Longtan Martial Arts Hall (龍潭武德殿)

February 04, 2017 in Travel, Photo Post, Urban Exploration, Taoyuan, Japanese Colonial Era

When I wrote this article several years ago, I was still quite new to this whole blogging thing and was likewise just starting out exploring historic buildings from the Japanese era.

Keeping in mind that the Longtan Martial Arts Hall was the first of Taiwan’s Martial Arts Halls that I visited (and wrote about), when I look back on the original article, it’s easy to see how little I knew back then and how much I’ve learned over the past few years.

Given that my visit to the Martial Arts Hall was done prior to its restoration, I had always planned to make a return visit to update this article, and now that its re-opened to the public, it’s my turn to give this space a fresh look!

So I’m back with an entirely new article that includes new photos mixed in with the older ones, and more importantly several years of experience researching and learning about these historic buildings.

This update includes considerably more information than the original one did, but to keep it shorter, I’ve removed some of the original elements that didn’t focus specifically on the building. A lot of that information focused on providing an explanation of what the Japanese-era was, and the purpose of these Martial Arts Halls.

While it should be fairly straight forward that this historic 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 their purpose.

Thus, if you haven’t already, I recommend stopping here and reading my general introduction to Taiwan’s Martial Arts Halls, which details 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 up to date with all of that, let’s just get into it!

I first visited the Longtan Martial Arts Hall years ago prior to its restoration, which was a time when the historic Hakka village of Longtan (龍潭) was undergoing a bit of a transformation in the way it presents itself to the rest of the world.

Once a quiet little town nestled in the mountains of south-eastern Taoyuan, Longtan was a gem for those of us who knew about it, but has traditionally been overshadowed by Daxi Old Street (大溪老街), the Shimen Reservoir (石門水庫), and areas further up in the mountains.

In the years since then, the Taoyuan City Government has invested heavily in the historic village with several projects that have caught the attention of domestic tourists.

Even though Longtan isn’t considered a tourist “Old Street” (老街) in the way that Daxi or Sanxia is, visitors these days are easily able to park their car, grab a Youbike or walk around the downtown core of the village, which features quite a few destinations, with the Martial Arts Hall being just one on a long list!

Porch

Front Facade

Gable End on the Porch

Window

Having undergone a several year restoration project, the long-awaited reopening of the Longtan Martial Arts hall took place with lots of local fanfare and was expected to become one of the villages most popular tourist attractions.

The photos above were taken prior to the restoration of the hall

Then COVID-19 reared its ugly head and wreaked havoc across the world, putting a halt on international tourism and for a period, domestic tourism as well. All of the tourists that the Taoyuan City Government had hoped to attract to the area weren’t showing up, so it was decided that the Martial Arts Hall would remain closed, except for special occasions, until people started traveling again.

This caused a bit of a headache for me personally as I visited the area on several occasions hoping to be able to finally get inside the building to see the interior but ended up being denied each time!

Fortunately things are starting to settle down and the Martial Arts Hall (and nearby tourist attractions) is slowly opening up on a full-time basis to an ever-expanding rotation of art and cultural exhibits, making it an important stop when visiting Longtan!

Longtan Martial Arts Hall (龍潭武德殿)

Let me start out this much more in-depth history of the Martial Arts Hall with an apology.

When I first wrote about the Longtan Martial Arts Hall, I reported that it dates back to 1930 (昭和5年), but didn’t really include much else about its long history - and for the past few years that is what I’ve had published on my blog for all to see. When I first starting writing about this stuff, I admit that I relied a little too much on information provided by Chinese language Wikipedia, which I’ve discovered doesn’t necessarily always provide factual information.

The Longtan Martial Arts Hall actually dates back to 1937 (昭和12年) and is a borough-level branch (分會) of the only other Martial Arts Hall that remains in Taoyuan today, the Daxi Martial Arts Hall (大溪武德殿).

This was because at the time, Longtan was administered as a borough of Daxi, which was a much larger and more economically significant town at the time (although I think one could argue that this remains the same today).

Taiwan’s political and geographic administration was much different than it is today, and the Taoyuan City (桃園市) that we know currently was simply just a part of greater Shinchiku Prefecture (新竹州 / しんちくしゅう) with Taikegun (大溪郡 / たいけいぐん) acting as the local administrative centre for Taikegai (大溪街 / たいけいがい), Ryutansho (龍潭庄 / りゅうたんしょう) and the mountain Indigenous area (蕃地), known today as Fuxing District (復興區).

Thus according to the hierarchical branch ranking system, the Longtan Martial Arts Hall (分會) was overseen by the Daxi Martial Arts Hall (支所) and the Shinchiku Prefectural Martial Arts Hall (支部), all of which ultimately received orders from the “Taiwan Martial Arts Hall Branch of the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai” (大日本武德會臺灣支部).

If anything, modern Japanese governance is known for being exceptionally skilled at instituting confusing forms of hierarchical bureaucracy, and all of this bureaucratic red-tape is just part of the democratic experience and ensures that if the shit hits the fan that there is someone available to take the blame.

Constructed next to the Ryutansho Police Precinct (大溪郡警察課龍潭分室) and directly across from the Ryutansho Public School (新竹州龍潭公學校), the Martial Arts Hall functioned primarily as a space for the local police to train in Martial Arts, and in conjunction with local Shinto Shrines and Buddhist temples sought to propagate ”Japanese spirit” (大和魂) amongst the local people.

One of the things that I failed to mention in my brief introduction to the history of the Martial Arts Hall in my first attempt at introducing the building was what happened after the Japanese Colonial Era ended.

In terms of the history of the building, that information is probably a lot more important as it explains why it has been able to survive for so long, unlike so many of its contemporaries.

Suffice to say, it was constantly occupied and that ensured that it was never demolished.

1945 (民國34年) - 1946 (民國35年) - Household Registration Branch (戶政所)

Shortly after the Japanese surrendered control of Taiwan to the Republic of China, the hall was converted into a temporary Household Registration Branch (戶政所) to start recording the personal information of the residents of Longtan for governmental purposes.

1950 (民國39年) - 1957 (民國46年) - Air Force Barracks (空軍宿舍)

Due to the housing crisis brought on by millions of refugees coming to Taiwan in 1949, the Air Force rented the hall from the local police as a place to house members of the Air Force who were stationed at the base in Longtan.

1957 (民國46年) - 1974 (民國63年) - Longtan Township Assembly Offices (龍潭鄉民代會辦公室)

During this period of time, the hall was rented by the Longtan Township Administration (龍潭鄉民代會), which used it as an office for some of their employees as space at the administration building at the time was limited.

1974 (民國63年) - 1989 (民國778年) Longtan Police Station Standby Room (龍潭分駐所備勤室)

When the Township Assembly moved out (after having a new building constructed), the Longtan Police Station took control of the building again and used it as a Standby Room (備勤室) for its officers.

1993 (民國82年) - 2010 (民國99年) - Police Barracks / Health Centre (龍潭衛生所汪射室 / 龍潭分駐所警員宿舍)

During this period, the Longtan Police Station renovated the interior of the building and used it as a barracks for the police who were stationed in the area. A space was also made available to the Longtan Health Centre which utilized it as a space for providing necessary vaccinations and injections for the local people.

2013 (民國102年) - 2019 (民國108年) Protected Historic Building (歷史建築) / Restoration

In 2013, the Taoyuan City Cultural Affairs Bureau (桃園市文化局) registered the Longtan Martial Arts Hall as a Protected Historic Building (歷史建築) explaining that it was one of the ‘most complete’ buildings from the Japanese Colonial Era left standing in Longtan, and because it was one of the only two remaining Martial Arts Halls in Taoyuan. (Official explanation and translation below)

『龍潭武德殿乃是目前龍潭鄉所遺留下來日治時期的建築中最完整的一棟建築物。其建築物的建築形式乃是「和洋風」的建築形式。也是目前桃園縣僅存的二所武德殿的其中之一所。』

Registered under Article 1 and Article 3 of the Cultural Assets Law (依據文資法), which are meant to preserve and utilize cultural assets to enrich the lives of local citizens, the hall was recognized as a historic building with cultural significance with enough of its original architectural design still intact.

Link: 歷史建築 - 龍潭武德殿 (桃園市政府文化局)

Once the building received official protection as a historic structure, the government was tasked with coming up with plans to restore it and reopening it for the enjoyment of the public.

This period of time saw the Martial Arts Hall closed while a restoration project was planned and carried out.

This several year project reinforced the structure and made repairs to the building on both the interior and exterior.

Now that the restoration process has been completed, the Taoyuan Cultural Affairs Bureau plans to use the space for culturally significant events such as art exhibitions and other exhibitions focused on the history of the area and more importantly as an extension of the newly opened Japanese-era Longtan Elementary School Teachers Dormitories across the street.

Architectural Design (龍潭武德殿設計)

Even though a restoration project was ultimately necessary to ensure its continued survival, the Longtan Martial Arts Hall had long been considered the most well-preserved of all the Martial Arts Hall in Taiwan.

If we take into consideration that it was more than eighty-years old before being restored, in addition to the number of tenants that moved in and out over the years, its kind of amazing that the building remained in such good shape.

Maybe we shouldn’t actually be all that surprised though.

One of the major differences between the Japanese and the Chinese Nationalists who came after them, was in the way they looked at Taiwan - The Chinese Nationalists were of the attitude that the island was simply a ‘temporary’ stop on the road to retaking their homeland, while the Japanese never really had any intention to leave.

The evidence of those polar-opposite approaches is easily seen through the buildings that were constructed during both eras - If we take this Martial Arts Hall as an example, it remained in excellent shape after eight decades while buildings that had been constructed several in the decades after the Japanese left are on the verge of collapse.

The Longtan Martial Arts Hall was built with a fusion of Japanese and Western construction techniques that mixed concrete, brick and beautiful Taiwanese cypress. This so-called east-west fusion (和洋混和風建築) style of architectural design was popular with the Japanese architects of the day, who expertly blended traditional architectural design with modern western construction techniques that were common in Europe, namely the baroque and gothic styles.

Interestingly, when we talk about east-west fusion, it’s important to note that even within the “east”, lots of cultural fusion was also taking place. Even though the building appears to be what most would consider common for traditional ‘Japanese-style’ architecture, that in itself was heavily influenced by the architectural style of the Tang Dynasty (唐式宮殿建築) in China.

That being said, the Longtan Martial Arts Hall was designed with the Irimoya-zukuri (入母屋造 / いりもやづくり) layout, which includes a variation of the ‘hip-and-gable roof’ (歇山頂) rising up to resemble a mountain-like structure.

The roof of this Martial Arts Hall certainly isn’t as elaborate in design as some of the other Martial Arts Halls remaining in Taiwan, but that certainly doesn’t mean it isn’t an intricately designed masterpiece.

As is the case with this style of architectural design, the roof is considerably larger than the base, known as the ‘moya’ (母屋) and is held up by a network of pillars and trusses that distribute the weight evenly.

When it comes to the design of roofs like this, it’s easier to think about them as two separate entities that join together. In this way we can see that the ‘hip’ or ‘yosemune’ (寄棟) is the lower four-sided section of the roof, while the ‘gable’, known as the ‘tsuma’ (妻) is located near the top and faces in the opposing direction.

There is somewhat of an optical illusion taking place with these roofs as the ‘gable’ appears as if its a narrowest section, but it essentially covers the ‘moya’ allowing the ‘hip’ section below to extend beyond the base of the building.

In typical Irimoya-designed buildings, the ‘hip’ part of the roof extends beyond the ‘moya’ so that it can cover the ‘hisashi’ (廂), a style of veranda that encircles the building. The absence of a hisashi on this building however means that the roof doesn’t really need to extend so far, which is part of the reason why this roof looks somewhat less elaborate in comparison to other Martial Arts Halls.

While appearing simple in terms of design, the roof does contain the following decorative elements:

Hiragawara (平瓦 /ひらがわら) - A type of arc-shaped clay roofing tile.
Munegawara (棟瓦 /むねがわら) - Ridge tiles used to cover the apex of the roof.
Onigawara (鬼瓦/おにがわら) - Decorative roof tiles found at the ends of a main ridge.
Nokigawara (軒瓦/のきがわら) - The roof tiles placed along the eaves lines.
Noshigawara (熨斗瓦/のしがわら) - Thick rectangular tiles located under ridge tiles.
Sodegawara (袖瓦/そでがわら) - Cylindrical sleeve tiles
Tsuma (妻/つま) - The triangular shaped parts of the gable on the roof under the ridge.
Hafu (破風板/ はふいた) - Bargeboards that lay flat against the ridge ends to finish the gable.

Working in tandem with the roof and giving it more shape, the building is equipped with a traditional ‘hafu door’ (破風門), which is essentially a covered porch that opens up to the main doors of the hall. This style of porch is a popular design indicative of Japanese architecture dating back to the Heian Period (平安時代) from 794-1185, but is also heavily influenced by the architecture of the Tang Dynasty in China, as mentioned earlier.

Porches like this extend from the front of the building and require pillars to hold up the roof that covers it.

In this case, the roof mimics that of the rest of the building in that it is also hip-and-gable in design, albeit facing in the opposite direction. The four-sided roof on the porch rises up, but its triangular-shaped ‘tsuma’ faces to the front rather than to the side.

In most cases these porches are held up by thick timber polls, but here they’ve used reinforced concrete to maintain a fluid design with the rest of the building.

The recent restoration of the building included the addition of traditional ‘rain chains’ or ‘kusari-doi’ (鎖樋 / くさりとい), which are both decorative and functional at the same time!

Prior to the restoration of the building, the windows that surround it were modified and weren’t of the traditional Japanese sliding-glass variety. They were truthfully really unattractive and in traditional Taiwanese fashion featured rusted and deformed security gates that were meant to prevent anyone from gaining access to the building through the windows.

The Martial Arts Hall prior to restoration

This is one area where the restoration of the building really stands out as the windows have been restored to what you’d expect from a building like this, and add to the beauty of the building rather than taking away from it.

In a design feature that differentiates this hall from the others around Taiwan, the windows aren’t as large, so in what seems like an attempt to allow even more natural light and fresh air into the building, you’ll find that the front facade has three entrances - one on both sides of the main doors while the rear of the building consists entirely of windows.

As for the interior, let me preface this by saying that I had to wait more than five years to actually enter the building, so the anticipation built for quite a long time. In the meantime, I visited other Martial Arts Halls in Daxi, Taichung, Changhua, Xinhua, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Qishan, so I pretty much knew what to expect when I got inside.

With that in mind, let me just say that the interior of the building was rather underwhelming.

Considering that the space is currently used by the Taoyuan City Government to hold art exhibitions and cultural events, the walls are full of a bunch of needless decorations, the ceiling has been filled in with modern panels and lighting, and a large portion of the wall is taken up with projector screens and other electronic equipment.

Likewise, the hardwood floor has been replaced with cement tiles, which is unfortunate.

It’s possible that I waited so long to see the interior of the building that I was easily let down, but I’m not particularly a big fan of these buildings being filled with a bunch of unrelated paraphernalia after they’re restored.

They’re supposed to be simple in their design, so it would be nice if the government could find a balance between providing an exhibition space, and keeping with tradition.

Even though the Martial Arts Hall has served a number of different roles over its almost a century-long history, one thing that never changed are the two beautiful Taiwanese Arhat Pine Trees (臺灣羅漢松) that were planted in front of the building.

Both of the trees measure over 30 centimetres in diameter, and if sold would go for around $30,000 USD each.

Don’t get any ideas.

Getting There

Address: #198 Donglong Road, Longtan District. Taoyuan City (桃園市龍潭區東龍路198號)
GPS: 24.863580 121.214680

The Longtan Martial Arts Hall is located within the downtown core of Longtan District (龍潭區) in the south-east area of Taoyuan City, close to the mountains. The former village is located near the Shimen Reservoir (石門水庫) and the popular Daxi Old Street (大溪老街) and is serviced by the Formosa Freeway (國道三號).

That being said, given Longtan’s geographic location near the mountains, it isn’t serviced by the Taiwan Railway.

This means that if you plan on visiting, you’ll need to have access to your own means of transportation or rely on one of the various buses that runs through the area.

Car / Scooter

If you’re driving a car or scooter, simply input the address or the GPS coordinates provided above into Google Maps or your preferred GPS system and you shouldn’t have much trouble finding your way to the hall.

Its important to note however that the Martial Arts Hall is located within the downtown core of Longtan and is near the local wet market, which can make the area quite busy and difficult to find parking.

If you plan on visiting, you should take note of the two paid parking lots on Lane #200 of Donglong Road, which is adjacent to the hall.

If you’re riding a scooter, you should be easily able to find a parking spot along the road near the hall, but don’t park directly in front as you may end up getting a ticket.

Public Transportation

If you’re coming from Taipei, there are a number of options for getting to Longtan.

Kuo-Kuang Bus #1820 (國光客運) Taipei (台北) - Chu-dong (竹東)
Taiwan United Bus #5350 (台聯客運) Taipei (台北) - Leofoo Village (六福村)
Yalan Bus #1728 (亞聯客運) Taipei (台北) - Longtan (龍潭) - Hsinchu (新竹)
Taoyuan Bus #712 (桃園客運) Yongning MRT Station (捷運永寧站) - Longtan (龍潭)
United Bus #709 (統聯客運) Yongning MRT Station (捷運永寧站) - Ping Chen (平鎮)

If you’re taking the train to Taoyuan, the closest railway stations are the Taoyuan Railway Station (桃園火車站) and Zhongli Station (中壢火車站) and from each, you’ll have to transfer to a local bus.

From Taoyuan Railway Station (桃園火車站)

Taoyuan Bus #5053 (桃園客運) Taoyuan (桃園) - Longtan (龍潭)
Taoyuan Bus #712 (桃園客運) Yongning MRT Station (捷運永寧站) - Longtan (龍潭)

From Zhongli Railway Station (中壢火車站)

Zhongli Bus #701 (中壢客運) 804 Hospital (804醫院) - Linkou Hospital (林口長庚醫院)
Hsinchu Bus #5671 (新竹客運) Zhongli (中壢) - 804 Hospital (804醫院)

For these Zhongli Buses, you’ll have to walk from the Railway Station down Chung Cheng Road (中正路) to the Zhongli Police Precinct (中壢分局) to get the bus. The bus stop is located opposite the Japanese-era Police Dorm Culture Park, on Yan-Ping Road (延平路), which is also well worth a visit if you’re there.

No matter which bus you take to Longtan, once you arrive at the station, the Martial Arts Hall is only a short walk away and there are lots of things to see and lots of great food in between.

Longtan is a really interesting little Hakka village and apart from the Martial Arts Hall, nearby you’ll also find the Japanese-era Longtan Elementary Teachers Dormitories, Longyuan Temple (龍元宮), Nantian Temple (南天宮), Longtan Lake (龍潭大池), the Miracle Terrace (聖蹟亭) and the hip Lingtan Art Street (菱潭街興創基地).

The Martial Arts Hall is currently part of the Chung-Chao-Cheng Literary Park (鍾肇政文學生活園區), which also includes the former Longtan Elementary School Teachers Dormitories across the street.

The culture park is dedicated to a local Hakka author who achieved quite a bit of notoriety while teaching at the school and living in the former Japanese-era dormitories with his family.

Hours: Tuesday - Sunday 08:30 - 5:00 (Closed on Mondays and National Holidays)

References

Gallery / Flickr (High Res Photos)

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January 07, 2017 in Urban Exploration, Taoyuan, Photo Post, Travel

Taiwan is a country with a long and interesting history - A history which in some cases is very well documented but in others is sorely lacking. There are however quite a few people both amateur and professional working hard to document the forgotten pieces to ensure that the puzzle of Taiwan's often forgotten history much clearer and easier to understand.

The problem with documenting a lot of these places is that they are disappearing at an alarming rate. This is the reason why its important that these sites are not only photographed and documented for historical preservation but also so that people learn to appreciate Taiwan's amazing history as well as to helping people realize the problems that bulldozing away your history to make way for a high-rise apartment cause.

As I've probably mentioned a hundred times in my past blog posts, my good friend Alexander has done an excellent job in his capacity as a photographer and blogger both documenting Taiwan's history, but also with his work finding and exploring abandoned buildings of historical significance.

From time to time Alexander will throw me a bone with some information on something cool that he's found. He's a busy guy and doesn't have time to explore everything, so I get to go check things out for him to see if something is of particular interest.

Last week he told me that there was 'something of note' on a certain road in Yangmei Village (楊梅) here in Taoyuan. He didn't really explain what it was, but gave me an approximate address and sent me on my way.

When I arrived, I found a beautiful old building in the middle of a farming community. The building, like a lot of larger countryside buildings of its time sat in the middle of a field with pretty much nothing else around it.

The hall, which is known as the "Four Brothers Hall" (四章堂) was built in 1938 (昭和13年) during the Japanese Colonial Period as a memorial to a group of brothers who came to Taiwan in 1776 (乾隆41年). It is quite common in Chinese ancestral worship to commemorate family members who achieved something of importance and it seems that the four "Fu" (傅) brothers for whom the hall is dedicated were hard workers who ensured that their family members who came after them would enjoy a happy and prosperous life in their new home in Taiwan.

The four brothers who came to Taiwan from Guangzhou Province's Jiaying Prefecture (嘉應州) - which is today named Meizhou City (梅州市) - made the arduous trip across the Taiwan strait and settled in the Taoyuan valley working hard to build a prosperous home for their family.

In Chinese culture, the naming of children is a serious affair and there are a lot of things to take into consideration when a child is born. It is quite common for people to visit a temple, consult the zodiac or a fortune teller to find out if a name is suitable for a child. It is also common for each child in the family to share a specific character as part of their name - which is a quite brilliant if you are into genealogy.

In this case, the four "Fu" (傅) brothers who migrated to Taiwan each had the character "zhang" (章) as the third character in their names (榮章，麒章，麟章，發章) which is why the hall was later literally named the "Four Zhang Hall" (四章堂).

When the family constructed the building in honour of their ancestors, they used modern techniques to build a structure that would imitate a traditional building. Instead of using wood or clay, they used cement which reinforced the structure and has allowed it to survive all these years.

In addition to using modern building materials, the family didn't use the traditional architectural style of their ancestors but that of modern Japanese architecture. The building contains elements of Chinese design however in the interior, but the exterior and the tile roof were both of Japanese origin.

The interior of the building remains traditional however with three different rooms. Upon entering the building you come up to the shrine area where spirit tablets (神位) are placed in honour of the four men. To the left is a small room that looks like it is used for meetings while the room on the right is much larger and is pretty much empty.

It is hard to tell actually what the rooms to the side are used for these days as the room to the left has a large table with chairs all around it while the the one on the right is almost completely empty. It seems like the perfect place for a community meeting place or a Boy Scout meeting though.

Truthfully, there isn't much to see here and the building hasn't been developed for tourism, so it doesn't really warrant a trip to check it out. I'm not particularly sure if the building is open to the public or not as (even though the front door was wide open) the gate was closed when I visited. This didn't really stop me however and I walked in to check out the shrine and also walked around the walled perimeter of the building.

If you're in the area, by all means, check it out. The Taoyuan City Government website says that visitors who stop by to check out hall should at least plan for a two hour stay. I'm still confused as to whether or not that two hours includes travel back and forth from Taipei. Five minutes is pretty much all the time that is required to check this one out!

Gallery / Flickr (High Res Shots)

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December 17, 2016 in Photo Post, Travel, Taoyuan, Temples, Japanese Colonial Era

In the first part of this blog, I introduced the history of the Taoyuan Shinto Shrine, its transition into the Taoyuan Martyrs Shrine, and its current transformation into one of Taoyuan’s most popular tourist attractions.

Taoyuan Martyrs Shrine (桃園忠烈祠)

The recent restoration of the shrine and its administrative restructuring has placed a lot more emphasis on the shrine’s history as a Shinto Shrine, with its Japanese characteristics being promoted much more than its most recent history.

With 2020 (and beyond) being plagued by a global pandemic and the closure of international travel, this elegant and historic Japanese Shrine has gained become even more popular as Japan tends to be the number one destination for Taiwanese travelers, who are so obviously missing the opportunity to travel to one of their favorite countries.

This lack of ability to travel to Japan has given locals a new appreciation for the shrines, temples and historic buildings leftover from the Japanese Colonial Era, and people have taken to traveling around Taiwan to enjoy them in massive numbers. The popularity of places like the Taoyuan Shinto Shrine has never been so high, so even though this pandemic has been terrible, it has allowed for a new level of appreciation for what is already available here in Taiwan.

In the first section of this introduction to the Taoyuan Shinto Shrine, I focused on the history of the shrine, while this section is going to offer an in-depth look into the architectural design of the shrine and the various things that you’ll want to take note of when you visit.

So, without further delay, let’s get into it.

The Architectural Design of the Taoyuan Shinto Shrine

The Taoyuan Shinto Shrine was built in a strategic location on a hill near the base of Taoyuan's Tiger Head Mountain (虎頭山), overlooking the city. The location chosen for the shrine was significant because larger Prefectural Shrines like this one are typically constructed on hills, preferably mountains, overlooking a town or city, in order to bless its people.

When the shrine was constructed, the large trees and buildings that currently block its view of the river and the city. So when it was first constructed, the shrine would have provided an excellent view of the city which had yet to really develop.

These days, you have to travel much further up the mountain to get a good view of the Taoyuan City skyline. This is why Hutoushan Park (虎頭山公園) has become such a popular destination for people living in the area to enjoy some outdoor recreation with the large open park on the top of the mountain offering some pretty spectacular views of the Taoyuan cityscape.

As I previously mentioned in the first part of this blog, the Taoyuan Shinto Shrine and the layout of the landscape meticulously follow Japanese tradition, offering tourists the opportunity to not only experience a bit of Taiwan’s history, but the feeling that you’ve been transported to Japan, without having to fly out of the country.

Even though the shrine is very much Japanese in its design, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the Hall of Worship, the largest building at the shrine, is an interesting a fusion of styles that blends Japanese and ancient Chinese-style architecture.

As is the case with most of the buildings that were constructed during the colonial era, the shrine was constructed using Taiwan’s famed Alishan cypress (阿里山檜木), one of the most amazingly fragrant, and more importantly, durable varieties of timber that you can find.

As you’re probably already aware, I’ve broken this blog up into two different sections. The first was a look at the history of the Shinto Shrine, which subsequently was converted into a Martyrs Shrine, or a War Memorial for the fallen members of the Republic of China’s Armed Forces. In this section, I’m going to focus on the architectural design of the shrine and each of the important pieces that make it complete.

For clarity sake, I’m breaking up each of these important pieces into their own section so that I can better introduce their purpose and aspects of their design. Some of this information might be considered too in-depth for the average reader, so I’ll try to make it as painless as possible so that you’ll have a better idea of what you’re seeing when you visit the shrine.

The Visiting Path (參道)

The Visiting Path, otherwise known as the “sando” (さんどう) is an important part of the design of any Shinto Shrine and is essentially just a long pathway that leads visitors to the shrine. While these paths serve a functional purpose, they are also quite symbolic in that the “road” is the path that one takes on the road to spiritual purification. Shintoism itself is literally translated as the “Pathway to the Gods” (神道), so having a physical pathway that leads the worshipper from the realm of the profane to that of the sacred is quite important.

Traditionally, the Visiting Path to a Shinto Shrine is lined symmetrically on both sides with Stone Lanterns (石燈籠), known as ‘toro’ (しゃむしょ), but the original lanterns that were constructed for this shrine were all destroyed after the Chinese Nationalists took control of Taiwan.

Today the Visiting Path features six (electrified) lanterns, two large and four small, which were constructed in 1986, when the shrine underwent its first restoration.

The lanterns are placed along the Visiting Path just before you reach the shrine gate and even though they’re only a couple of decades old, it is important that they continue to exist in some form today.

The Visiting Path to the shrine used to be exponentially longer than it is today and would have stretched all the way to the river, but today starts on the hill below the main level of the shrine and continues all the way to the Main Hall. The path starts out quite wide, but as you walk further toward the inner shrine, it becomes considerably more narrow.

The Shrine Gate (鳥居)

The traditional Shrine Gate, otherwise known as a "torii" (とりい) is not a completely foreign object here in Taiwan as you’ll find that most large temples feature a variation. Even though we traditionally associate these gates as iconic images of Japan, the meaning of the gates here in Taiwan, and across Asia remains the same as once you pass through, you are thought to be crossing from the profane world, which is considered to be unclean, to a sacred place.

Although we commonly associate these gates with Japan, as I just mentioned, variations can be found throughout Asia at places of worship. The “paifang” (牌坊) gates of China and the “Hongsalmun” (홍살문) gates of Korea are just a few examples.

In Japan, the presence of one (or more) of these gates is one of the simplest ways of identifying that there is a shrine nearby and also one of the best ways to know that you’re approaching a Shinto Shrine rather than a Buddhist temple.

The Taoyuan Shinto Shrine was originally home to five of these sacred gates, which stretched from the shrine all the way to the river along the Visiting Path. Unfortunately all of them, known as the first gate (一の鳥居) to the fifth gate (五の鳥居) have been torn down.

The lower gates, which were located along the extended visiting path mentioned above were demolished when Taoyuan was going through the process of widening roads and developing new communities in the area between the shrine and the river.

Currently there is only one gate at the shrine, but you might notice that it is architecturally different from what you’d see in Japan - This is because when the shrine was restored in 1986 (民國75年), the people in charge of the project wanted to have a sacred gate, but didn’t want it to resemble exactly what you’d commonly find at Shinto Shrines in Japan.

The original gates were all constructed with wood and would have had sacred ropes known as shimenawa (標縄) hanging from them, but this one was constructed using concrete and features only a single layer, rather than two.

Nevertheless, there is a still a certain to beauty to its simplicity.

The Purification Fountain (手水舍)

An important aspect of Shintoism is something known as “hare and ke” (ハレとケ), otherwise known as the "sacred-profane dichotomy." It is thought that once you pass through the shrine gate, which is considered the barrier between the ‘profane’ and the ‘sacred’, it is necessary to do so in the cleanest possible manner by symbolically purifying yourself at the chozuya (ちょうずしゃ) or temizuya (てみずしゃ) provided.

An absolute must at every Shinto Shrine, the purification fountain is an important tool for symbolically readying yourself for entrance into the sacred realm. To do so, worshippers take part in a symbolic ritual that it’s safe to say that every person in Japan is familiar with.

To purify yourself you should follow these steps:

Pick up a ladle with your right hand.
Scoop some water from the fountain
Purify the left hand.
Purify the right hand.
Pour some water in your left hand and put it in your mouth.
Bend over and (cover your mouth as you) spit the water on the ground.
Purify the handle of the ladle and then lay the dipper face down for the next person to use.

Link: How to Perform the “Temizu” Ritual (Youtube)

If you’re visiting a Shinto Shrine and aren’t entirely aware of the process, never fear, most shrines will have a set of instructions available for guests.

The Purification Fountain at the Taoyuan Shrine is one of the most architecturally significant pieces of the shrine as no effort was spared on the construction of the beautiful pavilion that covers the fountain.

The arched kirizuma-zukuri-style (切妻造) hip-and-gable roof is absolutely beautiful and is one of those architectural styles that shows off the mastery of Japanese craftsmanship.

The shape of the roof is likened to that of an open book that is placed face down with a high arch and two sides that slope down. The roof was constructed with cypress and is simply yet beautifully decorated with carved hanging fish and copper onigawara (鬼瓦) ghost boards and birds on both sides.

The roof is supported by four thick wooden pillars, which help to stabilize the pavilion and are assisted by an expertly crafted network of trusses, allowing the pillars to distribute the weight of the roof and ensuring that it doesn’t collapse.

The double-layered concrete fountain is about 180cm in length and 80cm high and has been recently upgraded with sensors that turn on the water when someone approaches in order to help save water. The lower layer of the fountain doesn’t have any water, but is the area where worshippers are meant to spit the water that they’ve used to purify themselves.

The top layer sits within the lower layer and has a wooden bar running across the mid-section that allows people to place their ladles. The design of the fountain itself is simple, but elegant.

As a whole, the Purification Fountain is one of the highlights of the entire shrine and even though it might not appear to be very important, I highly recommend you take some time to examine the craftsmanship that went into its construction.

Administration Office (社務所）

The shrine’s Administration Office, otherwise known as a shamusho (しゃむしょ) is located to the right of the shrine gate and is directly opposite the Purification Fountain.

This is where the day-to-day affairs of the shrine’s management were conducted as well as where visitors could purchase shinsatsu (神札), or good luck charms.

The interior a couple of large rooms with floors covered by tatami mats and were used as an office for the shrine as well as providing space for religious ceremonies or functions.

Constructed with a fusion of Japanese and Western techniques, the building was built primarily with Taiwanese cypress, but has a concrete base to help protect the building from both earthquakes and termites.

Unlike the other buildings at the shrine, the office has a simply designed roof that features black roof tiles (黑瓦), which are quite common in Japanese residential buildings. One of the most architecturally significant aspects of the building and its roof is its covered front porch, which is known as a karahafu door (唐破風).

This style of design is indicative of Japanese architecture dating back to the Heian Period (平安時代) from 794-1185. These so-called porches, extend from the front of the building and have pillars holding up a roof that is separate from the rest of the building.

This style of design is a common architectural characteristic found in Japanese castles, temples, and shrines and makes the building stand out considerably more thanks to its addition.

In the past the building was open to visitors and featured exhibitions about the shrine and local history, but it currently serves the administrative office for the caretakers of the shrine and the security guards who help to protect it from vandalism.

I’m not entirely sure if there are future plans to open the building back up to the public or just transfer the exhibition spaces to the former dormitories to the rear of the building. The literature online seems to point to it eventually being used as an exhibition space, but so far it doesn’t seem like they’re ready for that yet.

The recent restoration project that took place between 2019 and 2020 saw the addition and restoration of a beautiful veranda attached to the sides and rear of the building. Visitors are now able to sit down and relax under the cover of the trees, which were planted when the shrine was constructed more than eighty years ago.

The Stone Lions and Bronze Horse (高麗犬 / 神馬)

As you walk up the Visiting Path towards the set of stairs that brings you to the Middle Gate, you’ll encounter three important objects that are important for every Shinto Shrine, the Stone Lion Dogs and the Bronze Horse, each of which perform important functions for the shrine.

First, the Sacred Horse, otherwise known as a “shinme” (神馬 / しんめ) is regarded as the sacred mount of the kami enshrined within the shrine and you’ll often find two of these horses at most large shrines. The addition of these horses is an ancient Japanese custom that started during the Nara Period (奈良時代) from 710 to 794 AD, where live horses would be dedicated to the kami within a shrine. However due to the difficulty and expense of raising horses, they were eventually replaced with these bronze versions.

The Sacred Horse at the Taoyuan Shinto Shrine is 205cm in height and 270cm long and is quite majestic in its craftsmanship. There is however a bit of a mystery about the origin of this horse as it doesn’t actually appear to be the original horse used by the Taoyuan Shrine.

One of the ways to tell this is to look at the emblem (神紋) found on the belly of the horse, which should be the same emblem used to identity the shrine. In the case of the horse that exists at the shrine today, it features a fifteen-petal chrysanthemum (15瓣菊) on the outside with what looks like a five-petal lisianthus flower (桔梗花) on the inside.

Considering the official emblem for the former Zhongli Shinto Shrine (中壢神社 / ちゅうれきじんじゃ) was the same, it is safe to assume that the horse came from that shrine. Although, I’m not really too sure about that because the site of the original shrine, which is now home to Zhongli Senior High School (中壢高中) has one of the horses on display, but has a slightly different design and the emblem has since been painted over.

The next set of stone carvings are another absolute requirement for any Shinto Shrine, the famed Lion-Dogs, known in Japan as the komainu (狛犬/こまいぬ).

Tasked with warding off evil spirits, the komainu are the guardians of the shrine and can be found guarding either the entrance of a shrine by the Shrine Gate or further inside.

Similar to the stone lions that act as temple guardians at other temples in Taiwan, the word “komainu” translates as “Korean Dog” (高麗犬), referring to the ancient Korean Kingdom of “Koguryo” (高麗國), where it is thought that the tradition was passed on to Japan.

Although there are exceptions to the rule, komainu usually appear as a pair and are placed on either side of a visiting path or at the entrance to a shrine. Often appearing as a male and female, the komainu are only distinguishable only by their facial expressions, with the male “a-gyo” (阿型) having an open mouth and the female “un-gyo” (吽形) having a closed mouth.

Link: Komainu Lion Dogs (Japan Visitor)

The Taoyuan Shinto Shrine was originally home to two pairs of komainu guardians, however when the colonial era ended and the shrine was converted into a Martyrs Shrine, they were likely destroyed. The set of stone guardians that we can see today are reproductions that date back to the first restoration of the shrine in 1986 (民國75年).

Even though they mimic the original design, just like the Shrine Gate, certain design elements were left out as to not make them entirely ‘Japanese’.

The set of komainu currently sit along the Visiting Path on the hill between the Middle Gate and the Shrine Gate and even though they aren’t the original guardians of the shrine, they are nonetheless tasked with the important job of keeping this national historic treasure safe.

The Middle Gate (中門)

Once you’ve climbed up the stairs and passed by the stone lion-dogs, you’ll have reached the Middle Gate, known as the “chumon” (中門 / ちゅうもん).

Oddly, most of the articles and research papers that talk about the Taoyuan Shinto Shrine don’t really spend much time talking about this beautiful gate. It is after all just a gate that opens up to the most important part of the shrine, the inner sanctum. If you ask me though, this gate is one of the most important and aesthetically pleasing aspects of this shrine.

The elegant carpentry and detailed craftsmanship it took to construct it deserves more respect.

The gate is part of a beautifully designed wooden fence that has been constructed to surround the perimeter of the Hall of Worship and the Main Hall to keep people from breaking into the shrine.

The fence is beautifully designed using Taiwanese cypress and the craftsmanship put on display with the simple, yet beautiful decorations deserves your attention.

On top of the gate you’ll find a ridged roof similar to that of the gate, and is in a style that makes it difficult to climb over.

At first, it seemed that the gate was designed as a fusion of the “karamon” (唐門) style entrance, which is characterized by its usage of an extended karahafu porch, like the one that was used on the Administrative Office above.

The roof here though differs from that style in that it utilizes a similar kirizuma-zukuri (切妻造) style of design, like the one that was used on the roof of the Purification Fountain below. After some digging, I discovered that the gate is actually a variation on the hakkyakumon gate (八脚門 / やつあしもん), a style that dates back to the Nara Period.

In this style, you’ll find four vertical pillars on the front and back that support another four horizontal pillars at the base of the roof. Even though it may not appear so complex, you have to realize that these things have all been constructed without the help of nails or screws, which means that the network of pillars and trusses have all been expertly fit to ensure that the gate is snug and won’t collapse under the weight of the roof.

If my description didn’t impress you enough, check out the link before which has detailed graphics that describe the stages of construction on the roof. The mathematical genius it takes to build these things is jaw-dropping.

Link: 八腳門 (鎌倉の古建築）

As you climb the hill towards the gate, the roof appears to be flat, but it is ridged to look like an open-book. The shape becomes much more noticeable as you look back at it from the steps of the Hall of Worship.

The front of the gate is home to a plaque that reads “The Soul of the Country” (國魂), which was added when the Shinto Shrine became a Martyrs Shrine. Given the shine’s current usage as a war memorial for the Republic of China’s Armed Forces, the plaque featuring a phrase like this shouldn’t really be much of a surprise.

If you are visiting the shrine on a sunny day, the cypress gate seems to bask in the sunlight and the light you get coming through he trees makes the gate appear almost as if it’s glowing.

As an important aspect of Shinto is harmony and blending into nature, I’m sure you’ll be able to appreciate how much thought went into the design of this gate.

The Hall of Worship (拜殿)

The Hall of Worship is by far the main attraction of the shrine.

Known in Japan as the “haiden” (拜殿 /はいでん), for the vast majority of worshippers, it is the spiritual heart of the shrine and given its importance, it is the building at the shrine and as well as the most architecturally distinct.

Even though it has never actually been officially confirmed, one of the most likely reasons that the Taoyuan Shrine has been able to outlive so many of its contemporaries around Taiwan is due to the fact that it was constructed with a fusion style of architecture, combining Japanese elements with the style of architecture that of China’s Tang Dynasty (唐朝).

So it doesn’t particularly matter if you’re Japanese or Chinese, when you look at this building, you’ll easily be able to find architectural elements from both cultures.

That being said, much of the traditional architecture in Japan, Korea and Vietnam takes inspiration from the Tang Dynasty, which was one of China’s most influential periods of artistic and cultural achievement.

Link: Architecture during the Tang Dynasty (Boundless)

Constructed in the shape of a “T”, the interior of the building features a large worship room with wings connected on both the eastern and the western sides. Save for the concrete base that elevates the building off of the ground, the Hall of Worship was constructed primarily with Taiwanese cypress, and just like the other buildings at the shrine relies on a network of pillars on the front and back of the building to support the weight of the massive roof.

And what a roof it is..

This traditionally designed irimoya-zukuri roof (入母造 / いりもやづくり) is one of the first things that you’ll notice as you make your way to the top of the hill and get your first look through the doors of the Middle Gate. The Japanese-style ‘hip-and-gable’ roof looks almost three-dimensional in its design and the flowing lines along its many ridges, make it seem like its actually moving.

In most cases when a new building is being designed, you would tend to think that the interior would be your primary inspiration. The design and the construction of the wooden base of this building however, was crafted solely to bring out the brilliance of the roof. This is because according to traditional Japanese design, buildings that have magnificent roofs like this one are held in high esteem, which is why they’re generally reserved for shrines and castles.

It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that when this shrine was being planned, the roof was the key design feature, while the base itself was kept relatively simple.

While preparing to write this blog, I ended up discovering that explaining the shape of the roof in detail in English was going to be rather difficult. So, in an attempt to not confuse everyone, I’m including some diagrams of the building below to better illustrate the various sections of the roof so that you can understand why its so special.

Before we start, here are a few important words to learn:

Moya (母屋) - Literally, “Mother House”, the lower core of the building.
Irimoya-zukuri (入母造) - A combination of the two styles of roof below.
Kirizuma-zukuri (切妻造) - A style that uses a long-extending curved front slope (gable).
Yosemune-zukuri (寄棟造) - A style that uses four sloping faces (hip)

The key thing that you’ll want to remember about this style of roof is that when we refer to it as a ‘hip-and-gable’ roof in English, that doesn’t really give you a full understanding of the complexity of this design. What “irimoya” essentially means is that it is a combination of both the ‘kirizuma’ and ‘yosemune’ styles into one roof.

The ‘kirizuma’ part acts as the upper portion of the roof, or the ‘gable’ and has two sides, while the ‘yosemune’ part is the lower part, or the ‘hip’ and has four sides.

Starting with the gable (kirizuma), the first thing you’ll want to notice is that there is a veranda on the front of the building, known as a ‘hisashi’ (廂), which is covered by the sloping roof.

The front section of the gable extends well beyond the ‘moya’, so there is a network of pillars at the front of the shrine that are strategically placed to help support the roof. The gable is constructed to look like the Chinese character “入”, and like the character you’ll notice that one side is much larger than the other and has a larger slope.

When you look at the back side of the gable on the other hand, you’ll find that even though it is considerably smaller than the front, there are the same amount of pillars, which are there to help distribute weight and maintain stability.

The ‘hip’ (yosemune) section of the roof on the other hand has four triangular-shaped sides with sloping faces that rise up to connect to the top of the gable. Looking from the sides, the hip part of the roof on either side of the gable helps to consolidate the three-dimensional aspect of the roof as the four sides seem to rise up out of nowhere, creating a triangular shape that looks as if it is physically pushing the ‘gable’ to its apex.

Likewise, both the eastern and western wings of the building feature their own variations of the same style of roof, but even though they’re lower in height than the main section of the building, they ultimately meet with it to help increase the architectural complexity of the building.

In actuality, both of the wings could have just had simple roofs that cover the building and the network of beams that extend from the main building, but that just wouldn’t be the way these things are done. Everything has to be intricate and the attention to detail has to be beautiful.

Link: 台灣日式建築的屋瓦 (空間母語文化藝術基金會)

Speaking of beauty, let’s move on to the decorative aspects of the roof.

The roof is covered entirely with flat copper tiles (平瓦) and features ‘onigawara’ demon tiles (鬼瓦) at the two edges of the ridge, ‘tomoegawara’ poles (巴瓦), ‘chigi’ (千木) and a combination of hanging fish at various points of the ridge known as ‘omogegyo’ (本懸魚), ‘kudarigegyo’ (降懸魚) and ‘hire’ (鰭), which are used as charms to prevent fire.

The main room in the centre is the largest of the three and is largely empty, save for the two tables that are placed in centre-rear of the room that lead to the door to the Main Hall.

During the Colonial Era, the doors to the Main Hall wouldn’t have been accessible by the general public as only Shinto Priests were permitted to approach the area where the gods are enshrined. Instead, the doors would have been closed and the table would have featured a large round mirror, known as a “shintai” (神体), which is considered the “looking glass” or a “repository” of the deities, making them accessible to humans.

In front of the tables, you’ll find a deep wooden box called an “saisen-bako” (賽錢箱), which is used for collecting “saisen” (賽錢), or monetary donations for the gods. The box has a series of wooden bars running across the top that allows people to drop in coins or paper bills, but makes its quite difficult to take anything out. While the box does look like its been around for a while, I haven’t seen anything that would indicate that its an original, so I’m guessing it was part of the restoration process that took place several decades ago.

From its original construction until just a few years ago, the interior of the building was lit simply by natural light. After the recent restoration however, electric lights have been added on the ceiling of the main shrine room to help illuminate the room. The lights that have been added are minimalistic and don’t really take away from the overall simplicity of the interior.

As the shrine has been converted into a Martyrs Shrine, you’ll find three placards (匾額) placed within the building that feature some beautiful Chinese calligraphy. Similar plaques with these phrases can be found at the other war memorial shrines around Taiwan, but the design of the ones used at the Taoyuan Shrine were made to blend in with the overall design of the building, making them a little less conspicuous.

The plaques are as follows:

“The Righteous Nation” (民族正氣)
“A Good Reputation for Eternity” (萬古流芳)
“Eternal Righteousness” (千秋正氣)

Note: In my most recent visit to the shrine, the placards had been removed but their hooks were still there. I’m unsure as to whether this was because they were in the process of being restored or if they’ve been removed for good. We’ll have to wait and see. The second placard mentioned above though is now located on the backside of the Middle Gate.

In both the east and west wings of the building you’ll find both of the rooms are filled with Spirit Tablets (神位), which were placed inside after the shrine was converted to the Martyr's Shrine. The plaques, which are set up in rows, commemorate and honour those who gave their lives in the lines of service for the Republic of China.

Keeping with Martyrs Shrine tradition, the western wing is known as the Literary Martyrs Shrine (文忠士祠) and is dedicated to the intellectuals who contributed to the revolution that helped the Chinese Nationalists topple the Qing Dynasty. The eastern wing is known as the Martial Martyrs Shrine (武忠士次) and is dedicated to those who died in the line of military duty.

I think it’s important to note that the fallen soldiers that are memorialized at the shrine today were Chinese and not Taiwanese - I don't say this to disrespect their their sacrifice, but few (if any) of them have anything to do with Taiwan. Ironically, if you wanted to actually pay respect to the Taiwanese who perished during the Second World War, you’d have to take a trip to the Yasukuni Shrine (靖國神社) in Tokyo, where they are honored as Martyrs.

Main Hall (本殿)

Finally, we’ve reached the Main Hall, otherwise known as the “honden” (本殿/ほんでん), the most sacred part of any Shinto Shrine, and the home of the gods.

Traditionally, the Main Hall is the area of a Shinto Shrine that is completely off-limits to the general public, and would have only been accessible to the priests who resided at the temple.

Today though, it is open to the general public.

If you are a fan of Shinto Shrines and have never seen one of these buildings up close, the Taoyuan Shinto Shrine is probably one of the only places in the world where you’re able to such a great view of a Main Hall in a shrine this size.

Although, it should go without saying that this probably violates a thousand or more years of Japanese tradition, the people in charge of the shrine are careful not to let people get too close, or climb the stairs to the former home of the gods.

On that note, as I’ve already mentioned in the first part of this blog, the Main Hall was formerly the home of several Japanese deities, but today is home to spirit tablets dedicated to a set of patriotic figures. The doors to the shrine are always open and you are free to take a look inside, but there is a gate and a sign that says that it is forbidden for anyone to actually walk up the small set of stairs. So bring a pair of glasses if you aren’t farsighted.

The Main Hall is constructed almost entirely of cypress using the ‘nagare-zukuri’ (流造) architectural style, one of the most widely used designs for these types of buildings, and is characterized by its asymmetrical gabled roof, known as a ‘kirizuma-yane’ (切妻屋根).

The non-gabled side of the roof is long and projects outwards with a steep flowing curve that covers the veranda and the steps of the shrine as well as meeting with the canopy (向拜) that leads to the hall from the Hall of Worship.

As is the case with most of the buildings constructed in the ‘hirari’ (平入) style, the entrance appears on the side with the longer section of roof, known as the ‘mae-nagare’ (前流) with the ‘ushiro-nagari’ (後流) on the backside being considerably shorter.

The roof is likewise covered with copper tiles, but the colour is the same shade of green that you’ve seen at the Administrative Building and the Purification Fountain and not the same colour as the Hall of Worship.

Similar to the Hall of Worship though, the roof features many of the same decorative designs on the gables.

There is something quite odd about the decorations on the roof though.

On the apex of the ridge, where the ‘onigawara’ should be located, you’ll find a fleur-de-lis, the stylized lily that is more common in France than it would be in Taiwan or Japan.

Under it, you’ll find three hearts, which is even stranger.

I spent a few hours trying to figure out where these came from to no avail.

My guess is that it was a result of the restoration project from the late 1980s and that they probably took some liberties with the design while also trying to remove Japanese elements from the shrine. After I noticed that though, I became aware that the same design was used on other parts of the shrine - on the Administrative building, Purification fountain, etc.

Why they actually chose that design is a mystery to me - but I hope to figure it out sometime.

Keeping with the traditional nagari design, the shrine is elevated off of the ground on a cement base, which helps to stabilize the building with the added assistance of a set of pillars that encircle the perimeter of the building.

The front of the shrine has a set of stairs that would have allowed the priests to open the doors to the shrine as well as a miniature ‘hisashi’-style veranda that wraps around the building on all four sides.

The veranda is supported by a network of smaller pillars that are connected directly to the cement base and the craftsmanship and carpentry on the veranda is exceptional.

One of the things you’ll want to take special note of are the beautifully constructed decorative railings that encircle the veranda of the building. Known as ‘kouran’ (高欄 / こうらん), appearing with three horizontal rails that curve at the ends and are expertly fitted within vertical posts or struts called ‘tsuka’ (束) without the use of nails.

Even though they may not seem particularly important, the stairs to the shrine, like mostly every other aspect of the shrine are also symbolic in nature. In total, there are thirteen steps to the main level, five of which are part of the concrete base while the others have been constructed using cypress.

The staircase, which is known as a half-step staircase (半步梯) has been strategically designed to only be wide enough for a single adult, but with the assistance of the canopy overhead, ensures that anyone who ascends the stairs does so with their head bowed.

This is intentional as a forced gesture of respect as you are climbing the stairs to approach the home of the deities, which you should be doing in the most humble way possible.

If you think about it, the Main Hall can be contextualized as a miniature version of the much larger shrine in front of it, but it is also the traditional home of the gods, which is why its architectural design is similar to what you would have seen in ancient Japan.

I highly recommend walking around the perimeter of the building to fully enjoy all of its beauty and to get a good look at all of its decorative elements. Remember that the ability to see one of these buildings so closely is a rare opportunity, so if you have the chance to see it, you should have a good idea of what you won’t be able to see when you visit shrines in Japan!

Getting There

Address: #200, Section 3, Chenggong Road, Taoyuan City (桃園市桃園區成功路三段200號)

The Taoyuan Shinto Shrine is located on Taoyuan’s Tiger Head Mountain (虎頭山), a short distance from the Taoyuan Train Station (桃園車站) and is easily accessible through public transportation.

If you’re driving a car or a scooter, the shrine has a small parking lot that is free of charge. If you’re visiting on the weekend however, the parking lot tends to be full most of the time, so you might have to park your car a bit further away and walk to the shrine.

To get to the shrine, simply input the address above into your GPS or Google Maps and you should have no problem.

One thing you’ll want to keep in mind is that the parking lot is located around the corner from the stairs on the Visiting Path. So, you’ll want to pass by the sign that says “Taoyuan Martyrs Shrine” and as you round the corner, you’ll take the first right turn.

If the parking lot is full, there are a couple paid parking lots nearby where you should be able to find parking.

Veterans Hospital Parking Lot (榮民醫院桃園分院停車場)
Veterans Hospital Weekend Parking Lot (榮民醫院假日收費停車場)
Dayou Mitsukoshi Department Store Parking Lot (新光三越桃園大有店)

The shrine is also easily accessible through public transportation, but even though there is a bus stop next to the shrine, the buses that you’ll end up taking will most likely end up dropping you off at the Taoyuan Veterans Hospital (桃園榮民醫院), which is a short walk from the shrine.

From Taoyuan Train Station

Taoyuan Bus (桃園客運): #302, #707 (Rear Station)
Ubus (統聯客運): #168 (Rear Station)

From Tonlin Department Store (統領百貨)

Taoyuan Bus (桃園客運): #105

From Huilong MRT Station (迴龍捷運站)

Taoyuan City Bus (桃園市區公車): #602

Youbike Accessibility

If you don’t feel like waiting for the bus and want to take a ride around Taoyuan, there are YouBike Stations at the front and back of Taoyuan Train Station, and if you want to drop off the bike, there are three stations near the shrine.

Link: Youbike Station Map

The Taoyuan Martyrs Shrine and Cultural Park is open seven days a week from 09:00-17:00 and entry is free of charge.

There are also guided tours that are provided free of charge between between 09:00-12:00 and 13:00 - 17:00 daily, but need to be booked in advance with a group of twenty or more.

As a national historic monument, the Taoyuan City government has done an excellent job preserving this piece of Taiwan's history and now that renovations are finally complete, visiting the shrine is even easier than ever with staff on site who can give guided tours and explain the history in greater detail to foreign guests.

Taoyuan may not be the most popular destination in Taiwan for tourists, but quite a few interesting destinations have popped up over the past few years and this is one of the ones that I think should be high on your list if you're rolling through town. The Tiger Head Mountain Park area itself has a number of locations within the park that are attractive tourist destinations themselves, and you could easily spend a day exploring the area.

If you are interested in the history of the Japanese Colonial Era, Taoyuan is an excellent place to visit as it is home to the Daxi Martial Arts Hall, Longtan Martial Arts Hall, Zhongli Police Dorms, Taoyuan Police Dorms, Daxi Police Dorms, etc.

An 80 year history may not seem as attractive to people as some of the centuries-old temples that you can find around the country but the fact that the shrine has been able to survive while so many others met their demise is remarkable. There are few places that you can visit in Taiwan that are like this shrine, so now that it is back in operation, I highly recommend a visit.

And before I leave, let me just throw you some shade..