The Empire of Japan maintained control over Taiwan from 1895, when China ceded it in accordance with the Treaty of Shimonoseki until 1945, following Japanese surrender in World War II.
The legacy of Japanese colonialism on Taiwan is highly polarising. Taiwan served as a model colony for a Japan eager to assert itself as a major power. To that end, they initiated several infrastructure development projects, constructing roads, railways, harbours, dams and an electric power grid, standardised currencies and units of measurements, established banking and telephone systems, as well as public healthcare and education systems. A few young Taiwanese were even granted the privilege to attend universities in Japan.
Nominal democratic reforms began in the 1930s, when the colonial administration allowed for Taiwanese to elect some members of local advisory bodies it had set up a decade earlier. These elections, while mostly symbolic, still often saw turnouts of over 96%.
Nevertheless, the Japanese ruthlessly maintained law and order and fiercely repressed opposition. Taiwanese were treated as second-class citizens by their Japanese overlords and had to endure systemic discrimination. Japanese colonial policy reflected their intent to assimilate and "Japanize" the local population, which became increasingly important as Japan invaded China in the 1930s.
