Taiwan Railway Bureau

Railway Station Name Change Chart (臺灣日治時期火車站新舊地名對照表)

September 02, 2023 in Japanese Colonial Era

The purpose of this website, and by extension this blog, has always been to showcase my photography and my travels around Taiwan. Over the years, I’ve been quite adamant that my photos should always be used to help tell the story of the places I’ve been visiting around the country. This article is thus going to be somewhat of a first for me and I’m publishing it mostly just to serve as a reference for a few of my other articles.

To start, I should offer a bit of a backstory: I don’t spend all that much time on social media, but from time to time, I find some real gems shared in the Taiwanese history groups that I follow. So while browsing recently, I came across a photo of (what appeared to be) something out of a newspaper. The photo appeared aged, and featured a list of locations in Taiwan that were part of a major name-change policy that took effect in the early 1920s.

This was something that automatically interested me, especially since it was primarily focused on the railway, so given that it was all in Chinese, I quickly translated parts of it, and shared it on my Twitter. I’m not necessarily going to suggest that the tweet went viral, but it did attract quite a bit of attention, especially from Taiwanese followers who commented that they had no idea about many of the original place names that they were seeing on the photo.

The photo appeared to be an announcement from the Japanese-era Taiwan Railway Bureau (台灣鐵道部), listing a number railway stations around the island that were changing their names. Most of the information that was listed on the chart wasn’t particularly new to me, but it was the first time that I had seen it put together, especially on something that looked official.

Honestly, this is an aspect of Taiwan’s history that I’ve probably touched upon more than a few dozen times on my various articles about the Japanese-era, so I thought it best that I put together this article, and make use of the chart to expand upon what took place. One of the other reasons I’m writing this, though, is because there isn’t much information available in the English language regarding some of these original location names. I thought it would be helpful for anyone interested to learn about aspects of Taiwan’s history that aren’t often mentioned.

This time, in lieu of my own photos, I’m just going to share maps of Taiwan from the Japanese-era, which are often beautifully designed, but also feature some of those location names prior to being changed.

Link: Taiwan’s Remaining Japanese-era Train Stations (台鐵現存日治時期車站)

In the early years of the Japanese-era, Taiwan's administrative districts were a bit of a mess, with about twenty somewhat unorganized prefectures (廳). By the time Emperor Taisho (大正天皇) had come to power, the situation in Taiwan had started to become much more organized, and after more than two decades of development, many of the villages, towns and cities that we know today had stated to take shape, with infrastructure in place to properly administer the island.

In 1920 (大正9年), the Japanese government in Tokyo instituted an administrative policy that standardized Taiwan’s geographic administrative areas with those in the rest of the country. Known as the ‘Dōka Policy’ (同化 / どーか), Taiwan’s administrative areas were converted from the original ‘prefectures’ (廳 / cho / ちょう) into the same ‘prefectures’ (州 / shu / しゅう) that were used in Japan at the time. It was during this time that they also reduced the original number of prefectures from twenty to eight.

As of 1920, Taiwan’s eight prefectures were:

Taihoku (臺北州 / たいほくしゅう): Modern day Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Yilan
Shinchiku (新竹州 / しんちくしゅう): Modern day: Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli
Taichu (臺中州 / たいちゅうしゅう): Modern day: Taichung, Changhua, Nantou,
Tainan (臺南州 / たいなんしゅう): Modern day: Chiayi, Yunlin, Tainan,
Takao (高雄州 / たかおしゅう): Modern day: Kaohsiung, Pingtung
Karenko (花蓮港廳 / かれんこうちょう): Modern day: Hualien
Taito (臺東廳 / たいとうちょう): Modern day: Taitung, Green Island, Orchid Island
Hoko (澎湖廳 /ほうこちょう): Modern day: Penghu Islands

Within each of these prefectures, you would have found subdivisions in the form of cities (市 / し) and counties (郡 / ぐん), which were then divided up into neighborhoods (町 / まち), towns (街 / がい), villages (庄 / そう) and Indigenous communities (蕃地 / ばんち), respectively.

While the colonial government was drawing up all of these new administrative districts, another issue that had to be dealt with were the names of some of these places. While it’s true that many of the major towns and villages around the island kept their original names, the Japanese weren’t exactly the biggest fans of some of them, so they decided to make some changes.

Prior to the arrival of the Japanese in 1895, Taiwan had been inhabited first it’s various tribes of indigenous peoples, then settlers from China started making their way across the strait, followed by the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, English, etc. With names derived from so many different influences, the Japanese sought to create a system that was not only modern, but easier to understand.

For those of you who are interested in the changes, I’ve put together a list of some of the name changes that took place in 1922. It’s a long list, and I’m only going to provide their original name, the name they changed to, and their current name. I won’t spend time translating each of them to Japanese as many of them also appear below:

1. Chúi-tng-kha (水返腳) → Sek-chí / Xizhi (汐止) Hokkien origin
2. Sek-kháu (錫口) → Siông-san / Songshan (松山) Hokkien origin
3. Pressinowan (叭哩沙) → Sam-sing / Sanxing (三星) Ketagalan origin
4. Pang-kiô (枋橋) → Pang-kiô / Banqiao (板橋) Hokkien origin
5. Sann-kak-íng (三角湧) → Sam-kiap / Sanxia (三峽) Hokkien origin
6. Kiâm-chhài-àng (鹹菜硼) → Guanˋ si / Guanxi (關西) Hakka origin
7. On Phìn-tsṳ́n (安平鎮) → Phìn-tsun / Pingzhen (平鎮) Hakka origin
8. Rhong moi lag (楊梅壢) → Rhong moi / Yangmei (楊梅) Hakka origin
9. Takoham (大嵙崁) → Thai-hâi / Daxi (大溪) Ketagalan origin
10. Su-gi-na (樹杞林) → Tek-tang / Zhudong (竹東) Hakka origin
11. Co-sân (草山) → Pó-sân / Baoshan (寶山) Hakka origin
12. Tonsuyan (屯消) → Thunsiau / Tongxiao (通霄) Taokas Origin
13. Ataabu (阿罩霧) → Bu-hong / Wufeng (霧峰) Hoanya origin
14. Sann-tsa̍p-tiunn-lê (三十張犁) → Pak-tun / Beitun (北屯) Hokkien origin
15. Thài-pîng (太平) → Tua-pîng / Daping (大平) Hokkien origin
16. Holotun (葫蘆墩) → Hong-guân / Fengyuan (豐原) Saisiyat origin
17. Gû-mâ-thâu (牛罵頭) → Tshing-tsuí / Qingshui (清水) Hokkien origin
18. Ka-tâu (茄投) → Liông-tsínn / Longjing (龍井) Hokkien origin
19. Khóo Ka-ióng (茄苳腳) → Hue-tuânn / Huatan (花壇) Hokkien origin
20. Kuan-tè thiann (關帝廳) → Éng-tseng / Yongjing (永靖) Hokkien origin
21. Huan-á-uat (番仔挖) → Sua-suann / Shashan (沙山) Hokkien origin
22. Chháu-ê-tun (草鞋墩) → Chháu-tùn / Caotun (草屯) Hokkien origin
23. Lâm-ngá (湳仔) → Bêng-kan / Mingjian (名間) Hokkien origin
24. Toukouva (塗庫) → Jîn-tik / Rende (仁德) Siraya origin
25. Tavocan (大目降) → Sin-huà / Hsinhua (新化) Siraya origin
26. Tapani (噍吧哖) → Ta-pa-nî / Yujing (玉井) Taivoan origin
27. Tackalan (直加弄) → An-ting / Anding (安定) Siraya origin
28. Saulang (蕭壠) → Ka-lí / Jiali (佳里) Siraya origin
29. Tiàm-á-kháu (店仔口) → Peh-hô / Baihe (白河) Hokkien origin
30. Tá-bâ (打貓) → Bîn-hiông / Minxiong (民雄) Hoanya origin
31. Muî-a-khenn (梅仔坑) → Sió-muî / Xiaomei (小梅) Hokkien origin
32. Dalivoe (他里霧) → Táu-lâm-tìn / Dounan (斗南) Hoanya origin
33. Phok-a-kioh (樸仔腳) → Phoh-tsú / Puzi (朴子) Hokkien origin
34. Takao (打狗) → Ko-hiông / Kaohsiung (高雄) Makatao origin
35. Han-chî-liâu (蕃薯藔) → Kî-san / Qishan (旗山) Hakka origin
36. Mì-nùng (彌濃) → Mì-nùng / Meinong (美濃) Hakka origin
37. Akaw (阿緱) → Pîn-tong / Pingtung (屏東) Paiwan origin
38. Vangecul (蚊蟀) → Buán-tsiu / Manzhou (滿州) Paiwan origin
39. Má-keng (媽宮) → Má-keng / Magong (馬公) Hokkien origin

In some cases the names of these towns changed completely, but for the most part most of them remained the same, albeit with simple changes in the ‘Kanji’ (Chinese characters) that were thought to make them more ‘elegant.’

To better explain what I mean, I’m going to start by offering a few specific, and probably the most obvious, examples of how these names changed:

The most obvious example of these name changes was in the southern port city that we refer today as Kaohsiung. Originally inhabited by the Makatao (馬卡道族) and Siraya (西拉雅族) indigenous groups, the area was referred as ‘Takau Island’ translating to 'bamboo forest island’ in the indigenous languages. When Chinese settlers arrived in the area, they heard the name ‘Takau’ and assigned the Chinese characters ‘打狗’, which translates literally as ‘beating a dog,’ something none of us should ever do.

When the Japanese arrived in Taiwan, the name of the city remained the same, but in 1920, they changed the Kanji from ‘打狗’ to ‘高雄’ (高雄 / たかお), which had the same 'pronunciation in Japanese. Considered far too crude to be the name of a Japanese city and an international port, the colonial government came up with something that was so good that when the Chinese Nationalists arrived in 1945, instead of changing the name from the Japanese 'Takao', they just left the Chinese characters the same, which is why the city has since been known as ‘Kaohsiung' in the Chinese language.

In a similar case, the town we know today as Minxiong (民雄) also had a name that the Japanese frowned upon - The (then) small village in Chiayi (嘉義) was originally named ’Dovaha’ (擔貍社) by the Dutch, who gave it the name in honor of the Pingpu Tribe (平埔族) that settled there. Later, the name was translated from Dutch into Taiwanese Hokkien as ‘Tá-bâ’ (打貓), or ‘beating a cat.’ Once again, instead of changing the pronunciation of the name, different characters were chosen to represent the town. Pronounced ‘Tamio’ (たみお) in Japanese, the words “民雄” (Hero of the People) were chosen instead.

There are of course other examples of how these name changes took place that didn’t have to do with animal cruelty, or the names being inappropriate. Take Kaohsiung’s district of Gangshan (岡山區) as an example. Originally named ‘A-kong-tiàm‘ (阿公店), or ‘Grandfather’s Shop’, the origin of the name of the town has a few different interpretations. One explanation was that due to its geographic location as a trading space between the ports in Tainan and Kaohsiung, the area was full of stores run by seniors. Hilariously, there are also claims that the name was actually just given to the space because there was an old guy in the middle of no where with a store.

Either way, the name ‘A-kong-tiàm’ didn’t really translate very well to Japanese, so they changed it entirely - The new name for the district of Takao Prefecture, which was being developed as a suburb became known as ‘Okayama’ (岡山 / おかやま), named after one of the Japanese main island’s prefectures. Once again, when the Republic of China took over in the 1940s, the name remained the same, with the pronunciation changed to ‘Gangshan’ instead of ‘Okayama’ and remains so to this day.

There is, however, a reservoir in the area that retains the ‘A-kong-tiàm’ name, a nod to the town’s history.

Link: 大字 (おおあざ) | 小字 (こあざ) - Wikipedia

My final example before moving on is one that is simply just a linguistic difference between Chinese, Taiwanese and Japanese, and most of the name changes that took place are due to these linguistic differences. If I use the Japanese-era ‘Shanjia Train Station’ (山佳車站) as an example, the original name of the area was ‘Suann á kioh’ (山仔腳), referring to its location at the foot of a mountain. The problem was that the character ‘仔’(zai), which is quite common in Taiwanese Hokkien isn’t very common in Japanese.

When it came to characters that weren’t commonly used in Kanji, like this, they simply replaced the ‘仔’ with a similar, simplified version of the character, like ‘子’, for example.

With these examples, I think you should have somewhat of an introduction to the thought process behind some of these changes. In some instances, the Japanese felt the names were inappropriate, in others they just didn’t translate well, and in others, they were simplified for convenience. Below, I’ll list each of the name changes that are displayed on the chart.

At this time, I’m not going to go into detail about the origin of each of the names, but I will provide their original name, their Japanese-era name, and their current name so that you can better understand how these things have evolved over time. If you’re interested in the linguistic changes mentioned in the third example above, click the drop down below, where I’ve provided a list of the most common character changes:

‘(á) zi’ 「仔」was changed to ‘zi’「子」
‘hong’「藔」was changed to ‘liáo’「寮」
‘hun’ 「份」was changed to ‘fèn’ 「分」
‘bei’ 「陂」was changed to ‘po’ 「坡」
‘shén’「什」was changed to ‘shí’「十」
‘tun’「墩」was changed to ‘tún’「屯」
‘ào’「澚」was changed to ‘ào’「澳」
‘gang’「崗」was changed to ‘gang’「岡」
‘khu’「坵」was changed to ‘qiu’「丘」
‘muâ’「蔴」was changed to ‘má’「麻」
‘diàn’「佃」was changed to ‘tián’「田」

Now, let me spend some time dissecting the inspiration for this article, the photo that appeared on my social media feed, all of which I’ve broken up and translated for you below:

To start, in the direct center of the diagram, you’ll find the vertical text: “Taisho Year 11, Taiwan Railway Station Name Change Chart” (大正十一年台灣鐵道停車場中改稱名新舊對照表), splitting the diagram into four different sections, or regions of the island.

For each of the stations, I’ll start with their original Japanese name, their name after being changed, and then their current name. I’ll also provide a link to each of the stations for any of you who are interested in learning more about the stations, many of which are now well-over a century old.

Note: In some cases, the romanization of these names could be a bit off, but I’ve done my best translating from several different languages to give readers a better idea of these changes.

Starting in the south, we have the following eleven name changes:

Chushusou Station (中州庄乗降場) → Chushu Station (中州驛 / ちゅうしゅうえき) → Zhongzhou Station (中洲車站)
Shinshigai Station (新市街驛 / しんしがいえき) → Shinshi Station (新市驛 / しんしえき) → Xinshi Station (新市車站)
Wanri Station (灣裡驛／わんりえき) → Zenka Station (善化 / ぜんかえき) → Shanhua Station (善化車站)
Hanshiten Station (番仔田停車場) → Hanshiten Station (番子田驛 / はんしてんえき) → Longtian Station (隆田車站)
Shin’eisho Station (新營庄驛 / しんえいしょうえき) → Shin’ei Station (新營驛 / しんえいしょうえき) → Xinying Station (新營車站)
Koheki’ryo Station (後壁藔停車場 / こうへきりょうえき) → Koheki Station (後壁驛 / こうへきえき) → Houbi Station (後壁車站)
Suikuttao Station (水堀頭驛 / すいほりとうえき) → Suijo Station (水上驛 / すいじょうえき) → Shuishang Station (水上車站)
Dabyo Station (打猫驛／だびょうえき) → Tamio Station (民雄驛 / たみおえき) → Minxiong Station (民雄車站)
Taihorin Station (大莆林驛 / たいほりんえき) → Tairin Station (大林驛 / たいりんえき) → Dalin Station (大林車站)
Tarimu Station (他里霧驛 / たりむりんえき) → Toroku Station (斗六驛／とろくえき) → Douliu Station (斗六車站)
Nihachisui Station (二八水驛 / にはちすいえき) → Nisui Station (二水驛) → Ershui Station (二水車站 / にすいえき)

On the top right, we have the following eleven name changes in the north:

Komota Station (紅毛田驛 / こうもうたえき) → Komo Station (紅毛驛 / こうもうえき) → (1934) Chikuhoku Station (竹北驛／ちくほくえき) - Chubei Station (竹北車站)
Taikoko Station (大湖口驛 / たいここうえき) → Kokō Station (湖口驛 / ここうえき) → Hukou Station (湖口車站)
Yōbair Station (楊梅壢驛 / ようばいれき) → Yobai Station (楊梅驛 / ようばいえき) → Yangmei Station (楊梅車站)
Heianchin Station (平安鎮驛 / へいあんちんえき) → Heichin Station (平鎮驛 / へいちんえき) → Puxin Station (埔心車站)
Kanshikyaku Station (崁仔脚驛 / かんしきゃくえき) → Kanshikyaku Station (崁子脚驛 / かんしきゃくえき) → Neili Station (內壢車站)
Okaishi Station (鶯歌石驛 / おうかいしえき) → Oka Station (鶯歌驛 / おうかえき) → Yingge Station (鶯歌車站)
Yamakogashi Station (山仔脚驛 / やまごあしえき) → Yamakogashi Station (山子腳驛 / やまごあしえき) → Shanjia Station (山佳車站)
Bankyo Station (枋橋驛 / ばんきょうえき) → Itahashi Station (板橋驛 / いたはしえき) → Banqiao Station (板橋車站)
Báng-kah Station (艋舺驛 / まんかえき) → Manka Station (萬華驛 / まんかえき) → Wanhua Station (萬華車站)
Suzuko Station (錫口驛 / すずこうえき) → Matsuyama Station (松山驛 / まつやまえき) → Songshan Station (松山車站)
Suihenkyaku Station (水返脚驛 / すいへんきゃくえき) → Shiodome Station (汐止驛 / しおどめえき) → Xizhi Station (汐止車站)

On the bottom left, we have the following eleven name changes on the east coast and in the south of Taiwan.

Suo Station (蘇澚驛 / そおうえき) → Suo Station (蘇澳驛 / そおうえき) → Su’ao Station (蘇澳車站)
Togazan Station (冬瓜山驛 / とうがざんえき) → Tozan Station (冬山驛 / とうざんえき) → Dongshan Station (東山車站)
Nonnongai Station (暖暖街驛 / だんだんがいえき) → Nonnon Station (暖暖驛 / だんだんえき) → Nuannuan Station (暖暖車站)
Tonbutsu Station (頓物驛 /とんぶつえき) → Takeda Station (竹田驛 / たけだえき) → Zhutian Station (竹田車站)
Ako Station (阿緱驛 / あこうえき) → Heito Station (屏東驛 / へいとうえき) → Pingtung Station (屏東車站)
Takao Station (打狗驛 / たかおえき) → Takao Station (高雄驛 / たかおえき) → Kaohsiung Station (高雄車站)
Nanshiko Station (楠仔坑驛 / なんしこうえき) → Nanshi Station (楠摔驛 / なんしえき) → Nanzi Station (楠梓車站)
Kyokoto Station (橋仔頭驛 / きょうことうえき) → Kyokoto Station (橋子頭驛 / きょうことうえき) → Qiaotou Station (橋頭車站)
Akotentei Station (阿公店驛 / あこうてんていえき) → Okayama Station (岡山驛 / をかやまえき) → Gangshan Station (岡山車站)
Hanrochiku station (半路竹驛 / はんろちくえき) → Rochiku Station (路竹驛 / ろちくえき) → Luzhu Station (路竹車站)
Daikogai Station (大湖街驛 / だいこがいえき) → Daiko Station (大湖驛 / だいこえき) → Dahu Station (大湖車站)

Finally, on the bottom right, we have the following eleven name changes in central Taiwan:

Tanakaou Station (田中央驛 / でんちゅうおうえき) → Tanaka Station (田中驛 / でんちゅうえき) → Tianzhong Station (田中車站)
Katokyaku Station (茄蔘腳驛 / かとうきゃえき) → Kadan Station (花壇驛 / かだんえき) → Huatan Station (花壇車站)
Daito Station (大肚驛 / だいとえき) → Oda Station (王田驛 / おうたえき) → Chenggong Station (成功車站)
Tanshiken Station (潭仔乾驛 / たんしけん) → Tanshi Station (潭子驛 / たんしえき) → Tanzi Station (潭子車站)
Koroton Station (葫產激驛 / ころとんえき) → Toyohara Station (豐原驛 / とよはらえき) → Fengyuan Station (豐原車站)
Korisou Station (后里庄驛 / こうりそうえき) → Kori Station (后里驛 / こうりえき) → Houli Station (后里車站)
Taiankei Station (大安溪驛 /だいあんけいえき) → Tai’an Station (大安驛 / たいあんえき) → Tai’an Station (泰安車站)
Sansagawa Station (三叉河驛 / さんさがわえき) → Sansa Station (三叉驛 / さんさえき) → Sanyi Station (三義車站)
Dorawan Station (銅鑼灣驛 / どうらわんえき) → Dora Station (銅鑼驛 / どうらえき) → Tongluo Station (銅鑼車站)
Koryu Station (後壠 /こうりゅうえき) → Koryu Station (後龍驛 / こうりゅうえき) → Houlong Station (後龍車站)
Chuko Station (中港驛 /ちゅうこうえき) → Chikunan Station (竹南驛 / ちくなんえき) → Zhunan Station (竹南車站)

Now that we’ve got all of that out of the way, it’s time to talk a little about the photo, and some rather obvious aspects of it that I probably should have noticed much earlier than I did.

The old adage ‘a picture tells a thousand words’ proves quite important with regard to the chart. You could argue that it’s not exactly a ‘picture,’ nor are there a thousand words on it, but after studying it for a while, I started to notice things that wouldn’t have been there if it were an original announcement from 1922. One of the first things that I should have noticed was that on the very top of the chart, under the two crests, the words “Showa Era” (昭和時代) and “Taisho Era” (大正時代).

The problem with this was that if the chart was released in 1922, it would be a bit strange to see the acknowledgement of the Showa Era there, given that it started on December 25, 1926, and lasted until the death of Emperor Showa on January 7th, 1989. Those ‘era’s are repeated once again at the top of the chart in smaller-case font with the addition of the Meiji Era (明治時代), which preceded the Taisho era. Essentially, the chart was more or less just listing the three emperors who oversaw control of Taiwan during the Japanese-era.

Historic railway stations in Taiwan, recreated by Taiwan Restoration.

What I should have noticed from the outset were the words “Taiwan Restoration” (台湾維新) - You’ll have to forgive me if what I say here seems like an advertisement, but a few years back I purchased a beautifully designed poster-like print that featured the logos that represented Taiwan’s various cities during the Japanese-era. Design-wise, I’m a big fan of them, especially compared to the ghastly logos that are used these days.

I purchased the print at a local bookstore, but it was produced by the very same ‘Taiwan Restoration’ person (or group) mentioned above. While you can still find quite a few of their designs for sale online, they haven’t really been very active updating their social media page in the past few years, so I can’t really tell you if it’s all being designed by a single person or a group of people. What I can tell you is that they’re (probably) not affiliated with the ‘Taiwan Renewal Party’, which shares the same Chinese name.

Link: Taiwan Restoration (Facebook) | Ruten Store: 台湾維新 | GJ Taiwan Store

Taking a look at the Facebook page, it strikes me that the products that they’re selling are all designed quite well, making use of some of the iconography that was prevalent during the Japanese-era. Obviously, as I mentioned earlier, I’m a fan of the logos that were created to signify Taiwan, and its major towns and cities. That being said, they’ve designed quite a few things that celebrate Taiwan’s railroad, which I really appreciate.

Now that I’ve done some looking into their products, I might actually try to purchase some more, if they’re still available. Unfortunately, it seems like quite a few of their products are sold out, have been for some time, and I’m not particularly sure if they’ll ever be restocked.

Nevertheless, before I leave you, with regard to all of the name changes that took place in Taiwan during the Japanese-era, the diagram above only features a small percentage of the location names that were changed. This is because it is only a representation of the railway stations that changed their names to reflect the changes in their community. The evolution of how these names of places around the country have changed over the centuries is a subject that is not covered very well in the English language, but it is a fascinating topic that paints a much broader story of how this beautiful island has changed as it has developed over the past few centuries.

References

Featured

Apr 27, 2024

Jiantian Historic Temple (劍潭古寺)

Apr 27, 2024

Apr 7, 2024

Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine (上色見熊野座神社)

Apr 7, 2024

Mar 9, 2024

Usa Grand Shrine (宇佐神宮)

Mar 9, 2024

Taiwan’s Remaining Japanese-era Train Stations (台鐵現存日治時期車站)

June 10, 2023 in Japanese Colonial Era, Travel

Over the past year or so, I’ve found myself spending a considerable amount of time researching the history of the railroad in Taiwan. Obviously, much of the rail network that we know and love today is primarily a result of the fifty-year Japanese Colonial Era, so as part of my evolving research and personal interest in that period of Taiwan’s history, I've been traveling around the country taking photos of a collection of century old stations.

That being said, over much of that time, I’ve been focused primarily on a specific group of stations known locally as the ‘Five Treasures of the Coastal Railway’ (海岸線五寶), with the lingering thought in the back of my mind that there are still dozens of others around the country that I’ll eventually have to visit.

When it comes to these things, I tend to be a pretty organized person, so while writing about the Five Treasures, I came to the conclusion (mostly for my own research purposes) that I should compile a list of all of those stations. In this way, I could better allocate my time and ensure that whenever I travel, I’m able to use my time more wisely.

While compiling the list however, I ended up discovering that there are very few authoritative resources that focus on these historic stations, or any that offer a complete list of what actually remains standing today.

To solve this problem, I dove deep into that rabbit hole and compiled a comprehensive list of over sixty historic Japanese-era stations that continue to exist in some form today. The final result is a list that is divided into various sections based on the branch of the railway where you’ll find them, including stations that belong to the historic sugar and forestry lines. Moreover it offers information as to their current operational status as well as their original Japanese-era names. I’ve also added a list of other railway-related sites, including the three former Railway Bureau Offices (鐵道部) in addition to any railway hospital, dormitory, tunnel or railway-related place of interest that has been restored in recent years.

That being said, I still consider these lists to be a work in progress, and I’m sure that despite my best efforts, I’ve missed something, which will have to be added in the future.

So, if you are aware of a station or important Japanese-era railway site that I’ve yet to add to the list, I’d be more than happy for your feedback as I hope to see the list continue to evolve over time.

Similarly, as I continue to write new articles about these historic stations, I’ll continue to update links.

You might ask why I feel that these stations are important - they’re just train stations, right?

Well, given Taiwan’s complicated history of colonial powers exerting control over the island, there has been an unfortunate erasure of history with each successive regime. Coupled with modern development having little-to-no regard for the nation’s history, a large percentage of what we could consider heritage sites across the country have been lost. Sure, we can easily find places of worship that are several hundred years old, but almost everything else has been torn down at some point in time.

As I’ve already mentioned, the list I’m providing below features some century-old stations that continue to remain in service today in addition to others that have become historic tourist attractions.

With a total of around two-hundred train stations across the country, many of the originals have already been replaced, making those that remain part of a special group of ‘living’ historic sites, worthy of cultural preservation.

Westerners might not consider a century-old building all that significant, but given Taiwan’s chaotic experience over the past two hundred years, any building that has been able to survive for so long deserves some respect. Likewise, it’s important to note that the introduction of an island-wide public transportation network was essentially a game changing moment in the development and industrialization of the island.

The railway not only brought modernity and economic opportunity, but also contributed to cultural and social change with railway stations acting as the beating heart of the modern Taiwanese town or city. Suffice to say, the ‘local railway station’ is often romanticized by many in Taiwan who have fond memories growing up with the trains becoming an essential part of their lives.

As I move on below, I’ll provide a brief introduction to the history of the Japanese-era railway, then I’ll present the lists as well as a map where you’ll find each of the stations.

I hope this list will be of some use to you, but given that I’ve spent a considerable amount of my free time putting it together, and translating all of the names, I hope it won’t just be copied and stolen without contacting me to ask for permission.

Taiwan’s Japanese-era Railway (臺灣日治時期鐵路)

The history of Taiwan’s railway network dates as far back as the late stages of the Qing Dynasty when a rudimentary railway was constructed between Keelung and Taipei in the 1890s, with plans to further expand the line all the way to the south. For many, one of the biggest misconceptions of ‘Chinese’ rule here in Taiwan is that they controlled the entire island. They didn’t, and had little aspiration to expand beyond the pockets of the western coast of the island that they did control.

So when the short-lived First Sino-Japanese War (日清戰爭) broke out in 1894, plans for further expansion of the railway were ultimately abandoned due to a lack of funds, and a lack of interest in the island’s development.

When the Japanese ultimately won that war, one of their demands was that the Qing cede the island of Taiwan (and the Pescadores) to the Japanese empire, which was quickly approved given that many back then considered the island a useless piece of untamed land, full of hostile indigenous peoples.

The Japanese on the other hand saw potential as the island was a massive cache of natural resources. So, in 1895 the Japanese showed up, and quickly got to work on plans to construct a railway network that would allow them to efficiently develop the island for the extraction of its precious natural resources.

Nearing the end of 1895 (明治28年), the colonial regime stationed a group of military engineers known as the ‘Temporary Taiwan Railway Team’ (臨時臺灣鐵道隊) in the northern port city of Keelung to carry out repairs on the existing railway, conduct surveys, and to come up with plans for improvements. Within a year proposals were drawn up to completely re-route the existing rail line from Keelung to Taipei in another direction for better efficiency, and a more ambitious plan known as the Jūkan Tetsudo Project (ゅうかんてつどう / 縱貫鐵道) was born.

Known in English as the ‘Taiwan Trunk Railway Project,’ the planning team sought to have the railroad pass through all of Taiwan’s already established settlements, including Kirin (基隆), Taihoku (臺北), Shinchiku (新竹), Taichu (臺中), Tainan (臺南) and Takao (高雄), a more than four-hundred kilometer railway.

Completed in 1908 (明治41), the railway connected the north to the south for the first time ever, and was all part of the colonial government’s master plan to ensure that natural resources would be able to flow smoothy out of the ports in Northern, Central, and Southern Taiwan.

Then, the Railway Department of the Governor General of Taiwan (台灣總督府交通局鐵道部) set its sights on constructing branch lines across the island in addition to expanding the railway along the eastern coast.

Looking at a map of the railway network today, one thing you’ll notice is that the lines appear to completely encircle the island. From the 1910s until 1945 (and in some cases longer), the network appeared more like an intricate spiderweb of lines with industrial branch lines scattered across the island.

As the railway continued to expand across the island, cities and economic opportunity followed, but with limited space, there is only so much that they could construct. Thus, the fifty year period of Japanese colonial rule is often split into two different periods by historians - The period between 1895 (明治31年) and 1926 (昭和元年) is referred to as the period of major railway construction while 1927 (昭和2年) to 1945 (昭和20年) is regarded as the period of railway improvement.

Link: Railway Station Name Change Chart (臺灣日治時期火車站新舊地名對照表)

The vast majority of the railway network’s stations were constructed during the Meiji Era (明治) from the time that Japan took control of Taiwan until 1911. The Taisho (大正) and Showa (昭和) eras then saw continued expansion of the railway, but for the most part many of the rudimentary stations constructed in the early years of the colonial era were replaced or reconstructed, with many of the stations that we can still see today (on the list below).

There are several factors as to why authorities at the time sought to improve the infrastructure network, but I suppose the most obvious was due to the wear and tear caused by natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons, which so commonly take place here in Taiwan. The modern construction techniques and materials introduced during the Taisho era meant that instead of constructing buildings purely of timber, reinforced concrete could then be utilized to ensure a longer life for many of the island’s important buildings.

It was also during this time that the railway network was improved with new bridges, tunnels and train engines all working together to improve the efficiency of the network.

Ultimately, the colonial era came to a conclusion at the end of the Second World War and in the seven decades since, Taiwan’s railway (and public transportation network) has continued to grow with the railway finally encircling the entire island. In recent decades we have also seen the widening of tracks and the electrification of the system. Today, the railway in Taiwan is a well-oiled and efficient machine that is of benefit to every one of the twenty-three million people living in the country and works seamlessly with the High Speed Rail as well as the underground subway networks in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung.

Some pretty horrific things took place during the Japanese era, but it goes without saying that this country wouldn’t be the amazing place it is today if it weren’t for the introduction of the railway.

Now that I’ve said my piece, let's move on to the list of remaining Japanese-era stations.

Taiwan’s Main Lines (營運路線)

Taiwan’s Main Branch Lines, namely those constructed for both passenger and freight services currently consist of three main sections: the Western Trunk Line (西部幹線), the Eastern Trunk Line (東部幹線) and the South-link Line (南迴線). All three of which were planned for construction during the colonial era, yet only the western and eastern lines were completed before the end of the Second World War.

It would take until 1991 for the South-Link Line to finally connect the eastern and western lines, allowing the railway to finally encircle the entire country.

There are of course a number of factors involved, but it’s important to note that the majority of stations on the list below are located primarily along Taiwan’s western coast. The Western Trunk Line running between Keelung and Kaohsiung was completed within a decade of the Japanese taking control of Taiwan, while the construction of the eastern coast railway took a little longer.

The eastern coast of the country is prone to earthquakes, and is affected much more by typhoons than the rest of Taiwan, so it’s understandable that many of those historic stations have been lost over time. It’s also important to keep in mind that the western side of the island has experienced considerably more development than the east, so the number of historic railway stations vastly outnumbers what you’ll find along the eastern coast.

The list of stations below is organized from north to south and ends on the east coast:

1. Qidu Station (七堵車站 / Shichito / しちとえき) - Still in operation (moved)
2. Huashan Station (華山貨運站 / Kabayama / かばやまえき) Not in operation
3. Shanjia Station (山佳車站 / Yamakogashi / さんかえき) - Still in operation (moved)
4. Hsinchu Station (新竹車站 / Shinchiku / しんちくえき) - Still in operation
5. Xiangshan Station (香山車站 / Kozan / こうざんえき) - Still in operation
6. Tanwen Station (談文車站 / Tanbunmizumi / だんぶんみずうみえき) - Still in operation
7. Dashan Station (大山車站/ Oyamagashi / おうやまあしえき) - Still in operation
8. Hsinpu Station (新埔車站 / Shin-ho / しんほえき) - Still in operation
9. Shenhsing Station (勝興車站 / Jurokufun / じゅうろくふんえき ) - Not in operation
10. Rinan Station (日南車站 / Oyamagashi / おうやまあしえき) - Still in operation
11. Qingshui Station (清水車站 / Kiyomizu / きよみずえき) - Still in operation
12. Chuifen Station (追分車站 / Oikawe / おいわけえき) - Still in operation
13. Zaoqiao Station (造橋車站 / Zokyo / ぞうきょうえき) - Still in operation
14. Tongluo Station (銅鑼車站 / Dora / どうらえき) - Still in operation
15. Tai-an Station (舊泰安車站 / Taian / たいあんえき) - Still in operation (moved)
16. Taichung Station (台中車站 / Taichu / たいちゆうえき) - Still in operation (moved)
17. Ershui Station (二水車站 / Nisui / にすいえき) - Still in operation
18. Dounan Station (斗南車站 / Tonan / となんえき) - Still in operation
19. Chiayi Station (嘉義車站 / Kagi / かぎえき) - Still in operation
20. Shiliu Station (石榴車站 / Sekiryu / せきりゅうえき) - Still in operation
21. Nanjing Station (南靖車站 / 水上駅 / Mizukami / みずかみえき) - Still in operation
22. Houbi Station (後壁車站 / Koheki / こうへきえき) - Still in operation
23. Linfengying Station (林鳳營車站 / Rinhoei / りんほうえいえき) - Still in operation
24. Tainan Station (台南車站 / Tainan / たいなんえき) - Still in operation
25. South Tainan Station (南台南車站 Shikenshozen / しげんしやうまへ) - Not in operation
26. Bao-an Station (保安車站 / 車路墘駅 / Sharoken / しゃろけんえき) - Still in operation
27. Luzhu Station (路竹車站 / Rochiku / ろちくえき) - Still in operation
28. Qiaotou Station (橋頭車站 / 橋子頭駅 / Hashikotou / はしことうえき) - Still in operation
29. Kaohsiung Station (舊高雄車站 / Takao / たかおえき) - Not in operation
30. Sankuaicuo Station (三塊厝車站 / Sankaiseki / さんかいせき) - Still in operation (moved)
31. Chutian Station (竹田車站 / Takeda / ちくでんえき) - Still in operation
32. Guanshan Station (關山車站 / Kanzan / かんざんえき) - Still in operation (moved)
33. Bin-lang Station (檳榔車站 / Hinashiki Teijajō / ひなしきていしゃじょう) - Not in operation

Branch Lines (產業鐵路)

Most are surprised to learn that the railway that we know today is actually exponentially smaller than the railway of the Japanese era, which was home to dozens of branches off of the main lines.

Connecting important industries to the main transportation network, today, only a few of these branches remain in service. Most notably, the Pingxi Line (平溪線), Neiwan Line (內灣線), Jiji Line (集集線), and the Alishan Line (阿里山線). For the most part, these branch lines weren’t originally constructed with passenger service in mind, they were primarily used for transporting freight and commodities from their point of origin to the main lines so that they could be brought to port.

The most prominent of these branch lines were the ‘Forestry Lines’ (林業鐵路) and the ‘Sugar Lines’ (糖業鐵路), which were constructed to haul sugarcane and timber, while also providing limited passenger services.

Today, a few of the original stations along those historic lines continue to exist, but for the most part service on these lines have been relegated as tourist attractions as the majority of those rail networks have been removed.

Of those branch lines that continue to provide (limited) service today you’ll find the following:

Sugar: the Magongcuo Line (馬公厝線), the Xihu Line (溪湖線), the Zhecheng Line (蔗埕線), the Baweng Line (八翁嫌), the Xingang East Line (新港東線) and the Qiaotou Line (橋頭線).
Forestry: the Alishan Forest Railway (阿里山森林鐵路), Taiping Mountain Forest Railway (太平山森林鐵道), the Luodong Forest Railway (羅東森林鐵路) and the Wulai Scenic Train (烏來台車).

To offer an idea of the scale of the Japanese-era railway, the network in Taiwan today is measured at 2,025 kilometers in length while the Japanese-era the branch railways would have tripled that total length with the Sugar Railways alone spanning 2,900km in central and southern Taiwan.

Below you’ll find some of those stations that continue to exist in some form:

1. Jing-tong Station (青銅車站 / 菁桐坑驛 / Seito / せいとうえき) - Still in operation
2. Xinbeitou Station (新北投車站 / Shinhokuto / しんほくとうえき) - Not in operation
3. Hexing Station (合興車站) - Still in operation (Completed in 1950)
4. Kanglang Station (槺榔驛 / Kanran / かんらんえき) - Not in operation
5. Xihu Station (溪湖車站 / Keiko / けいこえき) - Not in operation
6. Lukang Station (鹿港車站 / Rokko / ろっこうえき) - Not in operation
7. Jiji Station (集集車站 / Shushu / しゅうしゅうえき) - Still in operation
8. Checheng Station (車程車站 / 外車埕驛 / Gaishatei / がいしゃていえき) - Still in operation
9. Huwei Station (虎尾車站 / Kobi / こびえき) - Not in operation
10. Suantou Station (蒜頭車站 / Santo / さんとうえき) - Not in operation
11. Wushulin Station (烏樹林車站 / Ujiyurin / うじゅりんえき) - Not in operation
12. Yanshui Station (鹽水車站 / Ensui / えんすいえき) - Not in operation
13. Qishan Station (旗山車站 / Kisan / きさんえき) - Not in operation
14. Zhulin Station (竹林車站 / Chikurin / ちくりんえき) - Not in operation
15. Dazhou Station (大洲車站 / Daishu / だいしゅうえき) - Not in operation
16. Tiansongpi Station (天送埤車站 / Tensohi / てんそうひえき) - Not in operation
17. Historic Morisaka Station (萬榮工作站 / Morisaka / もりさかえき) - Not in operation

Alishan Forest Railway Branch Line (阿里山林業鐵路)

One of the Colonial Government’s most ambitious railway construction projects was the Alishan Forestry Branch line, which was constructed to more efficiently transport one of the era’s hottest commodities, Taiwanese cypress (hinoki / ひのき / 檜木).

The branch line has remained in operation for almost a century now, and despite a few setbacks, it remains a popular tourist excursion out of Chiayi. Below, I’m listing some of the Japanese-era stations that remain in operation along the line today.

I should note that there are several ‘stops’ along the way, such as the Sacred Tree Station (神木站), which some may consider to be a Japanese-era station when in fact it is really only just a platform, which is why I haven’t included it in the list.

1. Beimen Station (北門車站 / Hokumon / ほくもんえき) - Still in operation
2. Lumachan Station (鹿麻產車站 / Rokuma-san / ろくまさんえき) - Still in operation
3. Zhuqi station (竹崎車站 / Takezaki / ちくきえき) - Still in operation.
4. Mululiao Station (木履寮車站 / Mokuriryo / もくりりょうえき) - Still in operation
5. Jhangnaoliao Station (樟腦寮車站 / Shounoryo / しょうのうりょうえき) - Still in operation
6. Dulishan Station (獨立山車站 / Dokuritsu-san / どくりつさんえき) - Still in operation
7. Jiaoliping Station (交力坪車站 / Koriyokuhei / こうりょくへいえき) - Still in operation
8. Shueisheliao Station (水社寮車站 / Suisharyo / すいしゃりょうえき) - Still in operation
9. Fenchihu Station (奮起湖車站 / Funkiko / ふんきこ-えき) - Still in operation
10. Duolin Station (多林車站 / Tarin / たりんえき) - Still in operation
11. Shitzulu Station (十字路車站 / Jiyuujiro / じゅうじろえき) - Still in operation
12. Chaoping Station (沼平車站 / Shohei / しょうへいえき) - Reconstructed

Japanese-era railway-related places of interest

In addition to the Japanese-era railway stations that remain in Taiwan, there are also a large number of historically important buildings and places of interest with regard to the railway.

The most prominent of these being the three Railway Bureau Offices, which were the geographically strategic offices for the operation and maintenance of the railway.

There are also quite a few other places of interest, and this is where my list will ultimately continue to grow over time as there are a number of railway-related buildings currently in the process of being restored as well as a number of branch line-related sugar factories, which have been converted into culture parks.

1. Taipei Railway Bureau (台北鐵道部)
2. Hualien Railway Bureau (花蓮鐵道部)
3. Kaohsiung Railway Bureau (高雄鐵道部)
4. Taipei Railway Workshop (台北機廠)
5. Changhua Roundhouse (彰化扇形車庫)
6. Changhua Railway Hospital (彰化鐵路醫院)
7. Luodong Forestry Culture Park (羅東林業文化園區)
8. Taiping Mountain Forestry Railway (太平山森林鐵路)

Map of Japanese-era Railway Stations

Combining the three lists above, the map I’ve created below features all of the stations and Japanese-era railway-related places of interest in one convenient location. This should help you easily identify where you’ll be able to find these historic locations.

Each of spots on the map features basic information about the stations as well as links to articles about them, if available.

As you can see from the modest number of links I’ve provided, I still have quite a bit of work to do with regard to documenting the history of these stations - So, as I mentioned earlier, this article is very much a work in progress, and as I continue to work on a number of other ongoing projects, I’ll try to visit as many of these these historic stations as I can while traveling around the country.

That being said, I hope that this list and the map I’ve created for you are both interesting and helpful.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to get in touch!

Featured

Jiantian Historic Temple (劍潭古寺)

Huashan 1914 Creative Park (華山1914文化創意產業園區)

Railway Station Name Change Chart (臺灣日治時期火車站新舊地名對照表)

Ogon Shrine (黃金神社)

Taiwan’s Remaining Japanese-era Train Stations (台鐵現存日治時期車站)

Erlin Martial Arts Hall (二林武德殿)

Abandoned Tea Factory

Tamsui Police Commissioners Residence (淡水日本警官宿舍)

Taipei Guest House (臺北賓館)

Taiwan New Cultural Movement Memorial Hall (臺灣新文化運動紀念館)

The Coastal Railway Five Treasures (海線五寶)

May 14, 2022 in Japanese Colonial Era, Miaoli, Photo Post, Taichung, Travel

I’ve spent a considerable amount of time as of late making my way up and down Taiwan’s Western Coast Railway visiting a handful of historic railway stations, taking photos, and then researching and writing about them. Many of you might wonder why I spend so much of my time visiting a bunch of old train stations, but if you’ve read any of my articles about them, you probably have your answer.

The reason I’ve written about a select group of them is because they’re going to be celebrating their centennial year of operation this year (2022), and with so little information about them available in English, I figured it was a good time to tell their story. Even though I realize that a bunch of one hundred year old train stations isn’t all that exciting for most people, it is a tremendously rare thing for buildings of this nature to have lasted so long in Taiwan, and even rarer to find them still in operation today.

In many ways, Taiwan’s rapid modern development has been great for the people of this beautiful country, but for all of the pros, there are obviously going to be some cons; One of the unfortunate aspects of all of Taiwan’s growth over the last few decades is that much of the history of this beautiful island has been bulldozed in order to make way for modernity. If I were to focus only on the topic at hand, there were originally sixteen of these railway stations along the Coastal Railway Branch. Today, we celebrate the five that remain, but its important to keep in mind that seventy percent of them have already been lost to history.

Of course, in some cases the rapid population growth of communities around the country has necessitated such actions with these smaller stations unable to handle with the amount of passengers passing through on a daily basis, but its still a shame that so many of these important pieces of Taiwan’s history have disappeared over the years.

Fortunately, the five remaining stations that I’m going to briefly introduce below have been designated as protected heritage buildings, which should help to ensure that they will continue to exist for quite some time.

Known locally among railway aficionados as the “Coastal Railway Five Treasures” (海鮮五寶), each of these wooden Japanese-era railway stations date back to 1922 and have been fortunate to last as long as they have mostly because they serve small communities where there was never really a huge growth in population.

That being said, even though they continue to remain in operation today, they are also considered by many as living museums given that they do an amazing job of putting local history on display.

To tell their story, I will first have to introduce a bit about the history of the Coastal Railway where they’re located, and then I’ll follow by providing a brief introduction to each of the stations with links to their individual articles and a map where you’ll be able to find them.

If you have any interest in Taiwan’s history, the Japanese-era, or the railway, it’s a pretty good year to take a bit of time to visit one, two or all of these beautiful train stations.

The Coastal Railway (海岸線 / かいがんせん)

The history of the railway in Taiwan dates back as far as 1891 (光緒17), when the last Qing governor, Liu Mingchuan (劉銘傳), attempted to have a route stretching from Keelung (基隆) to Hsinchu (新竹) constructed. The construction of the railway however came at too high of a cost, given that the Qing rulers cared very little about what was happening in Taiwan as well as the fact that they were contending with war (and revolution), so plans to have it extended any further were put on hold.

A few short years later in 1895 (明治28), the Japanese took control of Taiwan, and brought with them a team of skilled western-educated engineers tasked with developing proposals to have the already established railway repaired as well as to come up with suggestions for extending it all the way to the south and beyond.

The Jūkan Tetsudō Project (縱貫鐵道 / ゅうかんてつどう), otherwise known as the ‘Taiwan Trunk Railway Project’ sought to have the railroad pass through each of Taiwan’s established settlements, including Kirin (基隆), Taihoku (臺北), Shinchiku (新竹), Taichu (臺中), Tainan (臺南) and Takao (高雄).

Link: Taiwan Railway Museum (臺灣總督府鐵道部)

Amazingly, the more than four-hundred kilometer railway was completed in 1908 (明治41), and connected the north to the south with a transportation route for the first time ever. Taking just over a decade to complete, the railway would become instrumental in changing the landscape of Taiwan’s modern development, but was ultimately the key to the colonial regime’s master plan of ensuring that Taiwan’s precious natural resources would be able to be processed efficiently and sent back to Japan.

Once completed, the Railway Department of the Governor General of Taiwan (台灣總督府交通局鐵道部) set its sights on constructing public and private branch lines across the island, as well as expanding the railway network with a line that spanned the entire eastern coast.

Note: Privatized Branch Lines refer to those used by companies engaged in the extraction or production of commodities such as timber, sugarcane, tobacco, coal, gold, etc.

However, after almost a decade of service, unforeseen circumstances in central Taiwan necessitated changes in the way that the western railway operated with issues arising due to typhoon and earthquake damage. More specifically, the Western Trunk railway in southern Miaoli had to pass through mountains and required climbing up a steep incline in sections before eventually crossing bridges across the Da’an (大安溪) and Da’jia Rivers (大甲溪). Due to these geographic limitations, and flaws in the original design, issues caused by natural disasters created a tremendous amount of traffic congestion, and periodic service outages when the railway and the bridges had to be repaired or rebuilt.

Link: Long-Teng Bridge (龍騰斷橋)

To solve the problem of passenger and freight congestion, the team of railway engineers came up with a solution, known as the “Kaigan-sen” (かいがんせん / 海岸線), or the Coastal Railway Branch Line.

With construction of the branch line planned between Chikunangai (ちくなんがい / 竹南街) and Shoka (しょうかちょう / 彰化廳), or what we refer to today as Zhunan (竹南) and Changhua (彰化), the line would divert from the already existing railway and follow a route closer to the coast where the mountains could be avoided.

Link: Western Trunk Line | 縱貫線 (Wiki)

These plans however met with consternation from residents of Taichung who considered the Coastal Railway a dagger to the heart of the economic development and growth of the city. They figured that with the Taichung Port (located on the opposite side of the mountains) processing most of the freight coming from central Taiwan, the city would become a ghost town as the new line would shift development to the coastal side of the mountains

In spite of the protests taking place in Taichung, Governor General Akashi Motojirō (明石元二郎／あかしもとじろう), who is remembered today as one of the most consequential governors of the Japanese era (thanks to his significant contributions to the economy and infrastructure development projects), held steadfast and made sure that construction on the Coastal Railway came to fruition.

Note: Even though Governor General Akashi Motojiro held his post for just over a year before he fell ill and died, he is credited with the creation of the the Taiwan Power Company (臺灣電力株式會社), the massive Chianan Irrigation System (嘉南大圳), the Sun Moon Lake Hydroelectric Power Plant, and of course the Coastal Railway.
The Governor’s foresight and planning for the future helped to ensure that the island could continue its rapid development, and he used his political influence to ensure that funding was made available from the Japanese government back home.
Link: Akashi Motojiro | 明石元二郎 (Wiki)

Construction on the ninety kilometer Coastal Line started in 1919, and amazingly was completed just a few short years later in 1922 (大正11). Servicing sixteen stations, all of which (as I mentioned above) remain in service today.

What many people are unaware of though is that within a year of the project starting, the first section, known as the ‘Oda Branch Line’ (王田支線) between Oda Station (王田驛) and Kiyomizu Station (清水驛) in southern Taichung opened for service on December 25th, 1920 (大正10年). In today’s terms, the branch line essentially started at Chenggong Station (成功車站), and curved north with a final stop at Qingshui Station (清水車站), where freight could be more efficiently transported to Taichung Port.

To this day, the opening of the Oda Branch Line is interpreted by many as a method of appeasing the people of Taichung. who were weary of the Coastal Branch, but quickly took to the new line as it provided a means of visiting the nearby beach on the weekend. Similarly, it was also seen as a practical move to ensure that freight could be transported to the Taichung port on the western coast as soon as possible.

It would take another two years for the rest of the Coastal Line from Chikunan (竹南 / ちくなんぐん) to Shoka (彰化 / しょうかぐん) to be completed, with the official opening ceremonies taking place on October 11th, 1922 (大正12年) at Tsū-shou Station (通霄驛) in southern Miaoli.

Fortunately for the residents of Taichung, the economic disaster that was predicted never took place, and the city continued to grow thanks to the new line - Even better, the Coastal Railway connected communities in Miaoli and Taichung that had yet to have access to the railway, allowing them to grow as well as ensuring that their own agricultural products would be able to be shipped around the island, as well as being exported back to Japan, providing a tremendous economic opportunity for them.

This was especially true when it came to agricultural products such as watermelons from northern Miaoli, and the ‘Emperors Rice’ cultivated in southern Miaoli. That being said, there was also a considerable amount of coal, camphor, clay, bricks and other products originating from the sixteen stations along the railway.

The sixteen stations along the Coastal Railway, including the two termini stations are as follows:

(Japanese-era romanization / kanji / hiragana / current name)

Chikunan Station (竹南驛／ちくなんえき) / Zhunan (竹南車站)
Tanbunmizūmi Station (談文湖駅 / だんぶんみずうみえき) / Tanwen (談文車站)
Oyamagashi Station (大山腳驛 / おうやまあしえき) / Dashan (大山車站)
Kōryū Station (後龍驛／こうりゅうえき) / Houlong (後龍車站)
Koshiryo Station (公司寮驛 /こうしりやう) / Longgang (龍港車站)
Hakushaton Station (白沙屯驛／はくしゃとんえき) / Baishatun (白沙屯車站)
Shin-ho Station (新埔驛 / しんほえき) / Xinpu (新埔車站)
Tsū-shou Station (通霄驛 / つうしょうえき) / Tongxiao (通宵車站)
Enri Station (苑裡驛 / えんりえき) / Yuanli (苑裡車站)
Nichinan Station (日南驛 / にちなんえき) / Rinan (日南車站)
Taikō Station (大甲驛／たいこうえき) / Dajia (大甲車站)
Kōnan Station (甲南驛／こうなんえき) / Taichung Port (台中港車站)
Kiyomizu Station (清水驛 / きよみずえき) / Qingshui (清水車站)
Sharoku Station (沙鹿驛／しゃろくえき) / Shalu (沙鹿車站)
Tatsui Station (龍井驛／たついえき) / Longjing (龍井車站)
Daito Station (大肚驛 / だいとえき) / Dadu (大肚車站)
Oiwake Station (追分驛 / おいわけえき) / Zhuifen (追分車站)
Shōka Station (彰化驛／しょうかえき) / Changhua (彰化車站)

Interestingly, when the Japanese-era came to an end in 1945, and the Chinese Nationalists took control of Taiwan, the vast majority of the stations maintained the same names, save for a pronunciation change from Japanese to Mandarin. The only stations that went through a name change were the fifth station, Koshiryo Station (公司寮驛), which was changed to Longgang Station (龍港車站) and the twelfth station, Kōnan Station (甲南驛, which was changed to Taichung Port Station (台中港車站).

In the first case, the name change was a bit strange given that ‘Gongsiliao Fishing Harbor’ (後龍公司寮漁港), a short walk from the station uses the Mandarin pronunciation of the Japanese-era name.

The name “Longgang” is a abbreviation of ‘Houlong Fishery Harbor' (後龍漁港), which makes sense.

In the latter case, I don’t see much issue with the name change as the station is used primary for those wanting to reach the Port of Taichung, although the freight services that were once the bread and butter of the station have pretty much dried up as the Port of Taichung has grown and modernized.

Over the past century, the Coastal Railway has remained an important route for passenger service and transporting freight, however when the Mountain Line (山線) was widened into a dual-track system, the amount of trains traveling along the line gradually reduced. These days, the Coastal Railway is most frequently serviced by Local Commuter Trains (區間車) that stop at each station along the route.

Like the Mountain Line however, the Coastal Railway has also gone through a similar period of modernization, including the widening of the tracks into a dual-track system, allowing more trains to travel back and forth as well as the electrification of the entire network.

Link: Qiding Railway Tunnels

Express trains are now able to their way through the Coastal Railway, but they only stop at larger stations such as Zhunan, Houlong, Tongxiao, Yuanli, Dajia, Qingshui, Shalu and Changhua.

Admittedly, when traveling or returning home, I’m always excited when I discover that my ticket displays that my train will travel along the coastal route, which is the more scenic of the two lines. I’m sure for many locals the feeling is mutual as you really get to enjoy Taiwan’s beauty along the route.

Unfortunately as the railway has modernized over the past century, so have many of the stations along the line, which have been completely rebuilt, replacing the original stations constructed in the 1920s.

Today, only a handful of stations constructed during the Japanese-era remain in operation, known as the “Coastal Railway Five Treasures” (海線五寶), these historic stations (as well as the coastal railway itself) will celebrate their one-hundred year anniversary this year (2022).

Fortunately, as I mentioned earlier, now that they’ve all been designated as Protected Historic Properties by either the Taichung City Government or the Miaoli County Government, they will be preserved for future generations to enjoy - and will hopefully also remain in operation for quite some time.

Below, I’ll briefly introduce each of those five stations and provide links to their individual articles for you to learn more about them.

Coastal Railway Five Treasures (海鮮五寶)

Known locally as the ‘Coastal Railway Five Treasures’ these five railway stations along the Coastal Railway between Zhunan and Changhua are historically significant for quite a few reasons, but most importantly are part of a select few stations around Taiwan that have remained in operation for the past one hundred years.

Writing this article, I may be accused of political bias as there is a bit of contention with regard to the proper nickname used to describe the stations.

When most people talk about them, its natural to refer to them as the “Coastal Railway Five Treasures”, but if you’re from the ‘sovereign nation’ of Miaoli-kuo (苗栗國), you’d probably prefer to refer to use the term “Miaoli Three Treasures” (苗栗三寶), completely disregarding the two stations located in Taichung.

The notion that Miaoli is a country of its own is an interesting one, and I’m sure someone could (or probably already has) write an entire thesis on this running joke and how it originated. What I will say is that in the Chinese language, the term Three Treasures (三寶) is a much more auspicious and meaningful number than five, so linguistically it has more sway.

Note: “Three Treasures” (三寶) linguistically refers to “the Buddha”, “the Dharma”, and “the Sangha” (佛寶, 法寶, 僧寶) in Buddhism, also known as the “Three Jewels” or the “Three Roots” and is a term that has significant meaning throughout Asia. That being said, the term “三寶” (sān bǎo) has taken on a number of meanings ranging from Hong Kong style of bento box that features three kinds of meat (三寶飯), or an idiot driving on the road (馬路三寶), among others.

But if you’re not from Miaoli, you should probably include the two stations in Taichung, because they deserve the same amount of respect!

All five of the so-called ‘treasures’ were (more or less) constructed with the exact same architectural design, although they may appear slightly different today, due to their age or modifications that may have taken place over the past century. One might argue that if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all, but that would be a bit misguided as there are some pretty important architectural differences found within the stations that you’ll be able to enjoy if you visit each of them. Similarly, the area that surrounds each of the stations has grown over the past century, so while exploring you’ll be able to get a feel of what the area was like a hundred years ago.

For railway enthusiasts, these stations are pretty important attractions, but for the rest of us, only a few of them might be attractive tourist destinations. Nevertheless, if you find yourself in the area, I highly recommend stopping by to check them out.

So, without further adieu, let me briefly introduce each of the Five Treasure:

Tanwen Railway Station (談文車站)

Original name: Tanbunmizūmi Station (談文湖駅 / だんぶんみずうみえき)

Current name: Tanwen Station (談文車站)

Opened: October 11th, 1922

Traveling south of Hsinchu, Tanwen Station is the first of the five treasures that you’ll come across. The station is located in a strange spot just off of the coastal highway in Miaoli’s Zaoqiao Township (造橋鄉). The station is considered to be in the worst shape of the five treasures, but it is arguably also one of the most beautiful as it maintains its century-old appearance, and is most often a pretty quiet place to visit with only tourists visiting at various points throughout the week.

Address: #29 Ren-ai Road, Zaoqiao Township (苗栗縣造橋鄉談文村仁愛路29號)
GPS: 24.656440 120.858330

Dashan Railway Station (大山車站)

Original name: Oyamagashi Station (大山腳驛 / おうやまあしえき)

Current name: Dashan Station (大山車站)

Opened: October 11th, 1922

Traveling south past Tanwen Station, the next stop along the Coastal Railway is Dashan Station, one of the best preserved of the five treasures. Dashan is located within a small coastal community in Miaoli’s Houlong township (後龍鎮) with views of the coast within sight of the platform.

The community near the station is pretty quiet, like the station itself, but don’t let that fool you, Dashan Station was once an extremely important stop along the railway as it was where they’d load copious amounts of delicious watermelons onto the trains bound for port in Taichung.

Address: #180 Mingshan Road. Houlong Township (苗栗縣後龍鎮大山里明山路180號)
GPS: 24.645670, 120.803770

Xinpu Railway Station (新埔車站)

Original name: Shin-ho Station (新埔驛 / しんほえき)

Current name: Xinpu Station (新埔車站)

Opened: October 11th, 1922

The sixth station along the coastal railway, Xinpu Station is probably the least busiest of the bunch as it serves a very small community. It’s also geographically the closest station to the coast on the western railway. The station remains in pretty good shape, but the space around it is quite cramped due to a lack of space and the widening of the railway into a dual-track system.

The area near the station these days is home to a pretty popular bicycling route that follows the coast of Miaoli and Hsinchu. Most of the tourism these days involves people getting off the train with their bicycles and heading back up north on a bike ride.

Address: #57, Hsinpu Village. Tongxiao Township (苗栗縣通霄鎮新埔里新埔57號)
GPS: 24.539850, 120.700350

Rinan Railway Station (日南車站)

Original name: Nichinan Station (日南驛 / にちなんえき)

Current name: Rinan Station (日南車站)

Opened: October 30th, 1922

Rinan Station is the ninth station along the line, and the first of the five treasures in Taichung. Located in the city’s Dajia District (大甲區), famed for its giant Mazu Temple, the station and the area around it has received a bit of attention over the years, allowing it to remain in pretty good shape.

The community that surrounds the station has similarly grown into a relatively busy place over the years, and having access to the railway helps to connect its residents to the rest of Taichung, making this the station one of the busiest of the five.

Address: #8, Alley 140, Sec 2 Zhongshan Road. Dajia District, Taichung. (臺中市大甲區中山路二段140巷8號)
GPS: 24.378320, 120.653780

Zhuifen Railway Station (追分車站)

Original name: Oiwake Station (追分驛 / おいわけえき)

Current name: Zhuifen Station (追分車站)

Opened: October 11th, 1922

The sixteenth station on the Coastal Line, Zhuifen Station in southern Taichung City, located near the Dadu River where the railway crosses into Changhua is probably the most well-known of the five treasures.

The station is a popular attraction for tourists, students and young couples. Thanks to a play on words within the Chinese language, a ticket from Zhuifen Station (追分車站), and its next door neighbor Chenggong Station (成功車站) has become a local good luck charm with the “追分” and “成功” translating as ‘Making your dreams come true!’ (追分成功) or ‘successfully finding a partner for marriage’ (追婚成功).

The iconic trip has become just as well known in Taiwan as any Matchmaking God or God of Literature temple, and it is even mentioned in students history books. Zhuifen Station is located in an industrial area of Dadu District and there’s always some sort of construction going on nearby.

If you visit there will be volunteers there who are very happy to help introduce every special aspect of the station - certainly an experience that you won’t get at any of the other stations along the Coastal Railway.

Address: #13 Zhuifen Street, Dadu District, Taichung City (臺中市大肚區追分街13號)
GPS: 24.120540, 120.570160

Getting There

On the map above, I’ve marked the locations of each of the five treasures in addition to the other stations along the Coastal Railway as well as some other railway-related locations in the area.

As with any of my articles about Taiwan’s historic train stations, if you ask me how to get there, it should be pretty obvious that I’m going to recommend that you take the train. The railway in Taiwan is one of the most convenient ways to travel, and if you’ve set out to visit a train station, why would you take another method of transportation?

I’ve listed the address and the GPS coordinates for each of the five treasures above, but if you’d prefer greater detail on how to get to each of the stations, I recommend clicking on the individual links where you’ll find a more detailed description.

Finally, if you’re asking for recommendations for the best method to visit the stations, I have a few opinions on the subject: I’d argue that traveling to all five of them in a single day is a bit excessive, especially since there is so much to see and do in the areas around the stations. Instead, I recommend splitting the trip in two and checking out the three in Miaoli on one excursion, and the two in Taichung on another day.

The great thing about both Miaoli and Taichung is that there is quite a bit to see and do, so if you’re in either area, you probably don’t want to spend the entire day chasing trains.

If you don’t really care and insist on visiting all five in a single day, I recommend you take the High Speed Rail from wherever you are to Taichung (高鐵台中站) where you’ll transfer to Taiwan Railway’s Xinwuri Station (新烏日車站), which is coincidentally in the same building.

From there, Zhuifen Station is only two stops away and then you can make your way back up north along the Coastal Line stopping at Rinan, Xinpu, Dashan and Tanwen before heading back to Hsinchu.

If on the other hand you’re traveling from the south instead of the north, I recommend taking the train to Zhunan Station (竹南車站) and from there transferring to a southbound train on the Coastal Line.

Either way you’ll get to visit each of the stations while making your way back to where you’ve started.