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The Development of Taiwan and Hatta Yoichi

When Taiwan came under Japanese control, the Jianan Plain accounted for one-sixth of the arable land on the island, but it was in a terrible state. It might as well have been a wasteland, since it was flooded during the rainy season, and parched in the dry season.

Hatta Yoichi (1886-1942), a native of Ishikawa Prefecture, was assigned to the Taiwan Government-General after earning a degree in civil engineering at Tokyo Imperial University.

Once there, he surveyed the Jianan Plain and submitted plans for the construction of a dam that would retain the upper reaches of a river that ran through the plain, and an irrigation facility that would provide a reliable supply of water.

The actual construction work was fraught with difficulty. One day there was a gas explosion that killed more than 50 people. The grief-stricken Hatta remarked, “Now nobody will follow my instructions.” But it was the Taiwanese people who comforted him, saying, “It wasn’t your fault. It was an accident. You’re risking your life, for us, for Taiwan.”

By 1930, the Jianan Plain had been transformed into a green oasis. It had taken 10 years to make Hatta’s brainchild — one of the most ambitious projects of the century — a reality. The U.S.-based Society of Civil Engineers called it the Hatta Dam, and introduced his engineering miracle to the rest of the world.

　

Draw from: New History Textbook, (Chapter 4 & 5), 2005 version.

May, 2005

Prepared and translated by Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform

from Atarashii Rekishi Kyokasho (2005 version) published by Fusosha, Tokyo

P. 35