PJ Vogt

And how did you find yourself curious about Taiwan in the first place many years ago?

So, and help me understand, like, you come into Taiwan studies curious about the indigenous people of Taiwan.

There's also overlaid on this, like, very tiny country a vast history of colonization.

Like, what other powers show up?

What do they do?

And how does it shape the place?

It's funny, the way you describe it sounds a little bit like the American frontier west.

Like all these people going out to this rugged place to make a new life for themselves.

There's already people there.

The people who are settling don't totally get along with each other, but it sounds like Deadwood or something like that.

And so they're saying to Japan, like, as a peace offering, we're giving you territory.

It's not within the mainland, but it's very close.

So it's like a big give.

Once Japan colonizes Taiwan, what does Japanese colonization look like for Taiwan in Taiwan?

General Chiang Kai-shek is in full military uniform on an outdoor podium, declaring victory in 1945 after the defeat of the Japanese.

At the end of that fighting, Chiang Kai-shek's group, the Nationalists, had come out nearly on top, with just one rival remaining, the Communists.

The Nationalists had also done something very smart during World War II.

They'd sided with the Allies and gotten something in return, international recognition as China's legitimate rulers, and a promise that they would be handed all the territories Japan had seized from China at the war's end, including Manchuria, including Taiwan.

Why umbrellas?

And from the Taiwanese perspective, who are these clowns with their cooking pots and umbrellas?