After graduation I joined a Hometown Association where I took part in a project involving the collection of information about Taiwan’s Japanese colonial era Shinto shrines and follow-up environmental planning.Accomanying more senior members of the project team, I rode a motorbike along narrow lanes to visit local old folk. I remember, in the home of one, how he carefully brought out and opened a metal box in which there was a stack of old photographs.   

We carefully identified the same place’s special features in different eras and, from the old photographs, sought clues that allowed us to pinpoint the position where a building once stood today, for example “From the surrounding buildings we can be certain that the shrine was at the intersection of today’s XX and XX roads.” The old photographs were usually smaller than today’s, and often have a decorated edge and a plastic cover, and are faded, the hazy image giving us a feel of the era in which it was taken. Looking closely until my eyes ached I listened to the old man describe and explain the scene.

The details in the pictures came to life as the old man explained, his wrinkled old fingers holding the photograph, about the spatial layout of the shrine and the rituals that were held there. His memories were fragmented, and he jumped from one story to the next, and when he became emotional he would wipe his nose his, eyes dark shiny like a historical spotlight guiding us through the long river of time in pursuit of memories of the past.

Old photographs are hard to find, even if posters are put up and the public are invited submit photos, only a few will be obtained. However, when they are displayed there will always be a person who will tell us excitedly “Granddad told me about it when I was young but I never knew that the shrine looked like this” ; then they say to the child at their side "Look, this is how that place near our house looked before.” At this time, old, middle aged and young meet and the old photograph is the medium that links different eras, giving form to the memories of the grandfather and providing a basis on which the parents can pass on local history and stories to their child.   

At the time the Hometown Association’s understanding of shrines was limited to information received from local elders, which was interesting but incomplete; sometimes different sources would contradict each other, leading to confusion with regards to investigating the spatial layout of the shrines and their architectural style. To find more related historical material, I went to the national library and printed out a thick pile of research material information; it was an arduous task sifting through the verbose and tedious academic reports looking for the main points. Another problem was that the shrines date from Taiwan’s Japanese Colonial Period, so many of the related documents are in Japanese. The architectural forms and names of the deities worshipped etc had no standard Chinese translation which also added to the difficulty of research.

Looking for more related information, I happened upon the “Taiwan Digital Photo Museum” online; it contains many old photographs from Taiwan’s Japanese Colonial Period that are separated by theme and explained in detail.For example, the “Shinto shrine legend” page incudes historical, ritual and architectural information,both  text and photos. I excitedly entered the webpage and saw the lost historical scenes reappear before my eyes, from Taiwan Shrine to Tainan’s Kaizan Shrine, leaving me sighing at the difference between the once magnificent buildings and all that remains of them today.  
 

Taiwanese Memory- Digital Photo Museum-Shinto shrine legend

The webpage first explains the historical background to Taiwan’s Shinto shrines. The earliest such shrine, built early in the colonial period to consolidate Japanese rule and “civilize” the people, was Tainan Prefecture’s Kaizan Shrine which enshrined Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga), whose mother was Japanese. The following shrines were later built: Taihoku (Taipei) Prefecture’s Taiwan Shrine Giran (Yilan), Taihoku Inari shrine, Kiron (Keelung) Shrine, Tainan Prefecture’s Kaizan Shrine, Takao (Kaohsiung) Prefecture’s Takao Shrine, Taitō (Taidong) Prefecture’s Taitō Shrine and Karenkō (Hualian) Prefecture’s Yoshino Shrine.As well as reading the text you can click on the photograph at the side to view a larger version.
There is also a “Shrines and life” area in which the influence of Shinto on the lives of ordinary people can be seen in photographs from graduation ceremonies, weddings and of soldiers praying to return victorious before setting off for war. Most of these photographs came from individuals, showing the lengths that the website project’s personnel went to collect them
As well as shrines, the website also has sections with wedding, city and railway station themes etc that allow us to see how Taiwan really used to look and, through a cross-field combination of culture, history, society and geography, and compiling of related resources, displaying and explaining old photographs online.
The website’s contents includes” Sketches of old Taiwan－Image Hall” “Original flavor－Life Hall” “Taiwan through the ages－Historical Hall” and “All around Taiwan－Geographical Information Hall”，with detailed themed exhibitions under each main items.

“Sketches of old Taiwan－Image Hall”: Themed photographs and text illustrate four aspects of Taiwan’s past. The four themes are: "Taiwanese wedding march,” “Taiwan Shinto shrine legend,” “Taiwan little town stories” and “The splendor of old Taiwanese railway stations.”
  “Original flavor－Life Hall”: has four display halls—“The living space of the Taiwanese,” “The lives of the Taiwanese,” “Spiritual life” and “Portraits,” showing the people of Taiwan and their lives in different times.
  “Taiwan through the ages－Historical hall”:the first display hall, “Under the rising sun,” describes the major events that happened in Taiwan under Japanese rule, including the visit to Taiwan of the Crown Prince (Later Emperor Hirohito), the Wushe Incident, the Great Taichung Earthquake and the Exposition to Celebrate 40 years of Japanese rule;the second hall,”Make up and go on stage” introduces traditional Taiwanese opera and “new” Taiwanese opera
   “All around Taiwan－Geographical Information Hall”: combines history and spatial

information;the first display hall introduces Dadaocheng in its legendary prosperous heyday, including the sections “a stroll along the river”, “wandering around the streets”, “What opera will we perform today,” “Lectures” and “Flick through a map GIS enquiry”; the second display hall uses a geographical information system (GIS) to give a detailed introduction of the history and distribution of historic sites.
  
   This platform was a big help to me at the time I was compiling local historical materials in the culture and history studio, allowing me to browse through history quickly; the information is presented in an interesting way, not in the boring way that makes people want to sleep like history often is, and the separation into different themes making collection of materials easier. Each of the old photographs can also be made into an e-card that could be sent to friends to share with them the fun of unearthing history.

Taiwan’s Shinto shrines were mostly destroyed because of their connection with the Japanese Colonial Period when the Nationalist government took control of Taiwan after the defeat of the Japanese in 1945 and wanted to promote Chinese culture. All that survived of the shrines were some foundations and the memories of old people, having very little influence on Taiwan’s belief and economy whereas they were once centers of belief that attracted large numbers of people when ceremonies were held. In recent years, technological advances have led to e-mail replacing paper correspondence and the transmission of feelings and passing on culture also in crisis, with the media full of news about gaming machines, sex, gossip and entertainment but rarely are stories about historic relics, history, culture or social movements seen.

A platform like “Sketches of old Taiwan-Image hall” is a kind of balance that allows people to become more historically literate and integrates historical materials, allowing later generations to see how their ancestors lived in the past and see the tracks of history.
Sketches of old Taiwan-Image hall
http://proj1.sinica.edu.tw/~photo/subject/2_temple/index.html