Hualien Has a "Cute Western-Style House" – The Office of the Toyoda Village Immigration Guidance Station

Text and photos byCultural Renewal Stories

[Who is Yoshitaka Watanabe?]
Yoshitaka Watanabe is a Japanese architect who loves Taiwanese Japanese-era architecture. He gained widespread attention after using Google Maps to create a map of all "Japanese-style buildings in Taiwan." From October 3–5 this year (2016), he was invited by Hualien’s Tourism Marketing Division to visit many Japanese-style buildings in Hualien and recorded them through beautiful hand-drawn notes. Come and see how beautiful Taiwanese Japanese-era architecture looks through the eyes of a Japanese architect with us!

In the "Toyoda Immigrant Village" in Shoufeng Township, Hualien County, Watanabe visited the "Toyoda Police Station," then headed to the "Office of the Toyoda Village Immigration Guidance Station." He thought, "The guidance station office is a cute western-style house."

According to the Hualien County Cultural Affairs Bureau website, the Toyoda Immigration Guidance Station was completed in 1913 (Taisho 2). At that time, the construction was relatively simple, consisting of a wooden building with a thatched roof. As the administrative center of the immigrant village, the immigration guidance station was not only responsible for general administrative tasks but also handled land distribution, farming, women's work, military service, hygiene, and more. It serves as important historical evidence of the development of immigrant villages in the Hua-Tung region. According to records, between 1914 and 1917, several severe typhoons struck eastern Taiwan, and Toyoda Village suffered considerable damage. The original thatched-roof immigration guidance station was likely damaged during the typhoons and was subsequently rebuilt into its current form.

(Exterior of the Office of the Toyoda Village Immigration Guidance Station. Photo credit: Yoshitaka Watanabe)

"The old trusses that were removed are displayed in the backyard, which made this truss fan’s (my) heart race." Watanabe, who is very fond of truss structures, described it this way: "Especially with their upper and lower central column capitals that project toward the gable side, you can tell these were used for trusses at the start of a hip roof." Watanabe also carefully drew in his notes the differences between this truss and ordinary ones. He also noticed that there were "traces of manual work done with a hand axe on the truss!" (Editor’s note: A "truss" is a triangular structure used to support a roof. The "gable side" in Japanese is "tsuma-gawa," referring to the short sides of a house, which are perpendicular to the ridge beam. The "central column capital" is the connection point between the middle column of the truss and other wooden members above and below. A "hip roof" is a type of roof with four sloping sides, with two sides opposite each other.)

(The old truss of the guidance station office. Photo credit: Yoshitaka Watanabe)

"In addition, although they are cement tiles, old French-style tiles have also been preserved as samples." Watanabe said it’s rare to preserve such old items. "I really want to put up an explanation plaque for the truss here!"

(Watanabe Yoshitaka’s hand-drawn notes. Photo credit: Yoshitaka Watanabe)

With adjustments to the government-run immigration policy, the Governor-General of Taiwan ended the official immigration program in 1918 (Taisho 7), abolished the Toyoda Immigration Guidance Station, and re-established it as the Hualien Port Toyoda Branch Office, under the jurisdiction of the Hualien Port Office. This building was then taken over and used by the most important social organization within the immigrant village, the "Residents' Association." After World War II, it was repurposed as a Mandarin teaching class for civilians and a guidance classroom for Fongli Elementary School, witnessing various stages of the village’s development in the Toyoda area and encapsulating the life memories of local residents across different eras. It was later designated as a historic building in 2013.

Want to know where else Watanabe went in these three days? Hurry and “Follow Yoshitaka Watanabe to Explore Hualien’s Japanese-Style Architecture”!

This article is republished with permission from"Cultural Renewal Stories"