日本民族特有的神道信仰，在1868年明治維新之後，因王政復口與軍國主義之興起，演變成「國家神道」，在第二次世界大戰前後更隨著積極向外瘋狂侵略，大量移植到國外殖民地區，作為思想改造、教化殖民地百姓的重要工具。海外神社的興建隨之如火如荼的展開。 馬關條約中將臺、澎割讓日本後，日本於1936年後積極實施「皇民化政策」，為將臺灣百姓同化成忠良的日本帝國子民。而皇民化政策中，「信仰的皇民化」是必要條件。國家神道的擴張在皇民化政策中即扮演著重要角色，而神社建造與神社的空間功能便益形重要。 臺灣神社建造最早始於1897年臺南的「開山神社」，其後為1901年的「臺灣神社」，之後即在各地都市、街庄建造神社。1934年開始實行「一街庄一社」政策，而1936年實施「皇民化政策」後，神社建造更行激增，第二次世界大戰期間達最高峰。至1942年，國家神道系統的臺灣神社階層（社格、等級），有官幣中社、官幣中社、國幣小社、縣社、鄉社、無格社等，若加上非國家神道系統的神社（稱為神），總數超過200以上，在臺灣各州廳形成明顯的階層空間分佈，其中以臺北州、新竹州、臺中州、臺南州、高雄州較為完整。

　　　　　Japanese people's predominant feature of Shinto belief, after Meiji Restoration in 1868, became a National Theology (Shinto) due to the restoration of monarchy and the rise of militarism. Before and after World War II, it even quickly expanded outwards to overseas colonies and was taken as an important means of political indoctrination. As a consequence, Shrines in Japan's colonies were spread vigorously. After Taiwan and Penghu were ceded to Japan in Shimonoseki Treaty, Japan, in 1936, carried out Kominka Policy in an attempt to have Taiwanese people be subjected to Japan's rule. In this context, the expansion of Shinto belief played a crucial role and the establishment of Shrines and its holy space therefore became more important. The first Shrine in Taiwan was constructed in Tainan in 1897. Latter on, after 1901, Shrines' were set up one by one in the cities and villages of Taiwan. By 1934, with the execution of "one street (village) one Shrine" policy, the number of Shrines increased rapidly and came to its climax during World War II. In 1942, the number of Shrines was over 200 in total. They formed a clear distribution of stratum space especially in Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung and Kaohsiung.