Taiwan was under Japanese rule after the First Sino-Japanese War, as per the Treaty of Shimonoseki of 1895. There were still several changes until the Japanese political system was adopted in 1920. This system was de facto abolished in 1945 and de jure in 1952.

Introduction Administrative divisions of Taiwan by types and times. Like the administrative divisions in mainland Japan, most of them are translated to "prefectures" in English.

+Number of divisionsStart dateEnd dateTimespanSummaryMay 1895Aug 189533 Ken, 1 ChōAug 1895Mar 189671 Ken, 2 Minseishibu, 1 ChōApr 1896Jun 1897153 Ken, 1 ChōJun 1897Jun 1898126 Ken, 3 ChōJun 1898Apr 1901343 Ken, 3 ChōMay 1901Nov 190173 Ken, 4 ChōNov 1901Oct 19099520 ChōOct 1909Aug 192013012 ChōSep 1920Jun 1926705 Shū, 2 ChōJul 1926Apr 19522395 Shū, 3 Chō

+Types of the divisionsNameKanjiKanaKenShūChōMinseishibu

Early years (1895–1901) The political divisions changed frequently between 1895 and 1901.

DateMay. 1895 – Aug. 1895 Aug. 1895 – Mar. 1896 Mar. 1896 – Jun. 1897NamesTaihoku KenTaihoku KenたいほくけんTaihoku KenたいほくけんTaiwan KenTaiwan MinseishibuたいわんみんせいしぶTaichū KenたいちゅうけんTainan KenたいなんけんTainan MinseishibuたいなんみんせいしぶTainan KenたいなんけんHōkotō ChōほうことうちょうHōkotō ChōほうことうちょうHōkotō ChōほうことうちょうDiv. No.3 Ken, 1 Chō1 Ken, 2 Minseishibu, 1 Chō3 Ken, 1 Chō

DateJun. 1897 – Jun. 1898 Jun. 1898 – Apr. 1901 May. 1901 – Nov. 1901NamesTaihoku KenたいほくけんTaihoku KenたいほくけんTaihoku KenたいほくけんShinchiku KenしんちくけんTaichū KenたいちゅうけんTaichū KenたいちゅうけんTaichū KenたいちゅうけんKagi KenかぎけんTainan KenたいなんけんTainan KenたいなんけんTainan KenたいなんけんHōzan KenほうざんけんKōshun ChōこうしゅんちょうGiran ChōぎらんちょうGiran ChōぎらんちょうGiran ChōぎらんちょうTaitō ChōたいとうちょうTaitō ChōたいとうちょうTaitō ChōたいとうちょうHōko ChōほうこちょうHōko ChōほうこちょうHōko ChōほうこちょうDiv. No.6 Ken, 3 Chō3 Ken, 3 Chō3 Ken, 4 Chō

Chō (1901–1920) The former system was abolished 11 November 1901, and twenty local administrative offices (chō) were established. Usage of Ken divisions was discontinued.

Structural hierarchy

Level 1Level 2Level 3Level 4Prefecture chōSubprefecture shichōDistrict kuTown gaiVillage jō

Prefectures Nov. 1901 – Oct. 1909 Oct. 1909 – Aug. 1920Taihoku ChōたいほくちょうTaihoku ChōたいほくちょうKīrun ChōきいるんちょうShinkō ChōしんこうちょうGiran ChōぎらんちょうGiran ChōぎらんちょうTōshien ChōとうしえんちょうTōen ChōとうえんちょうShinchiku ChōしんちくちょうShinchiku ChōしんちくちょうByōritsu ChōびょうりつちょうTaichū ChōたいちゅうちょうTaichū ChōたいちゅうちょうShōka ChōしょうかちょうNantō ChōなんとうちょうNantō ChōなんとうちょうToroku ChōとろくちょうKagi ChōかぎちょうKagi ChōかぎちょうEnsuikō ChōえんすいこうちょうTainan ChōたいなんちょうTainan ChōたいなんちょうHōzan ChōほうざんちょうBanshoryō ChōばんしょりょうちょうAkō ChōあこうちょうAkō ChōあこうちょうKōshun ChōこうしゅんちょうTaitō ChōたいとうちょうTaitō ChōたいとうちょうKarenkō ChōかれんこうちょうHōko ChōほうこちょうHōko Chōほうこちょう20 Chō12 Chō Shinkō, Byōritsu, Toroku, Ensuikō were split and merge with the two Chō in the right.

Demographics Population of Formosa according to census taken 31 December 1904, arranged by district. +Population of Formosa as of 1915PrefectureKanjiJapaneseTaiwaneseArea (km²)PopulationTaihokuTaihoku-chōTâi-pak-thiaⁿ1,691.5284523,502GiranGiran-chōGî-lân-thiaⁿ710.8631143,912TōenTōen-chōThô-hn̂g-thiaⁿ984.5170231,409ShinchikuShinchiku-chōSin-tek-thiaⁿ1,705.1696327,164TaichūTaichū-chōTâi-tiong-thiaⁿ2,271.4004592,577NantōNantō-chōLâm-tâu-thiaⁿ1,274.9484126,223KagiKagi-chōKa-gī-thiaⁿ3,249.8356566,158TainanTainan-chōTâi-lâm-thiaⁿ2,345.5133569,292AkōAkō-chōA-kâu-thiaⁿ2,201.6170259,441TaitōTaitō-chōTâi-tang-thiaⁿ1,204.490636,997KarenkōKarenkō-chōHoa-liân-káng-thiaⁿ1,315.723645,521HōkoHōko-chōPhêⁿ-ô͘-thiaⁿ126.864857,726

Shū and Chō (1920–1952)

Under a "Dōka policy" (同化) in which the Japanese considered the Taiwanese to be separate but equal, the political divisions in Taiwan became similar to the system used in mainland Japan in 1920.

Structural hierarchy Level 1Level 2Level 3Level 4Level 5Prefecture shū (5) chō (3)City shi (11) chō chōme ōaza koazaDistrict gun (51)orSubprefecture shichō (2)Town gai (68)Village jō (197)Aboriginal area banchi sha (571) Chō () and chōme () are used in the city centers. Sha () is used to name the tribes of the indigenous peoples.

Prefectures NameKanjiKanaNo. of SubdivisionsWade–GilesCityDist.Subp.Taihoku Prefectureたいほくしゅう39 TaipeiShinchiku Prefectureしんちくしゅう18 HsinchuTaichū Prefectureたいちゅうしゅう211 TaichungTainan Prefectureたいなんしゅう210 TainanTakao Prefectureたかおしゅう27 KaohsiungKarenkō Prefectureかれんこうちょう13 Hualien PortTaitō Prefectureたいとうちょう 3 TaitungHōko Prefectureほうこちょう 2Penghu Hōko Prefecture was divided from Takao Prefecture in 1926

Cities There were 11 cities in Taiwan in 1945. Most of them are still the most populous municipalities in the country today. The ōaza (大字) in the city center may be named chō (町). PrefectureNameKanjiKanaWade–GilesTaihokuTaihoku CityたいほくしTaipeiKiirun CityきいるんしKeelungGiran CityぎらんしYilanShinchikuShinchiku CityしんちくしHsinchuTaichūTaichū CityたいちゅうしTaichungShōka CityしょうかしChanghuaTainanTainan CityたいなんしTainanKagi CityかぎしChiayiTakaoTakao CityたかおしKaohsiungHeitō CityへいとうしPingtungKarenkōKarenkō CityかれんこうしHualien

Demographics

The 1941 (Showa 16) census of Taiwan was 6,249,468. 93.33% of the population were Taiwanese which consisted of both Han Taiwanese and "civilized" Taiwanese aborigines. Tainan had the largest population followed by Taichū and Taihoku. The largest concentration of ethnic Japanese were in Taihoku followed by Takao and Tainan. +Demographics of Taiwan as of 1942PrefectureKanjiJapaneseTaiwaneseArea(km²)PopulationPopulationDensity(/km²)DemographicsJapanese nationalForeign nationalTaiwaneseJapaneseKoreanChineseOtherTaihokuTaihoku-shūTâi-pak-chiu4,594.23711,266,9242761,078,316161,3061,16126,13853ShinchikuShinchiku-shūSin-tek-chiu4,570.0146856,382187832,56521,6321652,0200TaichūTaichū-shūTâi-tiong-chiu7,382.94261,411,8461911,359,86547,6882844,0018TainanTainan-shūTâi-lâm-chiu5,421.46271,587,5132931,524,12355,3892897,69913TakaoTakao-shūKo-hiông-chiu5,721.8672969,935170896,68965,4465857,2141KarenkōKarenkō-chōHoa-liân-káng-thiaⁿ4,628.5713167,91136143,67121,8111742,2550TaitōTaitō-chōTâi-tang-thiaⁿ3,515.252897,0592888,3177,687311,0231HōkoHōko-chōPhêⁿ-ô͘-thiaⁿ126.864270,31255466,3423,8883790

Changes in 1945 When the Republic of China began to rule Taiwan in 1945, the government simply changed the names of the divisions, and named the Aboriginal areas.

Before AfterLevelNameCharacterJapaneseHepburnTaiwanesePe̍h-ōe-jīNameCharacterMandarinPinyinTaiwanesePe̍h-ōe-jīLevel1PrefectureshūchiuCountyxiànkoān1chōthiaⁿ2CityshichhīProvincial cityshìchhīCounty-administered cityxiànxiáshìkoān-hat-chhī2DistrictgunkūnCounty-administered districtxiànxiáqūkoān-hat-khuSubprefectureshichōchi-thiaⁿ3TowngaikeUrban townshipzhèntìn3VillagejōchngRural townshipxiānghiongAboriginal areasbanchihuan-tēMountain indigenous townshipshāndì xiāngsoaⁿ-tē hiong Most of the cities in Taiwan became provincial cities, but Yilan (宜蘭市 Giran) and Hualien (花蓮市 Karen) became the first two county-administered cities in the ROC. The more basic or are merged to the districts in provincial cities, and/or reformed to villages ( or ).

See also Administrative divisions of Taiwan Administrative divisions of Japan Prefectures of Japan Governor-General of Taiwan

References

Bibliography