至目前為止，台灣文學研究對日本領台五十年間的日本領台史觀可說是沿用明治維新之後薩長兩藩所主導的「勝者」史觀，也因為如此，面對當時統治者「日本」的認識不僅平板同時一元化，也因此在後殖民研究論述上過度單純化日本近代的「國族主義」。本文將由「敗者」史觀重新探討北白川宮能久親王在明治維新史的定位，對照日本的台灣殖民事始—即病歿於台灣征途當中的北白川宮能久親王其在台生成的傳說與形象。除了從1895年隨北白川宮能久親王征討台灣的森鷗外其所撰寫的傳記《能久親王事蹟》探討北白川宮能久親王形象的生成與史觀差異二者之間的關係外，也將從《臺灣日日新報》連載的講談〈北白河宮殿下〉（1911.04.03-1911.12.30）探討殖民地台灣如何從「敗者史觀」建構北白川宮形象。

The Prince Kitashirakawa, uncle of the Meiji Emperor, died during the pacification of Taiwan in 1895 when Taiwan became the first colony of Japan. Afterward, he became a spiritual icon for Japanese colonial rulers in Taiwan. At first glance, it is not suspicious that the Prince's sacrifice for Japan's new colony earned him recognition as a national hero. However, biographies and related materials about the Prince Kitashirakawa, both in modern and colonial Taiwan, indicate that he had been involved in political struggles between the Satsuma and Choushu regimes and the late Tokugawa regime's imperial court, and had been supported by feudal domains in the northeast during the War of Boshin. This paper will examine the discourse on the Prince Kitashirakawa in colonial Taiwan to expose how colonial Taiwan, as the periphery of the Japanese empire, challenged the core of Japan through questioning the legitimacy of Japan's emperor.