Shinto in Taiwan

The Taiwanese were encouraged to adopt the religion in 1937 as the Empire of Japan began to intensify its expansionist policy in China and used Taiwan as its base into southeast Asia.

Of the Taiwanese who lost their lives fighting for the Japanese Emperor until the Empire's defeat in 1945, a total of 27,863 are recorded in the Book of Souls and enshrined as eirei (英霊, spirits of fallen soldiers) in Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan.

Between 1919 and 1936, the colonial government in Taiwan began compulsory education of Taiwanese and emphasized cultural assimilation.

The Japanese sought to convert the aborigines by promoting the story of Sayon as a patriotic Taiwanese.

In 1932, Crown Prince Hirohito (later Shōwa Emperor) visited Taiwan on a tour to celebrate his inauguration as regent.