UC Santa Cruz

In 1897, the Japanese government began its effort to make modern Japanese citizens out of Han Taiwanese schoolgirls in its first overseas colony, Taiwan (1895–1945). As a latecomer and the only non-Western empire, Japanese leaders showcased educational efforts in Taiwan to cast Japan as a benevolent colonizer. Educational efforts in Taiwan targeted the masses, including girls, in contrast to most European colonies in Africa and Asia where only elites received education. Through the public education of girls, the Japanese leadership implemented its version of modern female citizenship – “good wives, wise mothers” who were essential for producing loyal and healthy male citizens necessary for building a strong empire. The education of girls was a national and colonial project as Japanese leaders embarked on nation-building and empire-building efforts.

Using a combination of archival research and interviews, this project investigates how Japanese colonial education of girls shaped the daily lives, self-perceptions, and memories of Taiwanese girls. My research suggests three patterns. First, a discrepancy existed between the intentions of the colonists and the impact on the colonized: while the colonial government intended to train Taiwanese girls to become loyal wives and mothers of the Japanese empire, the colonized sought education as a way to increase family income or enhance their daughters’ marriageability. Second, experiences in colonial schools and the impact of public education depended on one’s nationality, gender, and socioeconomic status as Japanese colonial policy restructured and redefined communities and divisions. Finally, the colonial legacy lingers on as Taiwanese women and men used their Japanese educational experiences to construct colonial nostalgia and critique the postwar Chinese Nationalist government. Compared to Chinese and Koreans who suffered from Japanese imperialistic aggression, Taiwanese are known as the most pro-Japan people in East Asia. An examination of schoolgirls’ memories helps explain this phenomenon and furthers our understanding of the current geopolitics in East Asia.