To date the concentration of research has been focused on native Taiwanese authors living in colonial Taiwan under Japanese rule, whose works were written in Chinese, thereby making them more prevalent, widely distributed, and easily accessible. In comparison, relatively fewer works by and in Japanese have been uncovered, translated, and studied.
My dissertation addresses the question – “Can literary works written in and by Japanese living in Taiwan during colonial times provide another perspective and lead to a deeper appreciation of the cultural, political, and societal complexities between and among Taiwan’s Japanese, Chinese, and Aboriginals populations?”
I argue that the Japanese literary community living in Taiwan during colonial times often reflected the thoughts of how mainstream Japanese viewed the Chinese and Aboriginal communities. The wave of enthusiasm for a new literary movement among ethnic Japanese living in Taiwan was ushered in by Miyakawa Yasuyuki, an writer. While in Japan, Miyakawa Yasuyuki was greatly influenced by Kuroiwa Syuuroku, who changed the typical topics of the dodoitsu (a poetic style of writing with 26 syllables in a 7-7-7-5 pattern) style in Ri You Sei Chou. When Miyakaya Yasuyuki later arrived in Taiwan, he continued to promote Ri You Sei Chou by editing “Yamato Tanshi,” an anthology of works by new and local authors. I argue this new burgeoning literary movement in Taiwan contributed to the overall flourishment of the Ri You Sei Chou style.