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  • Hello everyone

  • Today let’s talk a little about

  • Taiwanese who fought as soldiers in the name of Empire of Japan

  • Ahem

  • Here we go

  • In 1937

  • Because of Lugouqiao Incident

  • China and Japan went head-to-head

  • Japan began the Army Special Volunteers Act in the next year

  • enlisting Koreans to join Armed Forces of the Empire of Janpan

  • But, Japan hesitated on performing the same act on those Taiwanese

  • who belong to the same ethnic group as Chinese

  • So Japan only enlisted some servicemen in Taiwan at the beginning

  • who were banned from serving in the military

  • they only served as farmers to grow food in Shanghai

  • Under the impact of Japanese rule for decades and Kominka Movement

  • many Taiwanese had craved for the opportunity to prove that

  • they were not second-class citizens

  • that even though Taiwanese and Japanese don't share the same ethnicity

  • Taiwanese were still loyal to Japan

  • and thus can devote their heart and soul for the Empire

  • Therefore Taiwanese were demanding to join the military

  • You can go back to episode four to see more details about this phenomenon

  • Until 1942

  • Japan finally began the Army Special Volunteers Act in Taiwan

  • Taiwanese therefore can be soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army

  • Beating other countries up with Japan

  • Or be beaten

  • There were four hundred twenty thousand people

  • fighting for one thousand posts in the military at that time which was quite amazing

  • But before launching the Army Special Volunteers Act

  • Japanese already knew how good Taiwan Indigenous Peoples are

  • They were more physically capable of operating in the tropical and sub-tropical regions

  • and coming from a hunter-gatherer culture, would be able to operate with minimal logistics support

  • So there came The Takasago Volunteer Army

  • Attun Palalin was a Taiwanese Imperial Japan Serviceman

  • He was enlisted into the Takasago Volunteer Army and sent to Indonesia at the age of 23

  • Also, he changed his name into Teruo Nakamura due to Kominka Movement

  • After losing contact with the army

  • he hid himself in the jungle and led a life like Robinson Crusoe

  • Not until 1974 did the local villagers found him

  • The whole world was shocked by the fact that Nakamura not only survived

  • But also lived alone in the jungle of Indonesia for thirty years

  • Nakamura didn’t even know that WWII was over

  • Since a lost Japanese Imperial soldier for so many years was found

  • Japanese Government should have been proud and happy for him

  • and publish a Japanese version of Robinson Crusoe of Nakamura’s survival in Indonesia

  • A series for 20 books and publish a Japanese version of Robinson Crusoe of Nakamura’s survival in Indonesia

  • A series for 20 books

  • and DVD for free

  • However, Japanese Government was quite behind the eight ball

  • Cause even though Nakamura was a Japanese Imperial soldier, he is not a Japanese

  • but a Taiwan indigenous people

  • The young man who was enlisted into the Takasago Volunteer Army

  • Should he be sent back to his birthplace Taiwan, but is no longer under Japanese rule

  • Or, should he be sent back to Japan, the country he fought for but not his birthplace

  • Where should he be

  • In 1975

  • Attun Palalin decided to go back to his own homeland, Taiwan

  • He received nationwide welcoming for his returning

  • but his wife was remarried and his child had already become a parent

  • And the R.O.C. government of Taiwan

  • gave another name for him, which is

  • Lee Guang-Hui

  • After the chatty talk

  • those veterans who had sacrificed themselves for the Empire of Japan

  • were put to face a brand new R.O.C. government

  • The place once under Japanese rule no longer existed

  • They once fought against the R.O.C.

  • but now they are part of the R.O.C.

  • Switching identity is difficult for them

  • Just like Attun Palalin

  • who once survived in a jungle alone for thirty years

  • who had overcame all sort of injures and diseases

  • After he was sent back to Taiwan

  • he was not happy at all

  • Attun Palalin, Teruo Nakamura or Lee Guang-Hui

  • he had no idea what one was his true self

  • Shortly in four years

  • he dead in the land where he was born but not familiar with anymore

  • Taiwanese Imperial Japan veterans

  • Abandoned in the gray zone

  • Are they capable of letting go the past

  • And are they capable of accepting the new identity?

  • Okay, the story for today ends here

  • bye Okay, the story for today ends here

  • bye

Hello everyone

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