Does anyone have information about the guest house built for Hirohito’s visit to Taiwan in 1922? I’ve heard that it now belongs to the Taiwan Power Company.
Apparently, Hirohito, then the Crown Prince, never stayed in it due to security fears concerning rumors of an assassination attempt.
It’s in the hills above Jinguashi, near Jiufen. Has anyone ever been there?
Any links to information would be appreciated.
http://www.pixelsig.com/profile.php?pf=184
Some photos here.
I went there last summer, but the gates were locked. It was quite small though and didn’t seem particulary worth exploring.
Its owned by Taipower and not open to the public, so you need some guanxi to get in, AFAIK. Cybertai, do you work for Taipower?
I don’t work for TaiPower. 
By the way, certain “orgnization” could apply for visiting.
i thought hirohito stayed there once briefly, but only once. i’ve tried to get in a couple of times with no joy. taipower apparantly only use it as a corporate retreat, so i doubt it gets used much. it’s a real shame they don’t open it up at all.
I was there a little while ago. Apparently the ‘Crown Prince’ actually stayed there. The house is only open to the public ‘by appointment’ at the moment, but great improvements are afoot at Jinguashi. Scheduled for June/July this year, the house, the mining museum and a new visitor’s centre are all going to open. A lot of stuff has already been done, including some pretty good English signage.
Brian
that’s interesting. i hope they don’t ignore the POW memorial and park in jinghuahsi, which doesn’t get anything like the level of attention it deserves. as far as i know there is currently no acknowledgement at the mine to the POWs who worked as slaves there.
actually, i heard national geographic are interested in making a documentary about the POWs. it’s about time someone did.
[quote=“Bomber”]that’s interesting. I hope they don’t ignore the POW memorial and park in jinghuahsi, which doesn’t get anything like the level of attention it deserves. as far as I know there is currently no acknowledgement at the mine to the POWs who worked as slaves there.
actually, I heard national geographic are interested in making a documentary about the POWs. it’s about time someone did.[/quote]
Someone did I think. A Canadian woman who’s Dad was a doctor at Kinkaseki or something (from memory). I would also hope that the museum would have something about Kinkaseki, but it’s a Mining museum, so probably not. It is signposted though, but still a bit tricky to find (the park and memorial) following the signs. I finally found it by following a makeshift sign erected by an old man who runs a craft shop or something just above the park. He was around at the time of the camp, so takes an interest in it.
Brian
Last I heard it was under rennovation to be turned into a museum. There is another museum being built at the mine just above. The whole area is being transformed into another Taiwan tourist trap. I led a group of climers up one of the streams on the side there and made our way to the top of on of the mines. A little more adventure. The guest house had archery fields and a mini golf range. I do believe the emperor stayed there to recognize the area as an important industrial zone in the empire. The shinto shrine is one of the only concrete shrines of its kind, dedicated to the god of mountains and ore. The concrete tubes in the mountains surrounding the house were used to direct poison gas over the mountains.