No matter how strong the wind was, I was going to visit Peace Island, which was called Sharyoujima under the Japanese reign. Lots of Okinawan fishermen are said to have lived on the island in those days. Its terrain was like yěliǔ dìzhì gōngyuán at which we looked during the last trip to Taiwan.I viewed the raging ocean from the tip of the island and the scene reminded me of the last night's pitching and rolling of the ship. If an old fishery boat like one which was made in the early times of the Meiji Era faced such furious waves, it would never survive the storm. Four or five dozen fishermen were actually washed up on the island due to a violent storm early in the Meiji Era. They weren't able to communicate with local inhabitants and most of them ended up being killed by the natives. The Meiji Government came to dispatch Japanese soldiers to Taiwan in the wake of this incident. It was the first military dispatch to an overseas country for modern Japan.
I put my hands together for victims in front of their monument and felt the difference between Taiwan and China. Chinese people would never build such a sincere monument but a simple signboard with a fake description. On the way to the next spot, the driver pulled over abruptly at a tiny fishery port called zhèngbīn yúgǎng, which was apparently one of the picture spots. Now that he mentioned it, the port had a little European feel.
(Vocabulary)
hépíngdǎo 和平島
yěliǔ dìzhì gōngyuán 野柳地質公園
zhèngbīn yúgǎng 正濱漁港
雨風がひどいのだが、どうしても訪れたい場所があった。和平島だ。戦前は社寮島と呼ばれていた島である。沖縄の漁民が大勢暮らしていたとされる。前回の台湾旅行で行った野柳地質公園に似た地形が似ていた。荒れた海を見た。昨夜の揺れを思い出した。これでは明治初期の漁船では遭難するだろう。ここへ流れ着いた宮古島住人を地元民が虐殺した事件があった。言葉の通じない時代のことだ。明治政府が初めて海外に派兵した事件はここから起こった。
琉球漁民慰霊碑に手を合わせた。やはり台湾は違うなと感じた。支那だったらこんな慰霊碑は絶対に作らないだろう。帰りに正濱漁港で記念撮影。観光スポットだという。少しヨーロッパの雰囲気があるかも。
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