Photo of the U.S. consulate during 1920s

Arts & Sciences Culture & History
1

There’s a nice postcard from the 1920s being auctioned on eBay.

I’m not trying to get anyone buy it; I just wanted to show the photo before it disappears from the Net.

2

Thanks, Cranky. That’s a cool picture.

May I ask, is this the same consulate (residence?) that is now the SPOT Film Center?

Also, was “Taihoku” the name for “Taipei” during the Japanese colonial period (I know I can probably Google and get this information, but I thought I’d ask).

Thanks again.

3

Wow – thanks for the pic and education.

Am surprised to know the US had a consulate here – would’ve thought the US had next to no national interests in Taiwan at the time.

4

Yes - Taihoku is the Japanese pronunciation of the characters that are pronounce Taibei (or Taipei) in Mandarin and Daibak in Hokkien. Spot the “hok” (meaning “north”) in Hokkaido, which is pronounced Beihaidao in Mandarin.

A couple more Japanese-era placenames: Taichu = Taichung, Takao = Kaohsiung (derived from the original Hokkien name meaning “hit the dog”, which was in turn derived from the Aboriginal name for the place. Spot more Japanese-era placenames on www.powtaiwan.org

Incidentally, an elderly taxi driver told me that Taiwanese people thought the Japanese were nuts for building what is now Zhongshan North Road and for making it so wide. The Taiwanese never imagined Taibei would grow to the size it is today.