I've been to Taiwan twice, but the area which I walked around was limited to the northern district. I will visit several cities in the south some day.
I'll write about the big city of Gaoxiong in southern Taiwan first. This city is now one of the principal cities in Taiwan, but it was only a tiny fishery village when Japan received it from the Qing dynasty of China in 1895. Its name was something which had the meaning of "beat the dog" at that time. The Japanese government viewed the name as an unpalatable fixture of its culture and changed its name into Gaoxiong, which was cited from the historic place of Kyoto and they took it into consideration that its pronunciation in their local language didn't change that much on the flip side. The port of this city used to be a crucial naval base of the Japanese Imperial Navy and now it has the same function as the Taiwanese Navy's base.
Japan ruled not only Taiwan, but also Korea and the islands of Micronesia for about 30 to 50 years, but Japan's governance was far different from that of general colonies. Japan spent a significant amount of money on those countries as well as Japan built various infrastructures, provided education to local people and improved hygiene. Given the name of Gaoxiong City, you'll know Japan's policy. Let me give you some examples: Lake Victoria, Port Elizabeth, Rhodesia, the Philippines,,. These were named by the ruler or like that, ignoring the local people.
When Japan was founded in 660 B.C., the 1st Ten-noh declared his policy, among which he wished for the well-being of all people on the globe. An idea flashed across my mind. Problems of refugees might be a kind of punitive justice to the former suzerains. Refugees are heading to the countries where their relatives live or they can communicate with their languages.
(Vocabulary)
Qing tʃɪŋ dynasty 清朝（１６４４－１９１２）
punitive justice 因果応報
suzerain 宗主国
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