List of Shinto shrines in Taiwan

On June 17, 1895[1] (Meiji 28), Taiwan came under the rule of the Empire of Japan. In the following year on December 3, 1896,[2] the first Shinto shrine was created in Taiwan. This was actually an already existing Koxinga Shrine located in Tainan but renamed Kaizan Shrine (開山神社).

Taiwan Grand Shrine was the most notable Shinto shrine in Taiwan. It was destroyed by conflagration in 1944 when a cargo plane crashed in its vicinity. Today the Grand Hotel stands in its place.

Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa.

Gaoshi Shrine

Since then, Shinto shrines were built in the major cities between the Meiji and Taishō period, while the majority of Shinto shrines in Taiwan were built from the late 1930s until Japan's defeat in World War II. In total, 204 shrines were built in Taiwan–66 of which were officially sanctioned by the Japanese Empire.[3]

Although many shrines in the exterior territories (外地, gaichi) such as Hokkaidō had enshrined deities (祭神, Saijin) such as the Three Kami Deities of Cultivation (開拓三神, Kaitaku Sanjin) which consisted of Ōkunitama no Mikoto (大国魂命), Ōnamuchi no Mikoto (大己貴命) and Sukunahikona no Mikoto (少彦名命); the Sun Goddess Amaterasu; Meiji Emperor etc., in Taiwan, most shrines had Prince Yoshihisa as a Saijin. Prince Yoshihisa was sent to Taiwan to subjugate the anti-Japanese rebellion but fell ill and died from malaria in Tainan in 1895. This fate was so similar to that of the legendary Prince Yamato Takeru that Prince Yoshihisa was made a tutelary deity (鎮護の神, chingo no kami) of Taiwan. In 1901 (Meiji 34), the Taiwan Shrine (later Taiwan Grand Shrine) was built and Prince Yoshihisa along with the Three Kami Deities of Cultivation were enshrined. Amaterasu was later included in the shrine. The shrines in Taiwan followed in its lead and Prince Yoshihisa became a Saijin in most shrines throughout Taiwan. Furthermore, in Tainan, the place of Prince Yoshihisa's demise, the Tainan Shrine was built.

After Japan's defeat in World War II, the shrines were either abandoned, destroyed or converted into Chinese Martyr Shrines. In 2015, Gaoshi Shrine was reconstructed and became the first Shinto shrine built in Taiwan after World War II.