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Paper short abstract

This presentation examines the imperial commodity chain through which sugar from colonial Taiwan was shipped to Japan for refining and then transformed into confectionery using new technologies such as color dyes and aromas to enhance market appeal.

Paper long abstract

Sugar has long been one of the most debated commodities in global history, yet little scholarship has examined the process through which sugar is extracted from cane and transformed into the products we consume every day. This paper articulates how sugar in the Japanese Empire was manufactured into alluring confectionery goods that represented nutrition and modernity. Since sugarcane could only be cultivated in tropical climates, Japan relied heavily on sugar production in Taiwan, its first colony. After harvest, cane was milled in Taiwan into raw sugar, which was then exported to refineries in Japan—where most consumers were located. Once refined, sugar became a key raw material for confectionery factories, where it was transformed into popular products such as candy drops, caramels, and chocolate.

By analyzing manufacturing manuals and corporate archives, I demonstrate that transforming sugar into confectionery was not merely a technological process enabled by modern machinery and transimperial knowledge exchange. The introduction of new techniques—such as artificial colorants, fragrances, and standardized packaging materials—also helped establish new norms of food hygiene and sensory consumption practices in interwar Japan. Moreover, these practices unfolded not only in the metropolitan center but also along the empire’s margins—most notably in Meiji Confectionery’s factory in Manchuria, where industrial expansion accompanied Japan’s growing territorial control. By examining how sugar was transformed into confectionery goods such as caramels and chocolate, this presentation underscores the centrality of supply chains and standardized production to the development of the imperial economy.