Abstract
Takamatsu Toyozirou founded the theater company Taiwan Seigeki Renshujo (Taiwan Drama Company) in 1909, when he was also building theaters around the island, and produced the Taiwan Seigeki (Taiwan Drama) for the stage the following year, aiming to contribute to the assimilation and development of colonial Taiwan. Based on newly-found historical data, this essay reexamines the activities of Taiwan Drama Company, and explores the contents and characteristics of Taiwan Seigeki, a theatrical genre specifically targeting the Taiwanese audience, as well as how it was received in Taiwan. It is argued in this essay that, aesthetically fashioning upon the Japanese Shinpa Theater, Taiwan Seigeki is an origin of the modern theater in Taiwan; on the other hand, the plays functioned as political vehicle to disseminate the Japanese colonizer's ideology. Taken as a project of cultural colonization, Taiwan Seigeki was utilized to both rationalize the Japanese colonization of Taiwan and help regulate the colonial cultural production. The acceptance of Taiwan Seigeki by Taiwanese audience, while reflecting the prompting desire of the public for ”native” theater performances, also revealed the complicit relationship between the male-dominated Hoklo society in Taiwan and the colonizer.