Following the death of Prince Yoshihisa in 1895, the Governor-General of TaiwanNogi Maresuke began planning for a shrine in Yoshihisa's honor. Originally, the plan was to construct the shrine at Yuanshan Park (圓山公園, now part of Taipei Expo Park); however, Nogi's successor Kodama Gentarō and chief planner Gotō Shinpei decided to move it across the Keelung River to Jiantan Mountain (劍潭山) for the site's higher elevation. The vantage point would allow the shrine to overlook the entire city, making it symbolic for the Japanese Empire's colonial power.[1][2] The construction lasted between 1900 and 1901, and the completed shrine was dedicated to Yoshihisa and the Kaitaku Sanjin (開拓三神, Three Kami Deities of Pioneering).[3]
In 1915, a railway station named Miyanoshita Station (宮ノ下乘降場, now Jiantan metro station) was placed at the foot of Jiantan Mountain to serve the shrine.[1] On April 12, 1923, Crown PrinceHirohito, who would become Emperor Shōwa three years later, embarked on a two-week tour of Taiwan. In preparation for his visit to the shrine, Chokushi Road (勅使街道, Chokushi kaidō, present-day Chungshan North Road) was created leading up to the shrine from the city, with the Meiji Bridge (明治橋) crossing the Keelung River.[4]
The shrine was elevated in rank to Grand Shrine (jingū) in 1944 (Shōwa 19) when Amaterasu was enshrined, making it the highest-ranking shrine in Taiwan.[3] The opening ceremony of the new shrine was planned to be on October 28. However, on October 23, 1944, a cargo plane lost control and crashed atop the mountain where the Taiwan Grand Shrine was located, heavily damaging roughly half of the shrine.[5] The shrine was never fully repaired due to Japan's surrender after World War II, and much of the shrine's materials were taken for construction projects elsewhere. In its place, the Grand Hotel was constructed in 1952, where it remains as a prominent landmark of the city.[3]
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Taiwan_Grand_Shrine, and is written by contributors.
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