Baytoe / 北投 / 北投

一月我去台北玩。下面的照片是監察院。很漂亮的巴羅克的建築，所以一看到就馬上猜是日治時代的。後來回家查看看發現原來就是。以前是台北廳（後來台北州）的廳舍。當時台北州抱括現在台北市及新北市。

I visited Baytoe, a community in the foothills near Taipei, on a trip up north back in January.  I actually had some business in Taipei first, so here I am passing through the central part of the city where a lot of the impressive government buildings are.  I believe this one is Taiwan's "Jyen Chah Yooen" (監察院).  It is one of the five branches of government in Taiwan.  Yes, you read that right.  Five.  Unlike most countries, which have three, Taiwan has five branches.  This branch is supposed to function as a watchdog on the rest of the government.  The building is a Japanese-era one, and it was originally the office for the government of Taipei-Cho, later known as Taipei-Shu (the area covering modern day Taipei and Shinbei cities).

一月に台北に行った。この建物は「監察院」だ。台湾行政機関の一つだ。元々日本時代には台北庁（のちに台北州）の庁舎だった。現在の監察院は他の行政機関を観察して、腐敗を調査する。

有事來這邊，走一走就注意到在我前面有台北101。

I had an errand in this area of the city, and as I walked down the street, all of a sudden I realized I was looking right at Taipei 101.

この辺に用事があって、気付いたら台北１０１が目の前だった！

去北投玩。北投在台北市東北的山麓。日治時代硫磺產業發展了，後來也變成一個溫泉娛樂地。這個建築是日治時代的。現在變成溫泉博物館。

Ok, so here we are in Baytoe (北投, also spelled "Beitou" and "Peitou").  Baytoe was developed by the Japanese government in order to mine its sulfur deposits, and later as a hot spring resort.  This building below is a refurbished bath house that was used in the Japanese period and is now a tourist attraction.

北投地区は台北の北東の山地にある。日本政府は硫黄を発出するためにここを開拓したが、後に温泉街としても発展していった。下の建物は元々日本の温泉で、今は温泉博物館になっている。

是北投的學生畫的。在博物館裡。

There was this cool chalk mural inside that was done by local students.

中には地元の学生が書いたチョークの絵があった。

浴池

Here's the main bath.

一番大きなプール

地面都是這樣的瓷磚。

Early 20th century tiles, very much like the ones you can still see in many "pre-war" apartment buildings in New York City.

地面は全部こういうタイルだった。

The bath floor.

Something happened.

再漂亮每天看到就會看膩了。

"Yeah, it's gorgeous and all, but I see it every day"  --the janitor.

毎日見た綺麗な景色だから、もう飽きた。

^^^^(In fairness, not an actual quotation.)

鳥出現

I saw one of these birds again.  I should remember the name--I've posted it on this blog before--but I can't remember off hand.

この鳥また見た。

撮了蠕蟲

It got a worm!

ミミズ獲った！

教會

A neat church in the area.

教会

到寺廟的樓梯

The stairs to a local temple.

お寺への階段

「普濟寺」。日式味道很濃厚。

Puji Temple.  A Buddhist temple from the Japanese era.  (Constructed in 1905)

このお寺は日本時代からあったものだ。１９０５年に建てた。

屋頂尤其是看得出來是日式的。

It has some rather Japanese architectural features to it.  The roof, the lack of loud colors, etc.

やっぱり日本っぽい建築。

Bell-shaped windows

年號是「昭和」

This is marked "Showa Year Six".  Showa was the Japanese imperial reign from 1926-1989.  (Though in Taiwan's case, it ended abruptly in 1945 when Japan functionally, though not officially, surrendered Taiwan to the Republic of China.)

「昭和六年」の年号が残っている。

這裡也是寫昭和。

Another Showa date.  Year 7, I think.

こっちは確か昭和七年。

The central part of the ceiling.  It's pretty cool.

本館の天井

圖書館前的中正銅像。

A bust of Sun Yat-sen in front of the Baytoe library.

北投図書館の前にあった孫文の銅像。

回台北了碰到一些蠻古老的建築。

I think I've returned to central Taipei here.  Some cool, old building.

台北の中心地に戻ってきて、古い建物見つけた！

正面依附東西建築的樣子就變不好了。這樣的很可惜的建築在台灣不少。

An example of what often happens to old buildings.  Someone has gone and stuck a bunch of nonsense to the facade, totally ruining the building's appearance.  Good job, dude.

古い建物の残念な例。変なものを正面に備え付けたせいで古跡の印象が薄くなってしまった。

柯P的照片在飲料機上。後面的歐吉桑是本人嗎！？

A drinking fountain featuring Taipei's mayor.  Also, you could almost swear that the guy sitting there is the mayor.

台北市長の写真が載っている水飲み機があって、たまたま後ろに写っているおっさんは後ろ姿がものすごく市長さんに似ている。本人かなと思うぐらい！

Cirrocumulus Clouds / うろこ雲 / 卷積雲

Colorful Election / 色鮮やかな選挙 / 豐富多彩之選舉

選舉之前的照片。廣告還非常多的時期。這個公園被選舉廣告旗環繞了！這麼多！

A couple of photos from before Taiwan's most recent elections when there were still posters up everywhere.  This entire block was covered with these flags!

この写真は最近の選挙以前のものだ。この時選挙広告などはまだたくさんあった。この公園は完全に選挙旗に囲まれていた！

Eternal Spring: Part Six / 永遠の春：第六巻 / 永遠之春天：己

還有一些恆春的照片想分享。

Just a handful of remaining photos from the Hungchwun area.  First some assorted scenery photos:

恆春の最後の写真。

有簡體字的意思就是，對中國觀光客提醒。

A notice not to litter, pointedly written in both real and simplified Chinese letters.  They use simplified letters in China, so we all know which tourists this sign is aimed at.

正体字と簡体字どちらもある看板はポイ捨てしない様に注意している。台湾は簡体字を使っていないが、中国は使っているので、これは明らかに中国観光客向け。

台灣島最南端

Some weird monument at the southernmost tip of the island of Taiwan.

台湾島最南端

The southernmost point

日治時代建立的紀念牌。是紀念牡丹社事件。

Up north a bit is this monument erected by the Japanese government.  The Japanese government's first foray into Taiwan was the 1874 Botan Incident.  This was actually a huge incident in the history of Japan, Taiwan, Qing Manchuria, and the Ryukyu Kingdom.  A shipload of people from one of the Ryukyu islands washed up on Taiwan and were attacked by local Paiwanese people.  Japan sued Manchuria over this, and because of how the Qing government responded, they de facto acknowledged Japanese rule over Ryukyu.  (They contested this interpretation, of course.)  Furthermore, the Qing responded that the actions of "uncivilized" tribes on the island were not their responsibility, thereby weakening their claim to be in control of the island.

The Japanese decided to solve the problem of the murdered sailors themselves and sent an invasion force.  They killed a bunch of Paiwanese people, but eventually pulled out before the thing blew up into a full-out war with Manchuria.  However, this incident did a lot to reveal the weakness of the Qing government, and gave the Japanese government confidence to eventually go to war with them in 1895 and receive the whole island of Taiwan as part of the peace negotiations.

１８７４年の牡丹事件の記念碑。これは日本政府が建てたものだけど、戦後の反日運動によって元々あった文字がなくなっている。（この写真は後ろ姿だけど、下に正面の写真もある。）この事件は日本、琉球、台湾、清朝の歴史に大きく関わっている。この事件によって琉球王国は完全に日本の支配下に入った。清朝の台湾に対する領土主張も弱くなって、日本は１８９５年に清朝と戦争する自信があったのはこの事件も関係しているだろう。そして１８９５年の日清戦争によると、台湾が日本の植民地になった。

The letters have, of course, been changed.  Like many Japanese-era monuments, this one did not survive the post-war anti-Japanese movement untouched.

原本的字沒有了。應該是戰後反日運動的結果。

台上以前好像有東西可是我不知道什麼東西。

There was something here originally.  It was probably put up by the Japanese government and was therefore torn down by the Chinese Nationalist government when they took over Taiwan.

この台の上に何かあっただろう。

四周美麗

The surrounding countryside.

周辺の様子