Budokuden

Erlin Martial Arts Hall (二林武德殿)

I can be a patient person, but in some cases, enough is enough.

I’ve had a skeleton of a post about the Erlin Martial Arts Hall in Changhua sitting in my blog queue since 2017, waiting to be published. With little more than a dozen of these historic buildings remaining in Taiwan today, I figured that I’d hold off on publishing anything about this one until it was fully restored and reopened to the public.

My patience though, has sadly worn quite thin.

It got to the point that I thought if I keep waiting for Changhua County to get its act together, I’d likely be a senior citizen by the time they actually get around to restoring this building.

When I originally wrote an article about this Martial Arts Hall more than six years ago, I was still quite new to this whole blogging thing, and was likewise still new to my exploration of Taiwan’s historic buildings from the Japanese era. So, if I compare what I originally wrote years back to what I’m publishing today, it’s not even close.

This article should prove to be a much more well-rounded one that benefits from my years of experience and research on the topic.

That being said, while all of the text has been completely updated, I’m sad to say that the photos I’m sharing right now are the going to be the same as those I had prepared five years ago due to the fact that myself, nor anyone else has really been able to get many photos of the building in recent years.

Essentially, I’m publishing this article today to simply have the information in place for (what I sincerely hope) what will eventually become an updated version, which will be complete with photos of the fully restored building.

Until that happens, I’ll make use of some of the blue prints and designs of the building that have been published by the Changhua County Government to better illustrate some of the things I’m talking about. The work they have done researching the building and it’s architectural design is incredible, and without it, we would know very little about the building, so cheers to them for that!

For those of you who have been following my writing for a while, especially with regard to my Urban Exploration-related work, barriers don’t usually prevent me from getting the photos I need - Sadly though, in the case of this Martial Arts Hall, several factors that have combined to ensure that people like me aren’t snooping around. The most obvious is that building is completely locked up and a barrier has been erected around its perimeter to prevent anyone from getting too close to the historic building.

The other reason is that it is located next door to the Erlin Police Station, which has cameras watching the grounds. So, even though I found a way of getting around the barrier, I wasn't about to go snooping around while the police would be able to see me in plain sight from the police precinct.

So what exactly is the problem with the Erlin Martial Arts Hall and why have we had to wait for so long for it to get fixed up? Well, that’s a bit of a complicated issue, but I’ll do my best to explain it as briefly as possible.

To keep things simple, it’s all about money. Isn’t it always, though?

However, that’s a bit of a simplistic argument as to what’s going on here. As I mentioned earlier, the situation is a lot more complicated than that, and there is an ample amount of blame to be thrown around.

It would be easy to focus our indignation at the Changhua County Government, which as one of the nation’s most cash-strapped municipalities, has had trouble coming up with funding for the restoration of the heritage buildings within its borders - With so little cash to throw around, the county tends to spend it restoring buildings in the coastal town of Lugang (鹿港), one of the areas’s most popular tourist attractions - Obviously hoping that there will be a trickle-down effect that will help bring tourist dollars into the county.

The focus on Lugang obviously has been of great benefit to the people of Lugang, and its tourism sector, but the other townships within the county have more or less been left behind.

The blame here though cannot be placed solely on the local government as there are land ownership issues taking place here that have complicated the matter. Currently there are six land owners, who, in addition to the government own pieces of the land where the Martial Arts Hall is located.

Several years ago, the landowners got together and made an offer to sell the land to the government for NT $850 million (about $2.5 Million USD), which is an outrageous amount of money for the 400 square meter plot of land.

Link: 恢復二林武德殿風采 地主開價8500萬 (自由時報)

Unable to fork over so much of the public’s funds for the land, the Martial Arts Hall’s designation as a 'protected historic site’ ensures that the land owners are also handcuffed, and are unable to do any sort of construction on the land, making the issue a contentious one for all parties involved.

The only option at this point is for the landowners to sell the property to the government, but with the government refusing to pay the asking price, both parties have decided to just wait the other out to see who concedes first.

The most dangerous aspect of this financial stalemate is that if the landowners eventually get tired of waiting for the government to pay up, they may just enlist the assistance of local gangs to have the buildings burnt to the ground, which is something that has sadly become far too common as of late when it comes to historic and protected properties.

For those of us who care about these heritage buildings, the only thing we can do is continue being patient. However, as I mentioned earlier, I’ve grown tired of seeing this article sitting in my blog queue.

With all of that being said, on May 18th, 2023, a ceremony was held in front of the Martial Arts Hall marking the start of the restoration of the building, with several local figures in attendance. It seems like the saga of the Erlin Martial Arts Hall’s status has been resolved, and work will soon get underway to have it opened up as a cultural park, and tourist destination within the downtown core of the historic village.

Link: 彰化文化資產容積轉移首例 二林武德殿等20年今動工整修 (lian he聯合新聞網)

I will make sure to keep up with any of the updates regarding the hall’s restoration, and when it’s opened, I’ll be sure to make my way down to visit.

Before I start explaining the history of the Martial Arts Hall, it’s important to note that I’ve streamlined the way I write about these spaces.

In this article, I’m only going to focus about the history and architectural design of this specific building - So, in order to keep it shorter, I’ve removed some of the original elements that focused on the ‘general purpose’ of these Martial Arts Halls - Even though it should be fairly obvious that this building was once a space for practicing Martial Arts, the original intent and the significance of these buildings requires a bit more reading to understand the role that they played in communities across Taiwan.

To better explain all of that, I’ve put together a general introduction to Taiwan’s Martial Arts Halls, detailing their purpose, their history and where you’re still able to find them today.

If you haven’t already, I highly recommend reading that article before continuing. 

Link: Martial Arts Halls of Taiwan (臺灣的武德殿)

If you’re up to date with all of that, let’s just get into it!

Erlin Martial Arts Hall (二林武德殿)

Unlike many of the other Martial Arts Halls that I have written about in the past, the Erlin branch is probably one of the few remaining Martial Arts Hall that requires an introduction to the town where it was constructed; Even for most locals, if you bring up the name ‘Erlin’ (二林), it’s unlikely that they’ll know where it is, and even more unlikely that they’ve ever been there. So, allow me start by explaining a bit of the geography of the area, which should shed a bit of light as to why a Martial Arts Hall was constructed there.

Known these days as Erlin Township (二林鎮), it’s the largest of Changhua County’s administrative districts, with an area of 92.8578 square kilometers. Erlin features a relatively small urban sprawl surrounded mostly by farmland, which is where the town’s economy has historically been focused. With massive rice, grape and dragonfruit fields, the area isn’t particularly known for its tourist crowds, so most people tend to pass through on their way to other destinations in the area.

Originally settled by the Tackay Tribe (二林社), a group of Taiwan’s Plains Indigenous peoples (平埔族), known as the Babuza (巴布薩族), the area is and always has been an important farming community throughout the history of human settlement on the island.

During the Dutch period, a considerable amount of trade between the Dutch and the Indigenous people took place between the two groups, resulting in the Dutch constructing berths for ships along the coast. However, after the expulsion of the Dutch by Koxinga’s forces, the situation remained more or less the same for the Babuza people, who maintained their control over the land from the late 1600s until 1895, as they continued their trade with the Han people.

All of that came to an end with the arrival of the Japanese, who quickly got to work at ensuring that they maintained complete control over the island, often with violent means of suppression, especially when it came to the indigenous people.

By the 1920s, ‘Jirin (二林街 / じりんがい), as it had become known to the Japanese was designated a township within Hokuto County (北斗郡 / ほくとぐん) within greater Taichu Prefecture (臺中州 / たいちゅうしゅう).

It was during this period that the Japanese had constructed numerous Sugar Plantations (糖廠) around the island, with the vast majority of them located within central and southern Taiwan where the temperate climate allowed for massive fields of sugar cane to be cultivated.

With over 3000 kilometers of sugar-railways across the island, Erlin just so happened to find itself located in one of the geographic hot-spots, and even though the factories were somewhat of a distance away, the town benefitted economically through the industry.

Japanese-era map of Erlin with the location of the Martial Arts Hall marked in red.

Much of Erlin’s urban development started during this period with the colonial government constructing a number of large administrative buildings, schools, hospitals and clinics, and modern markets within the ever-expanding downtown core of the town. In 1928, construction started on the Erlin Police Precinct (北斗郡警察課二林分室), located within the administrative district of the town, close to Erlin Public School (二林公校).

Located on a corner that shared an intersection with a hospital, the town hall and a long row of administrative housing, the police precinct would have been situated within what would have been considered the ‘Japanese’ area of town, with some separation from the local farming community.

In 1900 (明治33年), a few years after the Japanese took control of Taiwan, the first Martial Arts Halls on the island started being constructed, with the first branches in Taipei, Taichung and Tainan. Over the years, the ‘Taiwan Butokuden Branch of the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai’ (大日本武德會臺灣支部) slowly expanded across the island, but one of the key developments with regard to these buildings came in 1920 (大正9年), when the organization was given a directive (and more importantly funding) from the government to start construction on these buildings within each of Taiwan’s prefectures towns, villages and boroughs.

This resulted in the construction of about two hundred of them across the island (and in Penghu, too) between the 1920 and the early 1940s.

Of those two-hundred halls, thirty were constructed within Taichu Prefecture (臺中州), an area that spanned modern day Taichung City (臺中市) Changhua County (彰化縣) and Nantou County (南投縣). They consisted of two Prefectural Branches (支部), eleven town branches (支所), twelve borough branches (分會), two prison branches (刑務所) and three school branches (學校分會).

That being said, the area we know today as ‘Changhua County’ was only home to five branches: Lugang Martial Arts Hall (鹿港武德殿), Changhua Martial Arts Hall (彰化武德殿), Yuanlin Martial Arts Hall (員林武德殿), Beidou Martial Arts Hall (北斗武德殿) and Erlin Martial Arts Hall (二林武德殿). With the exception of the Martial Arts Hall in Lugang, which was constructed in 1911 (明治44年), the rest were constructed between 1930 (昭和5年) and 1933 (昭和8年).

However, one of the important things to remember is that even though a number of Martial Arts Halls were constructed across Taiwan during the early 1930s, not all of them were equal. As I noted above, the halls adhered to a hierarchical organizational structure which helped to determine their size, depending on their location and their function.

The Changhua Martial Arts Hall, for example was classified as a ‘city-level’ hall as it was constructed within Shoka (Changhua City / 彰化市 / しょうかし). A bit lower on the ladder would have been the Yuanlin and Beidou Halls, both of which were county-level (郡市級 / 支所), while the Erlin Martial Arts Hall would have found itself at the lowest level as a village-level branch (街庄級 / 分會).

Not only did these classifications help to determine the size of the buildings, but also the amount of money that would have been invested in their construction. According to historic records, the Changhua Martial Arts Hall was afforded a budget of ¥27,000, while the Erlin Martial Arts Hall had a budget of ¥7500. If we were to calculate these figures in the rates of the day, the construction costs would would be approximately ¥40.2 million ($290,000 US), and ¥11.1 million  ($80,000 US) respectively.

Note: Calculating pre-war Japanese currency against today’s standards is somewhat of a difficult process given that most records only date back to the restructuring of the Japanese economy and inflation in the post-war period. To calculate the number above, I used the following formula: In 1901, corporate goods price index was 0.469 where it is currently 698.6, meaning that one yen in then is worth 1490 yen now. (217,000 x 1490 = 323,330,000)

Link: 昔の「1円」は今のいくら?1円から見る貨幣価値·今昔物語

Suffice to say, with a considerable amount of economic development taking place within Erlin in the early 1930s, the construction of the town’s Martial Arts Hall was a no-brainer for the local authorities. Construction on the building started in 1932 (昭和7年), at a time when the neighboring police precinct was still under construction.  Located to the side of the police station, and close to the Erlin Public School, the hall, like many of its contemporaries was tactically located in a neighborhood where it could have the most effect. The building would serve as a training centre for the local police as well as providing instruction to the children as well.

Interestingly, despite both buildings being constructed almost simultaneously, the police station took a modernist approach to its architecture with an Art-Deco Baroque design. The Martial Arts Hall however, was a no-fuss traditional Japanese style building - and even though it is the smallest of all of the Martial Arts Halls that remains in Taiwan today, its architectural beauty is on par with the rest of them.

On August 4th, 1933 (昭和8年), the Jirin Budokuden (二林武德殿 / じりんぶとくでん), otherwise known as the ‘Erlin Martial Arts Hall’, officially opened for the instruction of Judo (柔道) and Kendo (劍道).

Initially the hall served as a space for the local police to hone their martial arts skills. However, as the Japanese became engaged in the Pacific War and the expansion of their empire, the colonial government in Taiwan instituted a policy of forced assimilation, known as kominka (皇民化運動), which forced the people of Taiwan to take Japanese names, speak only Japanese, and contribute to the empire through military service.

Taking effect in 1938 (昭和13年), the nearly two-hundred Martial Arts Halls across Taiwan played a major role in the assimilation process by promoting ‘Japanese Spirit’ (大和魂), ‘Martial Arts Spirit’ (尚武的精神) and ‘Patriotism’ (愛國的精神) and from then on, the scope of the instructors at the Martial Arts Hall expanded from simply training the police to providing classes to the general public and the nearby Public School as well. They were also tasked with planning speaking events that were meant to promote nationalist sentiment through the propaganda that was disseminated by the colonial government.

Nevertheless, the Second World War came to a conclusion less than a decade later, and as part of their surrender, the Japanese were forced to give up control of Taiwan (and any other territory gained through militarism).

Control of Taiwan was ambiguously awarded to the Republic of China, who sent a governor and military forces to Taiwan in 1945 (昭和20年) in order to set up shop. However, even though the Second World War had come to an end, the Chinese Civil War between the Nationalists and the Communists raged on. It was during this time that administrative control of Taiwan had become an authoritarian mess, resulting in an infamous event that would become known as the 228 Incident (二二八件事).

With the Communists establishing the People’s Republic of China in 1949, President Chiang Kai-Shek (蔣介石) was forced to flee to Taiwan with the remnants of his army, and anyone still loyal to the Republic of China.

The sudden influx of around two million foreign refugees created a housing crisis in Taiwan, and even though the Japanese had left all of their infrastructure intact, the first few years were a nightmare of governance.

Nevertheless, for the next half century, the Erlin Martial Arts Hall maintained its role as a Martial Arts training center with the Republic of China’s police taking over.

One of the areas that wasn’t entirely clear with regard to my research about the Martial Arts Hall is what happened when the Erlin Police Precinct was expanded in the early 1970s. What is clear is that when the expansion project took place, the lack of space in front of the hall caused some issues, so they ended up removing the ‘hafu porch’ that lead to the front door of the hall.

Digging a bit deeper, I discovered that the police station essentially expanded into an ‘L-shaped’ structure that completely blocked the Martial Arts Hall from view.

Even though the Martial Arts Hall remained as a training center for the police, it had essentially disappeared from the view of the general public for the next few decades after the expansion.

By 1999 (民國88年), the buildings utilized by the police in town were being reconstructed, so for a short time time, the Martial Arts Hall was used as an office space prior to their migration to a new building.

With the buildings that surrounded the Martial Arts Hall abandoned, it took a few years before the were demolished, thankfully, with careful consideration taken to preserve the condition of the hall, which had been recognized as a protected heritage property a few years earlier.

After being hidden from sight for almost four decades, the Martial Arts finally made its reappearance in 2008 (民國97年), but as mentioned earlier, its status remains a contentious one as it is a protected heritage property that just so happens to sit on land that is considered part private and part public.

This has understandably frustrated all of the parties involved, and is the main reason why the hall has yet to be restored, like so many of its contemporaries across the country. While I may be accused of a bit of bias on the subject, it really does come across as a missed opportunity for Erlin as the town has recently restored several other historic Japanese-era properties in the downtown area in addition to the promotion of its links to the historic sugar railway. These days there is more and more for tourists to see when the visit the area, so one would hope that at some point there will be a favorable solution to this stalemate.

Before I move onto the architectural design of the Martial Arts, I’m going to provide a brief timeline of events detailing the history of the hall.

Erlin Martial Arts Hall Timeline

  • 1895 (明治28年) - The Japanese Colonial Era begins in Taiwan and the ‘Dai Nippon Butoku Kai was formed in Japan in order to instruct ordinary citizens in the various Japanese Martial Arts disciplines.

  • 1900 (明治33年) - The first Martial Arts Halls start to appear in Taiwan with branches in Taipei, Taichung and Tainan.

  • 1920 (大正9年) - A governmental directive is made to construct Martial Arts Halls in each of Taiwan’s prefectures, towns, villages and boroughs.

  • 1920 (大正9年) - Due to the Colonial Government’s administrative redistricting plan, Erlin is upgraded into Jirin Town (二林街 / じりんがい), part of Hokuto County (北斗郡 / ほくとぐん) in Taichu Prefecture (臺中州 / たいちゅうしゅう).

  • 1928 (昭和3年) - Construction on the Erlin Police Precinct (北斗郡警察課二林分室) officially starts with a budget of ¥17,000.

  • 1932 (昭和7年) - Construction on the Erlin Martial Arts Hall with a budget of ¥7500 and is located next door to the police station.

  • 1933 (昭和8年) - Construction on the hall is completed in July and the munafuda (棟札 / むなふだ) raising ceremony is held a month later on August 4th, marking the opening of the hall.

  • 1936 (昭和11年) - The Colonial Government’s “Japanization” or ‘forced assimilation’ Kominka (皇民化運動) policy comes into effect in Taiwan.

  • 1938 (昭和13年) - Jirin Public School’s Auditorium (二林公學校禮堂) is constructed and a number of ‘kominka’ events take place within, including Judo classes provided by the instructors from the Martial Arts Hall for the students of the school.

  • 1945 (昭和20年) - The Second World War comes to a conclusion and Japan is forced to surrender control of Taiwan.

  • 1949 (民國38年) - Chiang Kai-Shek and the government retreat to Taiwan and bring with them several million refugees displaced by the Chinese Civil War.

  • 1972 (民國61年) - Due to the reconstruction of the Erlin Police Precinct, and a lack of space caused by a number of buildings constructed around the perimeter of the Martial Arts Hall, the traditional front porch in the front of the building is removed.

  • 1976 (民國65年) - The ceiling within the building is reconstructed and modern lighting is installed within the interior.

  • 1999 (民國88年) - Due to a lack of office space within the Erlin Police Precinct, the Martial Arts Hall starts being used as an administrative space for the local police.

  • 2004 (民國93年) - The Martial Arts Hall is officially recognized as a Changhua County Protected Heritage Site (彰化縣歷史建築)

  • 2007 (民國96年) - All of the buildings that were constructed around the Martial Arts Hall are carefully demolished, allowing the hall to be viewed by the general public for the first time in decades.

  • 2023 (民國112年) - Restoration of the building is set to get underway with public funds allocated for the creation of a culture park with a focus on the Martial Arts Hall.

Architectural Design

Over the year or two, I’ve written about two of Taiwan’s other smaller Martial Arts Halls, the Taichung Martial Arts Hall (臺中刑務所演武場) and the Hsinchu Prison Martial Arts Hall (新竹少年刑務所演武場), which share a number of similarities with this hall with regard to its architectural design. Each of the three buildings were constructed in the early 1930s, and although two of them were used as extensions of the Japanese-era prison system, in a lot of ways the other two restored halls offer a glimpse into how the Erlin Martial Arts Hall might appear when it is restored. So, today I’ll start by describing their similarities and end with their subtle differences.

One of the defining characteristics of the early Showa-era, the architectural design of these Martial Arts Hall was at heart, traditionally Japanese, but there were also considered east-west fusion-style buildings (和洋混合風格). Constructed with a mixture of brick, wood and reinforced concrete, the hall was constructed during a period of the colonial era where the colonial government had learned through trial and error that any building constructed in Taiwan would have to be able to withstand earthquakes, typhoons and termites. This approach led to traditional Japanese-style buildings having to adapt to a bit of modernity in order to ensure their longevity.

Nevertheless, keeping with tradition, the hall was designed using the irimoya-zukuri (入母屋造 / いりもやづくり) style of architectural design. I’m sure not a lot of you are very familiar with the term, so what that means is that the design features a variation of the ‘hip-and-gable’ roof. Similarly, the base of the building, known as the ‘moya’ (母屋) was constructed in a way that even though it is much smaller than the roof, it is easily able to support its massive weight.

Suffice to say, if you’ve ever seen a Japanese building with a roof that eclipses the size of the base by quite a bit, it’s very likely designed in the irimoya-style, or at least in one of its variations.

Similar to the two buildings mentioned above, the exterior of the building consists of washed stone, giving each of them their beige-like color. Likewise, given that these halls required bouncy floors, it was constructed with elevated footings that featured an intricate system of springs below the floor (彈簧地板), which allowed it to better absorb the shock of people constantly being thrown around while practicing Judo.

The original network of springs installed beneath the floor of the building.

The elevated base featured a number of covered ventilation holes, which would have allowed people to climb under to repair any broken springs, while also keeping animals and termites out.

Despite being considerably smaller than the two halls mentioned above, another one of their design similarities is that the mixture of brick and reinforced concrete allowed for a number of large wooden-panel glass windows on every side of the building.

Even though access to the building has been blocked off, blue prints show that its design is essentially the same as every other Martial Arts Hall in Taiwan. The interior space was partitioned into two sides, with the west side reserved for Judo and the east side for Kendo.

Located in the center-rear of the room (directly facing the front door) you would have found a small space reserved for a shrine (神龕), and likely some decorative additions in addition to any trophies or awards won by members of the dojo. 

Interior floor space of the Martial Arts Hall

Now, let’s talk about two of the most important design differences from this hall, and the two mentioned above. Both of which, I’m sure you’ll agree make this one considerably more beautiful than the other two.

First, let’s start out with the piece that’s missing, the front porch. Known in Japan as a ‘kurumayose porch’ (車寄 / くるまよせ) porch, it was essentially a beautifully designed covered-porch that opened up to the front door of the hall. This particular design feature is a popular style of design indicative of Japanese architecture dating back to the Heian Period (平安時代) from 794-1185. While these porches are more commonly associated with Japanese castles, temples, and shrines, its inclusion makes the building stand out a lot more thanks to its addition.

As is the case with this style of porch, it blended in really well with the roof, creating a beautiful 3D-like curvy design. Sadly, as I mentioned earlier, it was removed in 1972 to make way for the construction of a building in front of the hall. On the other hand, we’re actually quite fortunate (compared to the Hsinchu Prison Hall) in that there are both well-preserved blue prints and photos of this hall, which should make reconstructing the porch relatively easy when the time comes.

The most obvious design difference between the Erlin Martial Arts Hall and the other two is with the design of the roof - In this case, the roof is the more traditionally designed and aesthetically-pleasing of the three, giving the building a lot of character. Amazingly, after almost a century, and the demolition of the buildings that surrounded the hall in 2008, the roof remains in pretty good shape.

Expanding on my explanation of irimoya-design earlier, the iconic ‘hip-and-gable roof’ that comes with this design doesn’t necessarily mean that the roof of each building constructed in this style will always appear the same. Introduced to Japan in the sixth century, a number of variations have appeared over the years, making the specific shape of the ‘hip’ and the ‘gable’ important.

Link: Irimoya-zukuri (JAANUS) | East Asian Hip-and-Gable Roof (Wiki)

In this case we have a combination of kirizuma-zukuri (切妻造) and yosemune-zukuri (寄棟造), which is essentially a fusion of a ‘two-sided’ upper ‘hip’ section and a four-sided’ lower ‘gable’ section.

Looking directly from the front, the two-sided hip section of the roof, which is designed to look like the Chinese character “入,” or an ‘open book’, rises to its apex, and extends beyond the base of the building at the bottom. Supporting that part of the roof is the four-sided gable section below, which covers the base of the building and is where you’ll find the majority of the roof trusses that help to distribute the weight of the upper section and keep everything stabilized.

The shape of the roof however is not the only complicated part of its design. There are also a number of decorative elements that also play a very functional role. Using a diagram provided below, I’ll explain each of these important pieces and their purpose.

  1. Hiragawara (平瓦 / ひらがわら) - A type of arc-shaped clay roofing tile.

  2. Munagawara (棟瓦 / むながわらあ) - Ridge tiles used to cover the apex of the roof.

  3. Onigawara (鬼瓦 / おにがわら) - Decorative roof tiles found at the ends of a main ridge.

  4. Nokigawara (軒瓦 / のきがわら) - The roof tiles placed along the eaves lines.

  5. Noshigawara (熨斗瓦 / のしがわら) - Thick rectangular tiles located under ridge tiles.

  6. Sodegawara (袖瓦 / そでがわら) - Cylindrical sleeve tiles

  7. Tsuma (妻 / つま) - The triangular-shaped parts of the gable on the roof under the ridge.

  8. Hafu (破風板 / はふいた) - Bargeboards that lay flat against the ridge ends to finish the gable.

Link: 台灣日式建築的屋瓦 (空間母語文化藝術基金會) 

Finally, two of the special features with regard to the roof and its decorative elements are the ‘onigawara’ end tiles, which are beautifully decorated with the Chinese character for ‘budo’ (武), which is a bit of a deviation from tradition, but makes the building more easily identifiable.

Likewise, within the triangular ‘tsuma’ (妻) on the east and west ends of the roof, you’ll find what is known as gegyo (懸魚 / げぎょ), which are simply decorative wooden boards in the shape of a ‘hanging fish’ that are used as charms against fire, similar to porcelain dragons you’ll find on the roofs of Taiwanese temples.

Unfortunately, with the restoration of the building yet to take place, the missing front porch, and the inability to gain access to the interior, it’s difficult to say much else with regard to the buildings architectural and interior design.

I might be beating a dead horse here, but I’m eagerly anticipating visiting the area again in the relatively near future to check out the fully restored building. Fortunately, as I mentioned earlier, the original blueprints and designs for the hall have been well-preserved, and there are also a number of historic photos of both the exterior and interior that will greatly assist the restoration team when the time comes. So I’m very much looking forward to the future of this hall, which should be a bright one!

Getting There

 

Address: No. 110, Section 5, Douyuan Rd, Erlin Township, Changhua County (彰化縣二林鎮斗苑路五段110號)

GPS: 23.899570, 120.369830

Erlin Village (二林鎮) is located in south-western Changhua County (彰化縣), close to the border with Yunlin County (雲林縣). Considered a relatively rural town, getting there through public transportation certainly won’t be as convenient as it would be for somewhere like Lugang (鹿港).

It is not impossible though, so if you don’t have access to your own method of transportation, you still have some options.

If you have your own method of transportation, I’m not going to spend too much time offering directions here. Simply input the address or the GPS coordinates provided above into your GPS or Google Maps, and you’ll have your route mapped out quite easily for you.

Public Transportation

While getting to Erlin might be a bit confusing for some, one of the best things about taking public transportation to the area is that the local bus station is located directly next door to the Martial Arts Hall.

There are, of course a number of options for getting to the area, but you’re probably going to have to use a combination of train and bus to get there more conveniently. Below, I’ll provide explanations for how to get to Erlin from each of the closest train stations.

Link: Erlin Bus Station Timetable (員林客運)

Changhua Train Station (彰化車站)

From Changhua Train Station you’ll transfer to Yuanlin Bus (員林客運) bus #6713 or #6714. The shuttle bus doesn’t come that frequently, so you’ll want to be mindful of the time when you go.

From Changhua Station you also have the option of taking Changhua Bus #19 (彰化客運) directly to Erlin, but there are only ten departures per day, so, once again, you’ll want to keep track of the schedule, especially when you’re in Erlin so you won’t miss your bus back to wherever you’re headed.

Link: Yuanlin Bus #6713/6714 schedule | Changhua Bus #19 (彰化 - 二林)

Yuanlin Train Station (員林車站)

Located to the south of Changhua Train Station, your next option is to take the train to Yuanlin Train Station (員林車站) and from there taking Yuanlin Bus #6707 to Erlin. There are only a few shuttles every day, though, so this is probably not your best option.

Link: Yuanlin Bus #6707 (員林 - 二林)

Tianzhong Train Station (田中車站)

If you’re traveling north into Changhua, stopping at Tianzhong Train Station (田中車站) is one of your first options for getting to Erlin. From the station you’ll transfer to Yuanlin Bus (員林客運) bus #6709. However, the shuttle bus comes even less frequently than the option above, so you’ll want to be mindful of the time when you go.

Link: Yuanlin Bus #6709 (田中 - 二林)

Changhua High Speed Rail Station (彰化高鐵站)

Despite being named “Changhua” Station, the High Speed Rail station isn’t actually located within Changhua City, it’s located within Tianzhong Village (田中鎮). If you’re coming from a much further distance, the High Speed Rail is a pretty good option for getting to the area, but you’ll have to transfer from the HSR Station to a shuttle bus that takes you Tianzhong Train Station, and then you’ll follow the directions above and take Bus #6709.


Obviously, as it stands right now, I can't really recommend a trip all the way out to Erlin to see the Martial Arts Hall. There are of course a few other interesting tourist destinations in Erlin, but if you find yourself in Changhua, there are probably some better places for you to spend your time.

Hopefully though, at some point the ownership issues will be resolved and the government can start restoring the Hall to its original condition. When that time finally arrives, I'll make another trip down to check it out and will quickly update this article.

References

  1. 二林武德殿 (Wiki)

  2. 臺灣的武德殿 (Wiki)

  3. 二林鎮 | 彰化縣 (Wiki)

  4. 武德會與武德殿 (陳信安)

  5. 二林武德殿 (國家文化資產網)

  6. 彰化-二林 武德殿 (Just a Balcony)

  7. 二林武德殿:日本武士精神的遺跡 (京築居)

  8. 失而复得的大唐建筑-台湾武德殿 (Willie Chen)

  9. 台灣武德殿發展之研究 (黃馨慧)

  10. 武德殿研究成果報告 (高雄市政府文化局)

  11. 二林武德殿調查研究暨修復計畫 (黃俊銘 / 中原大學)


Xinhua Martial Arts Hall (新化武德殿)

GTJ-2021-0205-50.jpg

Well, it’s certainly been a minute! 

Years ago, when I first started on this quest to document historic buildings from the Japanese Colonial Era, I started out with the Longtan Martial Arts Hall, and then from then on set out to visit them all. 

With well over a dozen of these former Martial Arts Halls scattered throughout the country, I knew that getting to all of them would end up becoming a long-term project, but when I first started, I never expected that a global pandemic would slow me down. 

The year 2020 ended up being a bit of a miss in terms of travel, and when I did find an opportunity to take a vacation, I instead chose to head over to the East Coast to relax on Orchid Island and hung out in Taitung and Hualien for a couple of weeks.  

Shortly into the new year however, the weather here in northern Taiwan was miserable for several weeks, with a constant barrage rain and near-freezing temperatures. It was so cold that one night I actually had to wear socks to bed for the first time since I left Canada!

After a few weeks, I had had enough and abruptly decided that I’d take a day to head down south to check out one of the few Martial Arts Halls that had so far evaded me.

So I rented a car, woke up really early in the morning and headed down to Tainan’s historic Xinhua District to check out its Old Street, and its newly restored Martial Arts Hall. If you’ve ever read anything about this particular Martial Arts Hall in the past, you’re probably aware that people often throw around the word “unique” (唯一), whenever they mention it. And yeah, they’re right. 

The Xinhua Martial Arts Hall is unique in a lot of ways, but if you want to know how, you’re going to have to keep reading to find out! 

Before I get into it though, if you haven’t already, I recommend stopping here and first going through my introduction to Taiwan’s Martial Arts Halls, which provides an overview of the purpose of the buildings, their history and where else you’re able to find them around the country! 

Link: Martial Arts Halls of Taiwan (臺灣的武德殿)

If you’re already up to date with all of that, let’s just get into it! 


The Xinhua Martial Arts Hall (新化武德殿) 

As mentioned above, I’ll be introducing one of the ‘most unique’ of Taiwan’s remaining Martial Arts Halls, the (second generation) Xinhua Martial Arts Hall, formerly known as the Shinka Budokuden (新化武德殿 / しんかぶどう). 

The Xinhua Martial Arts Hall is located within the historic downtown core of Tainan’s Xinhua District, near its popular Old Street (新化老街). Since the Colonial Era, Xinhua, which was then known as “Shinkagun” (新化郡 /しんかぐん) was a prosperous community and an important economic gateway to the mountains of Tainan, making most of its riches through the wholesale trade of fruit. The history of the village of course dates back much further than the colonial era (1895-1945), but the vast majority of its modern development more or less took place during that period and shaped the town as we know it.

These days, pretty much everywhere you go in town, you can see the evidence of the colonial era - from the urban design of the the streets, to the baroque architecture on the Old Street, and the numerous Japanese-style buildings left behind. 

Link: Xinhua Old Street 新化老街 (Spectral Codex)

The rear of the building.

Xinhua’s historic street, like many of Taiwan’s popular “Old Streets” (老街), beautifully displays a variety of ‘Baroque Revival’ and ‘Art Deco’ architectural designs, with beautiful facades dating back to the 1920s.

In almost every case, the historic streets located throughout the country are a reflection of prosperity, and the sense of modernity expressed by the architects of that era, but is also one of the reasons why this Martial Arts Hall is considered so unique.

These days, apart from the Old Street, the Martial Arts Hall has become one of the most popular destinations to visit when in town, but you’ll also find a cluster of Japanese-era dormitories next door and several other colonial era-related buildings, many of which have already been restored (or are currently in the process of being restored).

The First Generation Xinhua Martial Arts Hall (第一代新化武德殿)

A rare uncovered photo of the original Martial Arts Hall

The First Generation Martial Arts Hall in Xinhua was constructed in 1924 (大正13年), and served a dual role as a Martial Arts Hall and a Malaria Prevention Centre. At this point you might be scratching your head and wondering how these two could possibly be related. 

To put it simply, the hall was initially constructed for the local police to practice Martial Arts, but before water treatment and sewage systems were constructed, malaria was an enormous issue for everyone living in Taiwan. In fact, figures show that over ninety percent of the Japanese military deaths during the occupation of Taiwan were due to malaria-related complications - Even one of the members of the Japanese royal family is thought to have fallen victim. 

Known as the Shinka Malaria Prevention Station and Martial Arts Hall (瘧疾防遏事務所並演武場), not much has been recorded about the original building, except that it had a total area of 285 square meters and cost a total of 8,200 yen to construct.

From an article about the opening ceremonies published on October 10th, 1924 in the Taiwan Police Association Magazine (臺灣警察協會雜誌), the building was described as being “beautifully built using carefully selected materials, and was a branch hall (支所) that the local community could be proud of.

In 2010, historic photos of the building were uncovered displaying the original appearance of the building. The photos, which were taken in 1934 (昭和9年) showed that the hall was constructed on a base of reinforced bricks, while the rest of the building was constructed using local cypress. The photos have led historians to hypothesize that the Second Generation of the Building wasn’t a complete rebuild, and when it was constructed they preserved several parts of the original building while improving upon the construction of the exterior and its base.

But if much of the original building was able to be preserved, why was a rebuild even necessary? As you’re probably aware, earthquakes are a common occurrence in Taiwan, and have caused problems for many of its historic buildings. 

In 1931 (昭和6年), the Great Tainan Earthquake (台南大地震), with an epicenter in nearby Shinei/Xinying (しんえいぐん/新營), took place and caused a considerable amount of damage to buildings throughout Tainan Prefecture. Then in 1935 (昭和10年), the magnitude 7.1 Shinchiku-Taichū Earthquake (年新竹–台中地震) dealt the final blow to the original building, forcing the local authorities to commit to a massive reparation project.

 

The Second Generation Xinhua Martial Arts Hall (第二代新化武德殿)

The Second Generation Xinhua Martial Arts Hall was completed only a year after the earthquake in 1936 (昭和11年), and although it retains a relatively similar design to the original hall, the subtle changes that were made allow the building to stand out among all of the remaining Martial Arts Halls in Taiwan today.

It also blends in quite well with the buildings constructed on the old street nearby.

Yes, as you may have already guessed, the Xinhua Martial Arts Hall is unique in that its architectural design features a fusion of Art Deco and traditional Japanese design. 

But I’ll leave the design of the building for a bit later. 

The Martial Arts Hall officially reopened on September 5th, 1936 as the “Shinka Branch of the Tainan Prefectural Butokai Association” (武德會台南支部新化支所演武場), and this time was focused solely on the promotion of Japanese Martial Arts. 

By the late 1930s, the malaria situation in Taiwan had improved considerably and the necessity for malaria treatment centers had already been delineated to hospitals and clinics, which were better suited to deal with the disease than a Martial Arts Hall would have been. 

For the next decade, the Martial Arts functioned as a training centre for the local police.

When the Second World War came to an end and the Japanese were forced to surrender and leave Taiwan, the hall was converted into a dormitory for the Republic of China’s police force.

Later (it seems like) the building was occupied by veterans, who used it as a community centre for the Military Village (眷村) that was constructed in the area surrounding the hall. Unfortunately most of the information about what happened to the Martial Arts Hall between 1945 and 2005 is hit-and-miss, and I don’t really feel like reporting something that isn’t factual, so I won’t go into too much detail about this ‘dark’ period of the building’s history. 

What I can say is that by 2005, the veterans had vacated the military village constructed in the area around the hall and in addition to the Japanese dormitories nearby, the Martial Arts Hall was recognized by the government as a Protected Historic Building (歷史建築), which meant that public funding would become available to restore the buildings and plans were drawn up to do so.

Sliding glass doors at the rear of the building.

Sliding glass doors at the rear of the building.

However, as you can see in the photos in the link below, the hall was still in pretty bad shape when the they were taken in 2008. Likewise, the buildings that had been constructed on the grounds surrounding the hall had yet to be torn down, and it’s fairly obvious from the front facade that the porch was removed at some point. 

Link: 台南新化武德殿 (就是愛趴趴走照)

In 2009, with plans for the restoration of the hall stalled, Typhoon Morakot (莫拉克), one of the deadliest typhoons in Taiwanese history, wreaked havoc around the country and caused a considerable amount of damage, especially in the south. The Martial Arts Hall likewise was damaged, which forced the local authorities to accelerate their plans for a complete restoration of the building.

The light is almost always beautiful in Tainan.

One of the major obstacles to the reconstruction process however was that the people in charge of planning the project had no idea what the original porch of the building looked like. So, a request was put out to people around Taiwan for photos of the original building so that it could be faithfully reconstructed.

It took almost a year, but photos were eventually found and the project finally got underway.

Today the Martial Arts Hall is open to the public and is an enjoyable place to visit while checking out the historic Xinhua Old Street and some of the other destinations in the town. The interior is often used as an exhibition space, but it also continues to play a role as a Martial Arts training centre, which is really great! 

Design (設計) 

As I’ve already mentioned several times above, the Xinhua Martial Arts Hall is a fusion of Western and Japanese architectural styles, with its front facade making it one of the most unique halls of its kind constructed in Taiwan. Its exterior design however isn’t the only aspect that sets this hall apart from all of the others that remain in Taiwan today.

The Martial Arts Hall has an interior space of about 238 square meters (72坪), and an exterior space of around 941 square meters (285坪), which includes the front courtyard and back yard.

While the building doesn’t appear very large from the outside, the interior simply consists of a single wide-open room, making it seem considerably larger from the inside. 

Separating the hall from almost all of its contemporaries around the country, the front facade was constructed with reinforced concrete and designed in the western ‘Art Deco’ style, while also featuring some important Japanese design elements.

What you’ll want to notice is that the porch has been designed using a traditional ‘hafu’ door, essentially a covered porch that opens up to the main doors of the hall. The ‘hafu-style door’ is a popular style of design indicative of Japanese architecture dating back to the Heian Period (平安時代) from 794-1185.

This style of design is a common architectural characteristic found in Japanese castles, temples, and shrines and its inclusion makes the building stand out a lot more thanks to its addition. With this hall though, the porch blends in really well with the European-style facade and the roof, which gives the building a lot more character.

The roof covering the hafu porch.

The roof covering the hafu porch.

The next thing you’ll want to notice about the front facade is the inclusion of the four dormer (oxeye) windows (牛眼窗), located on either side of the porch. This is a style of window was quite popular with Japanese architects of the early 20th century, and in conjunction with the more tradition sliding glass windows below allows for a considerable amount of natural light to enter the building.

The roof of the building was constructed using the traditional Japanese Irimoya-zukuri (入母屋造) style, meaning that it has a hip-and-gable roof with four ridges on the corners. The roof on this hall however is much more simplistic in its design than what you’d expect from a Shinto Shrine or Buddhist Temple, like those that have a similar types of roof such as the Taoyuan Shinto Shrine or the Puji Buddhist Temple in Taipei. 

As a hip-and-gable roof, the ‘irimoya’ style is a combination of the two-sided kirizuma-zukuri (切妻造) on the highest part of the roof, otherwise known as the ridged ‘gable’ and the four-sided yosemune-zukuri (寄棟造), or the ‘hips’ on the lower section.

Interestingly, the roof of the building is one of the aspects of the building’s design that wasn’t altered between the first and second generations, so even those the front facade of the building and the ‘moya’ (母屋) had been completely reconstructed, the size of the roof remained the same.

In most cases with this style of roof, the four hips extend beyond the lower base of the building, but one of the differences in the design of the second generation of the building is that the front facade extends beyond the roof, so they’ve added a extension on the western side of the roof to cover the side doors.

While the roof retains much of its original shape, including the network of trusses on the interior, it has been completely re-tiled on the outside with a fresh batch of grey tiles as well as decorative end-tiles. Even though it isn’t as decorative as some of its counterparts across Taiwan, it does include a complex collection of different pieces that keep it held together. 

Unfortunately, by this point you’re probably already a bit confused, and it is difficult to actually explain each of these parts in an easy to understand way, so I’m including a helpful diagram below that should help you better understand what I’m talking about.

  1. Hiragawara (平瓦 /ひらがわら) - A type of arc-shaped clay roofing tile.

  2. Munagawara (棟瓦 /むながわらあ) - Ridge tiles used to cover the apex of the roof.

  3. Onigawara (鬼瓦/おにがわら) - Decorative roof tiles found at the ends of a main ridge.

  4. Nokigawara (軒瓦/のきがわら) - The roof tiles placed along the eaves lines.

  5. Noshigawara (熨斗瓦/のしがわら) - Thick rectangular tiles located under ridge tiles.

  6. Sodegawara (袖瓦/そでがわら) - Cylindrical sleeve tiles

  7. Tsuma (妻/つま) - The triangular-shaped parts of the gable on the roof under the ridge.

  8. Hafu (破風板/ はふいた) - Bargeboards that lay flat against the ridge ends to finish the gable.

What I will say about the roof is that although it appears to be minimalistic compared to most of the other Japanese-era buildings around Taiwan, it actually isn’t. But one area where there was a missed opportunity with the restoration was on the ‘onigawara’ (Number 3 above) located at the ends of each of the ridges.

At some of the other Martial Arts Halls that have been recently restored, you’ll find that they are decorated with the Chinese character for ‘Budo’ (武), but they’re devoid of any sort of design at this hall.

Likewise the triangular ‘tsuma’ (妻) on either side, known literally as a ‘Mountain Flower’ (山花) here in Taiwan doesn’t include the traditional ‘hanging fish’ known as ‘omogegyo’ (本懸魚), making the triangular section under the gable somewhat plain as you can see in the fourth photo below.

While the base as well as the front facade were constructed using reinforced cement, the other three sides of the building are pretty much what you’d expect from a Japanese building, constructed entirely with beautiful Taiwanese cypress (檜木). The outer walls feature large beautiful sliding windows and allow for a considerable amount of natural light and fresh air to come into the building.

Likewise, to the left and right of the main door on the front side there are two alternate doors, one of which serves as the main entrance to the building today.

For a lot of people, the fusion of architectural designs on the exterior makes this Martial Arts Hall stand out from all of the others that remain in Taiwan - The interior on the other hand doesn’t stray too far from traditional Japanese design, but it is home to something quite unique, and is the envy of all of the other Martial Arts Halls around the country! 

The interior of the hall

As I already mentioned above, the interior of the building has a space of about 238 square meters (72坪), which isn’t all that large, but it is completely open with large windows on every side allowing you to see outside, making it appear visually much larger than it actually is. 

From top to bottom, the interior of the building has been crafted entirely with Taiwanese cypress, so the open roof trusses and the hardwood floor tend to shine when the weather is nice.

And considering it’s Tainan, the weather is pretty much always beautiful. 

Keeping with the simplicity of the interior, there isn’t really much in terms of decoration on the walls - You will however find a small shrine space in the centre of the building where you’ll find displays of a black “Bogu” (防具 / ぼうぐ), the armor used by those practicing Kendo on one side and a white “Judogi” (柔道着 / じゅうどうぎ), the uniform worn by people practicing Judo. In the centre, there is a space with a katana sword on a pedestal, and in the past would have featured the awards that the people who practiced martial arts there had won.

The shrine area in the center of the building.

Looking up, the ceiling is completely open and we are treated to a view of the intricate network of trusses that help to ensure that the heavy roof is held in place. Since we don’t have any photos of the original interior of the building, I can’t tell you if the ceiling was always open like this, but if the other Martial Arts Halls are any indication, its very likely it has always appeared this way. 

One of the best pieces of evidence to argue in favor of the roof having always been open in this way is the inclusion of the munafuda (棟札 / むなふだ), which is placed in the centre of the ceiling.

Munafuda markers are traditionally added to buildings upon completion and display important information about its construction, when it was built, who built it, who paid for it, etc.

The recent restoration has done an excellent job stabilizing the roof, combining modern materials with those used when the building was first constructed in 1924. Interestingly though, in the centre you’ll find a display that points out the location of the original munafuda, (which unfortunately doesn’t exist anymore) as well as a new one, with the addition of the original emblem of the "Dai Nippon Butoku Kai" that reads “武德” and has a bow and arrow below. 

Unfortunately there isn’t much information about these important aspects of the building in English, so I’m translating them below so you’ll know what you’re looking at: 

  1. Placed on March 24th, 1924 (Taisho Year 13) “上棟 - 日本大正13年3月24日”

  2. Placed on September 26th, 2011 (ROC Year 100) “上棟 - 中華民國100年9月26日”

Red ribbons hanging from where the munafuda is located

From both, we can ascertain the date when the Martial Arts Hall was officially established in addition to when it was most recently restored. The addition of the most recent munafuda likewise is a welcome added touch to the restoration that is in most cases is ignored. So, props should be given to those in charge of the restoration of the building for their attention to detail! 

Now, let’s talk about what makes the interior of this Martial Arts Hall unique from all the others that have been restored around the country - The Xinhua Martial Arts Hall is currently the only Martial Arts Hall in Taiwan that features a spring floor (彈簧地板).

The floor originally consisted of ninety springs that were placed on concrete pedestals on the ground beneath it. So when you walk in the building, its normal to feel a bit of a spring in your step as the floor is slightly bouncy in certain areas.

Originally, the entire floor space would have consisted of these spring boards, but due to flooding and moisture over the past eight decades, most of the original springs have rusted and broken.

Four of the original springs however have been preserved and there is a display space with a glass window in the floor where you can check them out. The rest of the floor space features newly constructed springs and makes walking on the floor an interesting experience - and somewhat annoying if you’re trying to take photos!


As I mentioned above, in addition to the Martial Arts Hall, there are a couple of other colonial era buildings to take note of while visiting the Martial Arts Hall. At this point, I’m not going to write about them individually, so I’m just going to offer a bit of an introduction to each of them so that you don’t miss them while visiting!

Civil Servant Dormitories (日式警察宿舍群)

Next to the Martial Arts Hall you’ll find a small cluster of former civil servant dormitories that once housed the local administrative workers in the town. When the colonial era ended they were repurposed as dormitories for the local police, but kept their original Japanese design.

The buildings today (for the most part) have been completely restored and are home to a mixture of ‘public-private participation’ that includes a couple of restaurants and some exhibition spaces about the local indigenous culture. The dorms have also become a popular Instagram photo spot, so you’ll often see quite a few tourists outside taking photos.

These public-private participation partnerships are something that you’ll find is taking place all over Taiwan and has become quite instrumental when it comes to the preservation of historic properties. If you’d like to learn more about how these partnerships are used to help conserve historic buildings in Taiwan, check out the link below: 

Link: The Role Of Public-Private Partnerships In Conserving Historic Buildings In Taiwan

Personally, I’m not as big of a fan of the restoration work that went into them as I am with the Martial Arts Hall. They seem kind of overdone and there are some unsightly (and out of place) modern additions (air conditioners, video cameras, electricity meters, etc) that are stuck in the middle of what would be a beautiful building. 

Air Raid Shelter (防空洞) 

Across the street from the Martial Arts Hall you’ll find a small Air Raid Shelter dug into the ground.

The shelter dates back over eight decades to the colonial era but only about half of the original shelter remains today. You’re free to walk down and check it out and it only takes about half a minute to go in and out.

The shelter would have been used by the civil servants living in the community of dormitories near the Martial Arts Hall during the Second World War when the Americans were bombing Taiwan.

There are some questions about its origin as some argue that it was constructed after the Chinese Nationalists took control of Taiwan. I’m not actually sure why they’d need bomb shelters at the point in time, unless they figured China was about to bomb Tainan. Better safe than sorry I guess.

Getting There 

 

The Xinhua Martial Arts Hall is located within the downtown core of Xinhua and is within walking distance of the historic Old Street.

The downtown core is home to quite a few attractions apart from the Old Street and the Martial Arts Hall, so if you’re in the area you’re probably better off if you just enjoy a walking tour of the town. 

Address: #53 Heping Road, Xinhua District, Tainan (臺南市新化區東榮里和平街53號)

GPS: 23.033238, 120.308855

If you’re driving a car or a scooter, getting to Xinhua is pretty easy, simply input the address or the GPS coordinates provided above into your GPS or Google Maps and your route will be mapped out for you. 

Xinhua is a popular tourist area, so you should be able to easily find parking available along the streets or in some of the paid parking lots. If you are driving a car, I’d recommend not attempting to drive through the tourist section of the Old Street, especially on the weekend as it is narrow and there will be tourists walking everywhere. 

If you’re relying on public transportation to get to Xinhua, you’re unfortunately going to have to either take a bus or a taxi to the town as it isn’t serviced by Taiwan Railways.

Bus

From Tainan Railway Station (臺南火車站)

From the Train Station you’ll want to take the Green Line (綠幹線), Tainan - Xinhua (臺南-新化) bus provided by the Shing-nan Bus Company (興南客運).

From Tainan High Speed Rail Station (臺南高鐵站) 

Your only option from the High Speed Rail Station is to take the free shuttle bus to Tainan Railway Station and then transfer to the bus mentioned above. 

The Martial Arts Hall is closed on Mondays and National Holidays. 

Hours: 09:00 - 12:00, 13:30 - 17:00

I know I’ve said it a few times already, but the Xinhua Martial Arts Hall is one of the most unique of all the historic halls remaining in Taiwan today. The Hall stands out in its architectural design as well as the continued existence of its spring floor, which is actually really cool.

Considering the hall is located in beautiful Tainan, its also a pleasure to visit as Xinhua is a great little tourist town with quite a few things to do. If you plan on visiting the hall, you should probably plan to spend an entire day in Xinhua as there are quite a few things to do while you’re there, with its old street being one of the best that you’ll find in Taiwan!   

References

  1. 大日本武德會 (Wiki)

  2. 大日本武德會 – 從弓術到弓道 (Kyo桑的弓道部落格)

  3. 歷史建築新莊武德殿修復或再利用計畫 (新北市政府文化局)

  4. 台南新化武德殿 (就是愛趴趴走照)

  5. 武德會與武德殿 (陳信安)

  6. 歷史建築─新化武德殿 (超不像老師的新安桑)

  7. 臺灣的武德殿 (Wiki)

  8. 新化武德殿 (Wiki)

  9. 新化武德殿 (Mimi韓の旅行生活)

  10. 新化武德殿 (Betty’s Footprints)

  11. 新化武德殿 (微笑的眼)

  12. 新化武德殿 (台南旅遊網)


The Martial Arts Halls of Taiwan (臺灣の武德殿)

When I first started writing this blog, I didn’t really have much of an idea of the direction it was going to take.

My goal was to use my photography and my travel experience as a method of promoting travel in Taiwan, but that admittedly was just one of the ways that I hoped I’d be able to drive traffic to this site.

From the outset, I never really expected that I’d end up where I am now with a number of personal projects that consume a large portion of my free time researching, translating information and writing these articles.  

Now that I’ve been at this for quite a few years, I’m happy to say that all of the work I’ve done hasn’t been a complete waste as in the process I’ve improved my translation abilities and have learned so much about Taiwan.

That being said, given all that I’ve learned over the years, one of the things that I’ve been busy with lately is going through older articles to update them and more importantly correcting some of the erroneous information. 

If you’ve been following this space for any period of time, it’s probably painfully obvious that one of my major projects has been exploring the history of Taiwan’s Japanese Colonial Era, and the various buildings that remain around the country from that era. 

That all started in 2017 thanks a suggestion from my friend (and fellow blogger) Alexander that I visit the Longtan Martial Arts Hall (龍潭武德殿) near where I lived, and close to somewhere I was headed one day.

That suggestion sparked a fire and has resulted in my visiting almost all of Taiwan’s remaining Martial Arts Halls, making this site one of the most important resources for English-language information about them on the internet.

That being said, every time I write an article about one of the halls, I end up providing an abbreviated history of what they’re about and why they’re important. All of that comes to an end with this article, which will do the job of introducing the history of the halls and where you can find them.

My hope is that this will be better for you the reader, and myself as well as I’ll be streamlining the writing process about these halls so I can keep them more concise while also spending more time on important details.

Below I’ll introduce the purpose of these Martial Arts Halls, their history, organizational structure, architectural design and where you can find them in Taiwan. I’ll also provide links to each of the individual articles that I’ve written about so far, which should make navigating them much easier.

Daxi Martial Arts Hall (大溪武德殿)

Even though my ongoing work on the Japanese Colonial Era has since expanded to include a variety of other historic buildings, it all started with these Martial Arts Halls, which is a project that is near and dear to my heart.

But with only a few more left to write about, will soon be completed.

If you are travelling in Taiwan and have a chance to visit one of these beautiful buildings, I highly recommend stopping by as they have become living museums for Taiwanese history and are part of an era that is much different than the Taiwan we know and love today! 

Budokuden Martial Arts Halls (武德殿) 

Erlin Martial Arts Hall (二林武德殿)

When people think about Japan, one of the things that usually comes to mind are the iconic samurai, who during the feudal period, were part of an aristocratic caste of warriors who helped to rule over the country.

These days, you won’t find any actual samurai walking the streets of Japan, but even though they’ve become a relic of the past, their memory lives on thanks to pop-culture, which has done a pretty great job romanticizing their exploits.

If history has proven anything though, those with power rarely ever want to give it up.

So the obvious question one might ask is what actually happened to them?

The movie, “The Last Samurai” attempted to tell part of that story, but suffice to say, Tom Cruise (or any white dude for that matter) wasn’t the last of the samurai.

Prior to 1868, Japan was a feudal land, split into warring states loosely held together by the Tokugawa Shogunate (徳川幕府), which oversaw a military regime that effectively ruled over Japan but found itself completely at wits with how to deal with the military superiority of the western powers.

Taichung Martial Arts Hall (臺中武德殿)

Rising to power with the shogunate, the samurai (武士) were part of a ruling military class that helped to maintain order. Trained in military tactics and living by the ‘Bushido Code’ of honour, the existence of the samurai gave legitimacy to the shogun, who in turn provided them with hereditary privileges and a more than generous salary.

For more than two centuries, the samurai worked hand-in-hand with the shogunate to provide the people of Japan with a period of relative peace and prosperity. During this period of peace, many of the samurai used their privilege to become some of the most highly-educated members of society.

So, in addition to carrying around their swords, it was only natural that they’d also take on jobs within the bureaucracy to pass their time.

While the shoguns and the samurai worked together to maintain stability, the mikado (emperors) had virtually no say in the affairs of state and merely served a ceremonial purpose. 

This of course was granted in exchange for generous subsidies, allowing the Tokugawa clan to remain in control.

Unfortunately for the shogunate and the samurai, the west came calling and Japan had little power to resist.

Embarrassed with how weak the country had become, an alliance of daimyos (大名), who were essentially powerful landholders, and the emperor took the opportunity to seize control in what has become known as the “Japanese Revolution,” or the Boshin War (戊辰戰爭).

Link: Boshin War (Wiki) 

Tainan Martial Arts Hall (臺南武德殿)

Tainan Martial Arts Hall (臺南武德殿)

The year-long war resulted in the eventual resignation of Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu (徳川 慶喜), the restoration of Emperor Meiji (明治天皇), and a pledge to transform the country into a modern society that bowed to no one.

Emperor Meiji and a group of ambitious young men (many of whom were highly educated samurai) then presided over what would become known as the Meiji Restoration (明治維新), a period of massive political, industrial, economic, military and social development.

Amazingly, in a few short decades, the Emperor had transformed Japan from an isolated feudal state forced to capitulate to the whims of western powers, into a modern industrialized military power that was able to flex its muscles on the international stage.

One of the lingering issues that the government had to deal with however was how they’d deal with the warrior class of samurai, who suddenly found themselves losing all of their class privileges - and more importantly, their salaries!

Surprisingly, many of them (possibly realizing that they were completely outclassed by modern weaponry) didn’t put up much of a fuss, and for the most part accepted their gradual transition into the Japanese professional and military classes.

It goes without saying that even though the samurai were probably the most affected by the institutional changes in Japanese society, they were also one of the most highly-educated groups and understood that the military had to be completely reorganized, and that they could and would have to be part of that reform.

Taitung Martial Arts Hall (臺東武德殿)

Taitung Martial Arts Hall (臺東武德殿)

Problems did arise though. 

Starting with the prohibition of their distinctive topknots in 1871, and then later in 1876 when their swords and their stipends were taken away, it became too much for some of the samurai. 

This resulted in the short-lived Satsuma Rebellion (西南戰爭), led by a group of samurai who had taken exception to the push for modernity, and took up arms against the government.

Arguably, this group embodied the feelings of many of those within Japanese society who felt conflicted with the push for modernity, and an affinity for the west in lieu of traditional Japanese values. 

The rebellion however was quickly put down by the Japanese army, equipped with modern weaponry. 

Surprisingly, even though they acted against the government and were defeated, they continue to be honoured today as national heroes for their sacrifice and their loyalty.

Link: How the Samurai Went Extinct (Ranker) | Whatever Happened to the Samurai (JSTOR) 

What does ANY of this have anything to do with Taiwan’s Martial Arts Halls? I’m getting to that!

Even though the samurai were a class of feudal warriors that were “phased out”, their “bushido” (武士道) philosophy, an unwritten code that dictated their behaviour, lifestyle and more importantly their sense of loyalty and sacrifice, was something that could now be practiced by Japanese society as a whole.

Taichung Martial Arts Hall (臺中武德殿)

Taichung Martial Arts Hall (臺中武德殿)

In what become known as “Meiji Bushido” (明治武士道), the philosophy of the samurai warrior was altered into a concept that sought to instill the virtues of ‘self-sacrifice’ and ‘absolute loyalty’ to the state and the Emperor. 

Rather than fighting for personal or clan affairs like the samurai did, these new ‘Bushido Warriors’, namely every citizen of Japan, were expected to focus their efforts on the success and development of the nation.

One of the methods used to assist in the promotion of the new Bushido code was to establish state sanctioned “Martial Arts Halls” around the country, a policy that started in 1895 (明治28年) under the authority of the government and with the endorsement of the Emperor.

Coincidentally the same year that Japan took control of Taiwan.

The Martial Arts Halls were tasked with preserving Japan's martial arts disciplines in addition to cultivating the virtues of the samurai warrior spirit, offering former samurai an opportunity to train the ‘samurai of tomorrow’, and citizens from all facets of society were encouraged to take part.

The Taoyuan Martial Arts Hall in the 1970s

Known in Japan as a “Budokuden” (武德殿), the Martial Arts Halls were significant in that they were part of a state-sponsored attempt to foster fervent nationalism, as well as the idea of Japanese exceptionalism, though the ‘samurai-spirit’. 

The main objectives of the Martial Arts Halls were officially to promote the following:  

  1. Japanese Spirit (大和魂)

  2. Martial Arts Spirit (尚武的精神)

  3. Patriotism (愛國的精神)

All of which were essential tools in helping to stoke the fires of militarism in the early years of the 20th century.

First Generation Hsinhua Martial Arts Hall (第一代新化武德殿)

First Generation Hsinhua Martial Arts Hall (第一代新化武德殿)

The halls were part of the "Dai Nippon Butoku Kai" (大日本武德會) organization, loosely translated as the “Greater Japan Martial Arts Association” (abbreviated as DNBK), which was inaugurated on April 17th, 1895 with its headquarters located in Kyoto (京都).

Link: Dai Nippon Butoku Kai | 大日本武德會 (Wiki) 

Before we move on, let’s stop here for a bit of a language lesson: 

The Martial Arts Halls are known in Japanese as “Butokuden” or “Budokuden” (ぶとくでん) depending on how you romanize the word. Here in Taiwan, they were known simply as “wu dé diàn” (武德殿), or “wu dào guan“ (武道館), both of which which essentially translate into English as “Martial Arts Hall.” 

Its important to note that the character “wu” (武) or “bu” (ぶ) in Japanese means “war” or “martial” while “dào” (道) or “do” (どう) means “path” or “road”, but in this case when they’re put together mean “way of life”.

This means that Budo is essentially, “the Way of the Warrior”, which often gets lost in translation.

So when we say “Martial Arts” in English, we’re referring to the same disciplines practiced by “warriors”, but in a more interchangeable (politically correct) way that makes it an “art form” or “technique” rather than a method of destroying ones enemies.

The “arts” aspect of these Martial Arts Halls ultimately would be something that came much later however as the Pre-WWII era “Budokudens” were all about the militarism. 

Link: Budo | 武道 | ぶどう (Wiki)

Yuanlin Martial Arts Hall (員林武德殿)

Yuanlin Martial Arts Hall (員林武德殿)

When we refer to these disciplines as “Martial Arts”, whether they’re Japanese, Chinese, Thai, etc., the Chinese characters that we use are “wu shù” (武術) or “bujutsu” (じゅつ) in Japanese, both of which refer to the philosophy of developing oneself rather than defeating an enemy.

While there are various Martial Arts Disciplines throughout the world, when we talk about Japanese “budo” styles, we’re referring to Judo (柔道), Jujutsu (柔術), Kendo (劍道), Kyudo (弓道), Aikido (合氣道), and Sumo (相撲), among others. 

One of the key things to takeaway from the official name of the “Dai Nippon Butoku Kai” is the “Dai Nippon” (大日本 / だいにっぽん), which translates as “Greater Japan” and referred to areas of the ever expanding empire, for which Taiwan was merely a stepping-stone.

So, even though the role of the “Butoku Kai” was to train the ‘warriors of tomorrow’ in Japan, the organization likewise attempted to do the same in its newfound territories across Asia, through its military expansion.

Kaohsiung Martial Arts Hall (高雄武德殿)

Kaohsiung Martial Arts Hall (高雄武德殿)

Martial Arts Halls were constructed not only in Japan and Taiwan, but across Asia in places like Okinawa, Korea, Manchuria and China.

No where though have these Martial Arts Halls been as well-preserved as they are here in Taiwan.

I’m jumping ahead in the history here a bit but when the war came to an end, the DNBK organization was forcibly dissolved by the allied powers and many of its leaders were purged, lost their jobs and were forbidden from taking any government jobs in the future.

The dissolution of the DNBK delineated the responsibilities official duties and operations to the All Japan Kendo Federation (全日本剣道連盟) and the All Japan Judo Federation (全日本柔道連盟), both of which were founded after the war and to this day work to preserve and promote their respective disciplines. 

Posing for a photo outside of the Taipei Martial Arts Hall

Posing for a photo outside of the Taipei Martial Arts Hall

In 1953, the DNBK was re-established with a new philosophical vision that stressed the “arts” part of its “Martial Arts” disciplines and promoted international peace and harmony. The organization however remains detached from the government and has a limited scope despite having branches that have spread throughout the world with training centers constructed in the US, Canada, UK, France, Russia, etc.

Nevertheless, the organization which once boasted millions of members, tremendous physical assets and thousands of expert instructors has been reduced to a powerless entity, with worldwide membership in the tens of thousands. 

Link: Dai Nippon Butoku Kai (大日本武德會) (Official Website)

Here in Taiwan, the halls have become increasingly appreciated historical relics of the colonial era, but for the most part have become living museums and exhibition spaces while their original purpose, the promotion of Japanese martial arts has all but disappeared.

The Martial Arts Halls of Taiwan (臺灣の武德殿)

Changhua Martial Arts Hall (彰化武德殿)

In 1900 (明治33年), construction on Martial Arts Halls here in Taiwan started with those in Taipei (臺北州/たいほくしゅう), Taichung (臺中廳/たいちゅうちょう) and Tainan (臺南廳/たいなんちょう) initially meant to assist in the training of the local police in martial arts.

It wasn’t until after the “Taiwan Butokuden Branch of the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai” (大日本武德會臺灣支部) was established in 1906 however that Martial Arts Halls really started popping up all over the island. 

By 1920 (大正9年), the organization was given a directive from the government to start construction on Martial Arts Halls in each of Taiwan’s prefectures culminating in the eventual construction of more than two hundred across the Island. 

In Taiwan, the halls initially served the purpose of training the police, military and prison guards in Japanese martial arts disciplines. Later though, they opened up to the general public in an attempt to train the citizens of Taiwan in Japanese martial arts, as well as instilling "Japanese Spirit" mentioned above, better known as Yamato-damashii (大和魂).

In a situation similar to Shinto Shrines, the construction of Martial Arts Halls was accelerated in the 1930s, which is why you’ll find that the majority of those remaining today were constructed between 1930-1945.

The policy that would require a Shinto Shrine or a Martial Arts Hall to be constructed in every prefecture, town and borough was a precursor to the Kominka policy of 1936 (昭和11年).

Tainan Martial Arts Hall (臺南武德殿)

Tainan Martial Arts Hall (臺南武德殿)

Kominka” (皇民化運動), literally meant to “force people to become subjects of the empire”, more commonly known as “Japanization” or forced assimilation. The policy was ultimately an act of desperation on the part of the militarizing nature of the Japanese empire of the era, which had grander plans for conquest across Asia.

The policy enforced strict language policies, required citizens to take Japanese names and instituted the “volunteers system” (志願兵制度), drafting Taiwanese into the Imperial Army. It likewise required locals to take part in Japanese cultural and religious activities, including visiting Shinto Shrines and of course, learning Martial Arts.

It was during this time that the number of Shinto Shrines and Martial Arts Halls across Taiwan started to skyrocket.

Links: Taoyuan Shinto Shrine | Luye Shinto Shrine | Yuanshan Shinto Shrine | The National Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine

Admittedly, as I mentioned above, I made quite a few mistakes when I first started researching this stuff.

One of the numbers that I saw quoted most often was that there were approximately seventy of these halls constructed throughout Taiwan. What that didn’t take into account however was that they often went by different names, some of which included “Budojo” (武道場), “Renbukan” (練武館), “Enbujo” (演武場), etc.

While they all essentially fell under the umbrella of the DNBK organization, the different names were a reflection of what the halls were used for as some were for training, others for practice, and others for competition.

Of the more than two hundred halls that were constructed in Taiwan between 1900 and 1945, the majority of them would have been located near a police precinct (警務段) or a public school (公校), while many others were located in the vicinity of military (軍隊), railway (鐵道部), jails (刑務所), or civil service-related buildings. 

Below I’ve broken down the various Martial Arts Halls based on where they were located.

The Martial Arts Halls were ranked in a system similar to Shinto Shrines which determined their funding, purpose, size and importance.

The designations don’t make much sense in English, so I’ll do my best to explain below:

  1. Prefectural Level (州廳) Branches (支部) - The largest halls, located in the capital of each prefecture.

  2. Town and City Level (郡市) Branches (支所) - Smaller halls, located within larger cities and towns.

  3. Village and Borough Level (街庄) Branches (分會) - Even smaller halls, located within villages.

In terms of ranking, the prefectural level branches acted as the headquarters for each of the prefectures and the smaller branches would report directly to (and receive support and finding from) the prefectural level branches.

Xinhua Martial Arts Hall (新化武德殿)

Xinhua Martial Arts Hall (新化武德殿)

Interestingly, as Japan’s Martial Arts disciplines became increasingly popular in Taiwan, the island produced quite a few of its own star athletes, who ended up attending some of the most prestigious tournaments in Japan and returned home with prizes.

We often reminisce about Taiwan’s baseball prowess, but it’s important to remember that from the colonial era until the present day, Taiwan has produced some exceptionally skilled Martial Artists and Olympic athletes.

Taiwan’s Remaining Martial Arts Halls (臺灣現存の武德殿)

www.goteamjosh.com/blog/wudedian

  1. Xinzhuang Martial Arts Hall (新莊武德殿) 1928 / Restoration in Process

  2. Tamkang Junior High Martial Arts Hall (淡江中學武德館) 1923 / Yet to be Restored

  3. Daxi Martial Arts Hall (大溪武德殿) 1935 / Restored

  4. Longtan Martial Arts Hall (龍潭武德殿) 1930 / Restored

  5. Hsinchu High School Martial Arts Hall (新竹高中劍道館) 1926

  6. Hsinchu Prison Martial Arts Hall (新竹少年刑務所演武場) 1926

  7. Taichung Prison Martial Arts Hall (臺中刑務所演武場) 1937 / Restored

  8. Nantou Martial Arts Hall (南投武德殿) 1929 / Restoration in Process

  9. Changhua Martial Arts Hall (彰化武德殿) 1929 / Restored

  10. Erlin Martial Arts Hall (二林武德殿) 1933 / Restoration in Process

  11. Tainan Martial Arts Hall (臺南武德殿) 1936 / Restored

  12. Tainan Prison Martial Arts Hall (臺南刑務所演武場) 1903 / Restoration in Process

  13. Xinhua Martial Arts Hall (新化武德殿) 1925 / Restored

  14. Kaohsiung Martial Arts Hall (高雄武德殿) 1924 / Restored

  15. Qishan Martial Arts Hall (旗山武德殿) 1934 / Restored

  16. Pingtung Martial Arts Hall (屏東武德殿) 1930 / Restored

  17. Fangliao Martial Arts Hall (枋寮武德殿) 1937 / Yet to be Restored.

Link: 臺灣的武德殿 (Wiki)

Kaohsiung Martial Arts Hall (高雄武德殿)

Given the propaganda value of these halls, the vast majority were done so with traditional Japanese architecture in mind, in order to better promote appreciation for Japanese cultural values. While the architectural design of the two hundred Martial Arts Halls constructed across Taiwan tends to vary, many design aspects remained the same.

So, in order to better understand what you would have found at one of these halls, I’m going to go into a little bit of detail about some of the general design elements that you would have found at each of them.

One of the first things to know is that Martial Arts Halls were almost always constructed within the downtown core or the central business district of any town, village or borough providing that there was land available.

This means that within the traditional downtown core of a Japanese-era community in Taiwan, you’d likely find a police station, school, railway station, post office, Martial Arts Hall, etc.

Generally speaking, Martial Arts Halls followed these four styles of architectural design:

  1. Mixed Japanese and Western Architecture with a combination of brick and wood (承重磚牆和洋混合風格).

  2. Mixed Japanese and Western Architecture with beams and columns (仿柱樑框架牆身之和洋混合風格).

  3. Traditional Japanese Temple-style Architecture constructed entirely of wood (傳統日本寺院建築式樣).

  4. Traditional Japanese house-style architecture for small scale halls (傳統日式家屋建築類型).

Taichung Martial Arts Hall (臺中武德殿)

While the vast majority of the halls were constructed using the second and third styles, the Kaohsiung Martial Arts Hall and the Xinhua Martial Arts Hall remain excellent examples of the first and fourth styles respectively.

Unfortunately there are few remaining examples of the third style of design as they closely resembled the archetype of Japanese cultural design, which was frowned upon when the Chinese Nationalists took control of Taiwan.

That being said, the second style was one of the most predominant and can still be enjoyed today in Daxi, Longtan, Taichung, Changhua, Nantou and Qishan.

Generally speaking, even though some of these buildings featured a fusion of Japanese and Western design, the majority of them made use of Japan’s Irimoya-zukuri (入母屋造) architectural style, which essentially means that the buildings featured one of Japan’s various styles of “hip-and-gable” roofs which extend well beyond the perimeter of the base below.

Links: Irimoya-zukuri (入母屋造) | East Asian hip-and-gable roof (Wiki)

Tainan Martial Arts Hall (臺南武德殿)

Despite being one of the most common styles of architectural design in Japan, ‘Irimoya’ tends to confuse non-native speakers because even though it is a design that features the iconic ‘hip-and-gable roof’, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the roof of each building constructed in the Irimoya style will appear the same.

This is because one of the key things to remember about this style is the ‘moya’ (母屋), which refers to the base of the building below the roof. The reason this is important is because the size of the roof often eclipses the the ‘moya’, so you’ll find a genius network of beams, pillars and trusses within that ensure that the weight of the roof is evenly distributed, ensuring stability.

Introduced to Japan in the 6th Century, the hip-and-gable design is elaborate in that it is basically a fusion of two roofs in one, with a two-sided kirizuma-zukuri (切妻造) on the highest part of the roof, otherwise known as the ridged ‘gable’ and the four-sided yosemune-zukuri (寄棟造), or the ‘hip’ on the lower section.

For centuries, this style of architectural design was reserved for only the most important buildings, most often Buddhist Temples and Shinto Shrines, but as construction methods developed, it became a lot more common and ultimately one of Japanese architecture’s most iconic styles of design.

That being said, the irimoya style is still highly-regarded and any building constructed with a hip-and-gable roof brings with it a certain level of prestige. This is why you’ll find that the vast majority of Martial Arts Halls in Taiwan were constructed featuring a variation on this style.

Chidori-hafu on the Qishan Martial Arts Hall (旗山武德殿)

Given that the irimoya style is commonly used for temples and shrines, it was important to add some variations and decorations to allow these buildings to stand out, because within Japanese architecture, subtle variations in design or decoration often make huge differences.

One of the most common variations that you would have found on the roof of these halls was that they were often fitted with decorative roof tiles featuring the Chinese characters for “bu” (武) on the end-tiles. Unfortunately the restoration projects on a few of the remaining halls has removed these end-tiles, you can still find them on a couple of the halls, such as the Changhua Martial Arts Hall.

Another common variation is the addition of what’s known as a chidori hafu (千鳥破風/ちどりはふ) that protrudes from the front of the ‘hip’ section of the roof.

You’ll find similarly triangular-shaped ‘hafu’ (破風板/はふ) on both ends of the ‘gable’ section of the roof, but this one faces out from the front and is purely decorative.

Another one of the common features used in the design of these halls are the decorative porticos at the main entrance to the buildings - While their design tends to vary, generally what you’ll find is a roof-covered porch that leads to the main entrance of the hall. The portico roof is specifically designed to add further decorative elements that go hand in hand with the design of the main roof, especially when it comes to the ‘chidori hafu’ above.

The porticos always come equipped with beautiful wooden or cement pillars that help to support the roof, but as I mentioned above, the design of the roof above tends to vary. The most common styles that you will find today are the iconic curved ‘karahafu-style’ (唐破風), the four-sided ‘irimoya-yane’ (入母屋根) and the two-sided ‘kirizuma-yane’ (切妻屋根).

Even though the ‘irimoya-yane’ style is the most common among the remaining halls today, the ‘karahafu’ porticos at the Kaohsiung and the Tainan Martial Arts Halls are considered to be the most beautiful.

While the buildings almost always featured elaborate roof designs, what you’d find below was considerable more simplistic in that the majority were constructed with local timber (cypress or cedar) and featured large sliding glass windows on all four sides, making them appear relatively similar to almost all the other Japanese-style homes and dormitories built throughout Taiwan.

That being said, the early 20th century was a time of great prosperity for many areas around Taiwan and the fusion of Japanese and western architectural design that became so prevalent around the island was also reflected in quite a few of these Martial Arts Halls, which featured baroque-style design and modern construction techniques. 

The few Martial Arts Halls that remain in Taiwan today offer a mixture of traditional Japanese design and western-fusion design with the Kaohsiung and the Xinhua Martial Arts Hall in particular being great examples of the fusion design while the Changhua, Tainan and Nantou halls are great examples of traditional design

As for the interior of the halls, they pretty much all remained the same with hard-wood floors equipped with a spring mechanism (彈簧地板), and not much else apart from a small shrine against the wall. The floor space was almost always split in half with one side covered in thick tatami mats for Judo while the other side was used for Kendo.

Xinhua Martial Arts Hall (新化武德殿)

There was almost always a shrine space located against the back wall of the hall in the middle, and would have been home to a couple of sacred objects and any awards won by the members of the hall.

The sad thing about the spring floors is that the only hall remaining today that still features this really cool design is the Xinhua Martial Arts Hall in Tainan. The vast majority of the others either had their springs removed or ended up not being very well maintained over the past seven decades.

Given that almost all of the halls were elevated off of the ground on a cement base, this allowed for a network of springs to be constructed under the floor boards. The Spring Floor was an important design function for anyone practicing Kendo, given that you need a bit of bounce in your step. It was also important for many of these buildings as they were (for the most part) constructed of wood and the carpenters of the era quickly discovered that Taiwan had a pretty bad termite problem.

Former Administration building at the Taichung Martial Arts Hall

One thing that is often forgotten about these halls is that they didn’t always just consist of a single building.

As mentioned above, the halls were ranked as branches, with some of them being quite large while others were relatively small. The larger halls would have featured auxiliary buildings that would include offices, recreation space and dormitories for the instructors who resided in the halls.

Likewise some of them also included large spaces behind the hall where people could practice Kyudo (弓道), traditional Japanese archery.

When the colonial era ended, many of these buildings were used for different purposes and as time passed, most of them were torn down. These days, only the Daxi, Taichung, Changhua and Qishan halls feature separate buildings, however most of them have been entirely rebuilt during the restoration process and aren’t originals.

When the Second World War ended (and subsequently the Japanese occupation of Taiwan), many of the Martial Arts Halls were repurposed for use by the police, converted into public halls and even used as residences for many of the Chinese refugees, who fled to Taiwan in 1949.

Archery range behind the Taichung Martial Arts Hall

Ultimately, the fate of the vast majority of Taiwan’s Martial Arts Halls ended up being similar to what happened to many of the other traditional Japanese structures constructed during the colonial era after the arrival of the Chinese Nationalists.

If they weren’t repurposed, they were eventually torn down.

Today, just over a dozen of these halls continue to exist in Taiwan, some of which have been restored and recognized as National Historic Buildings.

There are others that still remain in a sad state of disrepair, and are in desperate need of attention.

The government has fortunately started to take the existence of these historic buildings more seriously and many of them have been restored in recent years.

There are also a few of the smaller branches that are still being used as homes, but have been altered so much that they’re hardly recognizable.

Yet to be restored Erlin Martial Arts Hall

Currently there are several restoration projects taking place around the country that will see a few more of these historic Martial Arts Halls re-opening to the public.

To that effect, I plan to update each of the articles that I have already published about the halls, while also continuing to visit the ones I haven’t had the chance to write about yet. 

As these restoration projects are completed, I’ll make sure to update this space so that its easier to keep track of the current status of these important historic buildings.

If you ever have a chance to visit any of these historic buildings, I highly recommend checking it out.

They’re a small piece of a lesser known part of Taiwanese history and (for better or worse) have played important roles over the past century of Taiwan’s modern development.


Before I provide my list of references, I’d like to first offer my gratitude to the amazing people behind the National Historic Monuments of Taiwan page on Facebook as they’ve curated a space that offers the public a glimpse into Taiwan’s often forgotten history.

The historic photos I’ve used here are all credited to that page and I highly recommend you give them a follow, if you haven’t already.

Last but not least, I’d like to show my immense appreciation to Professor Hsin-An Chen (陳信安) of Chaoyang University (朝陽科技大學), the foremost expert on all things Martial Arts Halls in Taiwan. Without his in-depth research on the history and architecture of the Martial Arts Halls, much of what we know about them today might have been lost to history.

Likewise, it is thanks to his architectural expertise that many of the halls have been able to be brought back to life for the rest of us to enjoy.

References

  1. 臺灣的武德殿武德殿 (Wiki)

  2. 大日本武德會大日本武徳会 (Wiki)

  3. Dai Nippon Butoku Kai (Wiki)

  4. Dai Nippon Butoku Kai (Official Site)

  5. 武德會與武德殿 (陳信安)

  6. 台灣日治時期武德殿建築之研究 (陳信安)

  7. 武德殿 (臺灣百科全書)

  8. 台灣武德殿發展之研究 (黃馨慧)

  9. 失而復得的大唐東洋建築 台灣武德殿 (Willie Chen)

  10. 日治時期臺灣各地建造武德殿的歷史沿革 (eTaiwan)

  11. (走訪日式老建築) 武德殿的舊事與進行式 (自由時報)

  12. 武德殿研究成果報告 (高雄市政府文化局)

  13. Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System (JAANUS)

  14. The Japanese House: The Basic Elements of Traditional Japanese Residential Architecture (Manabi Japan)

  15. 臺灣國定古蹟編纂研究小組 (National Historic Monuments of Taiwan)