Japanese Rule

Japan had sought to claim sovereignty over Taiwan (known to them as Takasago Koku) since 1592, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi undertook a policy of overseas expansion and extending Japanese influence southward, to the west, was invaded and an attempt to invade Taiwan and subsequent invasion attempts were to be unsuccessful due mainly to disease and attacks by aborigines on the island. In 1609, the Tokugawa Shogunate sent Harunobu Arima on an exploratory mission of the island. In 1616, Murayama Toan led an unsuccessful invasion of the island. The Mudan Incident of 1871 occurred when an Okinawan vessel shipwrecked on the southern tip of Taiwan and the crew of 54 were beheaded by Paiwan Aborigines. When Japan sought compensation from Qing China, the court rejected compensation on the account that they didn't have jurisdiction over the island. This was to lead to Japan testing the situation for colonizing the island and in 1874 an expedition force of 3,000 (or 2,000) troops were sent to the island, but were not able to take it. It was not until the defeat of the Chinese navy during the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894-95 for Japan to finally realize possession of Taiwan and the shifting of Asian dominance from China to Japan. The Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed on 17 April 1895, ceding Taiwan and Penghu over to Japan, which would rule the island for 50 years until its defeat in World War II.