Plan composition and actual conditions of official university residences in former Showa‐Cho during the Japanese colonial period in Taiwan

Abstract In 1895 (Meiji 28), Taiwan was ceded from the Qing dynasty to become a Japanese territory, and it remained a Japanese colony for the next 51 years, until 1945. During this period, many “Japanese‐style houses” were built throughout Taiwan for Japanese immigrants. As senior civil servants, the faculty members of the Taipei Imperial University were provided with official residences. However, as the number of immigrants increased, the number of official residences did not increase proportionally, and a housing shortage ensued. As the demand for individual residences gradually increased, the residents themselves took the initiative, proposing and developing a residential area. The former Showa‐Cho area was selected as a suitable location for official university residences primarily intended for the faculty members of the Taipei Imperial University because it was within walking distance of the educational institutions. This study clarifies the background, process, and reasons for building official university residences in former Showa‐Cho, from the time when the faculty members of the Taipei Imperial University arrived in Taiwan until individual residences were built in 1929. Further, the features and composition of the plans and as the actual conditions of the official residences built by the Taipei Imperial University are examined.