Modern Design in Taiwan: The Japanese Period, 1895–1945

Abstract

Introduction The goal of this study is to determine how Taiwanese design culture during the Japanese colonial period became integrated with Western styles and what the major influences in this process were. It takes as its subject the graphic design works of the Japanese colonial period and explores how design forms that were popular in the west from 1920 to 1930 were introduced by the Japanese to Taiwan. This study also investigates how these styles were imitated and transplanted to the island. Also of concern is the influence of these styles on the development and popularization of modern design in Taiwan. One of the primary goals of this paper is to understand the formation and development of modern Japanese design, as well as the process of its adoption. In addition, the process by which Japan learned Western design through the organization and analysis of textual materials is a central question which this research wishes to address. It also analyzes the background of modern Taiwanese design’s development during the Japanese colonial period. Secondly, this collects and examines graphic design materials from the colonial period. It then organizes and analyzes the sample research materials obtained according to style and form. This research contrasts the earliest western and Japanese graphic design styles and, finally, makes specific inductions concerning the influences on the particular characteristics of Taiwanese design’s appearance and style in its development. After the Meiji Restoration began in 1867, the Japanese government pursued an understanding of Western civilization so that it might rapidly increase the scope of its modernization. Catching up with the Western imperial countries was one of the primary objectives of this movement, and in which art, culture, and design were, of course, important dimensions of this reform. The Japanese government wanted to learn and, more importantly, to introduce and promote Western artistic trends to the homeland. After the Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed in 1895, the Qing Dynasty ceded Taiwan to the Empire of Japan, beginning a 50-year Japanese colonial rule of the island that lasted until 1945. During the Japanese colonial period, Taiwan’s political environment was