Monument of Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa Introduction
In 1895 (the 28th year of the Meiji era), Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa led the military to take over Taiwan and stayed at the old customs office residence in Keelung from June 4 to June 9. After the prince passed away in Tainan on October 28 of the same year, the Japanese constructed a local heritage museum next to the residence and erected a monument on the left side to commemorate his achievements. During the First Sino-Japanese War, when Taiwan was ceded to Japan, Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa was one of the Japanese commanders assigned to take control of Taiwan. After China lost the war, it signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki, ceding Taiwan and the Pescadores Islands to Japan, which then dispatched troops to Taiwan for the takeover but encountered armed resistance from the local population. At that time, after the establishment of the Republic of Taiwan led by Tang Jingsong, Prince Yoshihisa commanded the Imperial Guard Division to attack Taiwan, initiating the Yiyou War, and died a week after the attack on Tainan due to a malaria infection at his residence. During the 50 years of Japanese rule in Taiwan, Prince Yoshihisa was deified, and the Tainan Shrine was built at his "place of demise," with him as the main deity. There is also another account that states Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa was killed by the Japanese military in the Niu Pu Mountain area in Hsinchu, but the Japanese army concealed the news of his death. Because Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa stayed at the Keelung old customs office residence during the takeover, a monument was erected in his memory in the area. The monument is made of concrete, adorned with washed stones, and has an octagonal shape with its corners cut off, standing about 3 meters tall. It is divided into three sections, with the base being wider than the body and having military band patterns for decoration, indicating the identity of the person being commemorated. The top of the monument slightly protrudes in a conical shape, and this monument was only discovered in recent years, but due to poor maintenance, parts of it have suffered damage over time. For more information, please visit the National Cultural Heritage website.
Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa Memorial Monument - Close-up
