Cultural Imperialism in Taiwan: Judo as an Instrument of Colonial Conditioning

Abstract

In Taiwan Sports History, Takemura Toyotoshi stated regrettably that Japan had founded a Taiwan Branch of the Nippon Butoku Kai in order to develop the martial art of Judo during the colonization of Taiwan: a simple observation ignoring complex causes and consequences. Ohura, the commissioner of the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai, personally presided over the initiation ceremonies and in 1907 the Judo Department instructor Hajime, a renowned instructor, was appointed to promote Judo throughout the country. Meanwhile, Butokudens as training centres sprang up all over Taiwan with an eventual membership numbering some 70,000. The Taiwan Branch regularly sent athletes to participate in Taiwanese and Japanese martial arts competitions. They invariably did well. What prompted the colonial government to bring Judo from Japan at that time? Why did it flourish? Did the colonial rulers have a political motive? How did it spread throughout Taiwanese society? How did it become a means for garnering medals at international competitions in modern Taiwan? These are questions little asked by modern Taiwanese academics today. They are integral, however, to the political, cultural and social evolution of Taiwan. They are the focus of this essay.