Paper short abstract:

Through visual materials produced in Japan and Taiwan,this paper analyses representations of Japanese civil engineer Hatta Yoichi, known for constructing irrigation facilities in Colonial Taiwan, in order to elucidate differences in his images' 'mythification'.

Paper long abstract:

Hatta Yoichi (1886-1942), a civil engineer famous for constructing the Chianan irrigation canal in Colonial Taiwan, is highly appreciated not only in Japan but also in contemporary Taiwan. Even former Taiwanese presidents Lee Teng-hui and Ma Ying-jeou have honoured Hatta for his achievements in irrigation engineering during the colonial period. Based on Hatta's story, the Taiwanese television drama Shui se Chianan (2008; literally, 'Chianan in Light Blue') and the Japanese animation film Pattenrai!! (2009; literally, 'Hatta has come!!' in Taiwanese) were produced. Furthermore, in both Taiwan and Japan, the Taiwanese baseball film KANO (2014) drew wider attention to Hatta's contribution to the colony's development. Against such popular narratives, however, criticism charges that these narratives glorify Japan's colonial rule and distort historical understanding.

This paper reconsiders such a dichotomic framework for evaluation of Hatta's story. Despite superficial similarity in Hatta's representations, Taiwan and Japan perceive and understand his story differently. People in Tainan city in southern Taiwan and in Ishikawa prefecture in northwestern Japan, are respectively holding ceremonies to commemorate Hatta, each 'mythicising' his story differently. Although both commemorations are joined with regional promotions, the former is held within the context of Taiwanese folk religion, while the other is secular. Considering this difference, the paper reinterprets meanings of 'mythification' of Hatta's images in visual materials from both Taiwan and Japan, points out that the myths are parallel and questions popular understandings of Japan-Taiwan relations.