Across Borders and Empires: Taiwan

Photos from a Japanese Colony in 1934

By Tom Dorsz

January 14^th, 2026

My father left no notes on his photographs from Taiwan, so I’ve grouped them here. He spent less than a week on the island in 1934, when Taiwan was a colony of the Empire of Japan under Japanese rule since 1895. At that time, Japanese residents made up roughly 3–4% of the population, while the vast majority were Han Chinese, most easily recognized through local dress, language, and customs. There was also a small percentage of indigenous tribes, including the Sediq, the largest. I don't know the ethnic makeup of the people in the photos.

His photographs capture the rhythms of daily life under colonial administration, offering a visual story of Taiwan in the mid-1930s and revealing its landscapes, cities, and people.

Historical background: Japan acquired Taiwan in 1895 after defeating China in the First Sino-Japanese War, making it Japan’s first overseas colony. The colonial government set out to turn Taiwan into a “model colony,” investing heavily in infrastructure such as railroads, ports, irrigation, and flood control. Agriculture, especially rice and sugar, was expanded, along with key industries and state monopolies on commodities like camphor, opium, and tobacco. Public health and education improved, though both were shaped by assimilationist policies that promoted Japanese language, culture, and imperial loyalty.

Beneath this modernization, Japanese rule was often harsh. Resistance was met with force, most notably during the Wushe Rebellion of 1930, which resulted in significant loss of life. Taiwan also became an important source of wealth for Japan, with much of its economy controlled by Japanese interests. The colonial era left a complex legacy: it modernized Taiwan’s infrastructure and institutions while creating an ambivalent identity shaped by both Chinese heritage and Japanese influence. Japanese rule ended in 1945, when Japan surrendered in World War II, and control of Taiwan passed to the Nationalist Chinese government.

Former U.S. Consulate, Tamsui (Taipei), Taiwan, 1934. Closed in 1979 following U.S. recognition of the People’s Republic of China, the building now houses the Taipei Film House.

Ed Dorsz standing in front of the Twatutia Foreign Club, a social club for expatriates in Dadaocheng (then known as Twatutia), Taipei.

Guanqian Road, unpaved but well kept, leads to the National Taiwan Museum in Taipeia's Zhongzheng District in 1934. The building opened in 1915 as the Kodama Gentaro and Goto Shinpei Memorial Museum, a grand symbol of Japanese colonial authority.

Taiwan Governor-General’s Office Building, Taihoku (Taipei), 1934. Built between 1912 and 1919 under Japanese colonial rule. Today it's Taiwan’s Presidential Office Building.

A street scene in Taihoku (Taipei), the Japanese colonial-era name for Taiwan’s capital.

In 1930s Taihoku (Taipei), as in much of China, everyday transportation relied on human and animal power. Rickshaws and sedan chairs as well as bicycles served short trips, while horse-drawn carriages and ox carts handled commerce and freight. For many people, simple wheelbarrows or human-pulled rickshaws remained the most common way to get around, long before motorized transport became widespread.

The women, judging by their dress, may be Japanese, standing on a railroad station platform.

A family travels to market in an open train car, their baskets full of produce, including a small pig.

A small group gathers with a flag, though I don’t know its meaning or purpose.

Jujiro (Shizilu) Station on the Alishan Forest Railway.

The identities and location of this group are unknown.

Suspension Bridges in Taiwan, 1934

Although I don’t know which bridge appears in these photographs, suspension bridges were essential crossings in Taiwan’s rugged river valleys and mountain terrain. In the image on the left, a man laden with supplies crosses a narrow two-plank bridge, supported by what appears to be steel cabling. The photograph on the right gives a clear sense of the bridge’s length.

Several such bridges were in use during this period. The Daxi Bridge in Taoyuan was a bamboo-and-wood footbridge spanning the Dahan River. In eastern Taiwan, the Buluowan (Shanyue) Suspension Bridge in Taroko, completed in 1930, was the longest wire-cable bridge in the Liwu River basin and earned the nickname “Resignation Bridge” for the fear it inspired. Other crossings included the Dazhuoshui Bridge, completed in 1932 over the Heping River; the narrow wooden-plank Kappanzan Suspension Bridge in Chiao-pan-shan Park; and the Balong Iron Wire Bridge, built in 1914 and used for forestry and administration during this era.

In 1934, the images in this journal were simply records of a passing journey. Together, they record life under Japanese colonial rule, its streets, crossings, landscapes, and people. Seen now, they form a visual document of a moment that has since passed, preserved not through narrative but through photographs.

My father, Ed Dorsz, was born in 1906 into a working-class Polish immigrant family in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up with early responsibilities that shaped his sense of purpose and determination. After helping support his family through industrial and clerical work and as a Detroit Police patrolman, he entered the U.S. Foreign Service in 1929, beginning a life of travel and service during some of the most pivotal moments in world history, including World War II, the early years of the Cold War as the Iron Curtain fell and the Berlin Wall was built, the breakup of colonial empires, and upheavals in the Middle East.

Over a 34-year career, he served in postings across the world, from Canada and Poland to Japan, Iraq, Kenya, China, the Belgian Congo, and Germany. An avid photographer, he usually had his camera with him, capturing everyday moments, people, and places that brought each posting to life. These images remain a lasting record of a life spent observing, documenting, and connecting with the world, a personal window into history as he experienced it.