Bad Manners & Book Crimes: How an American Op-Ed Sparked Taiwan’s Self-Awareness Movement – S5-E15
In 1963, a 32-year-old American grad student in Taipei wrote a newspaper editorial complaining that Taiwanese people were great at treating friends kindly, but kind of awful in public. Within days, he had unintentionally launched a nationwide student movement for civility, morality, and self-awareness. But this student-led push for better manners would also lead to arrests, prison time, and even psychiatric detention.In this episode, we tell the strange true story of the “Self-Awareness Movement,” how it exploded from one opinion piece, and explain how it contributed (or didn’t) to Taiwan’s public behavior transformation. Listen as we go from the sharp-elbowed chaos at bank counters and bus stops of the 1960s to today’s orderly lines and the quiet pride of the MRT.SHOW NOTES, TRANSCRIPTS, pics, links, and more at formosafiles.com
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30:21
EXTRA FOR HARDCORE LISTENERS! Hear the entire story of Japanese doctor Takagi Tamoe in this unedited, 27-minute version
For those of you who want more specific info, here is the entire conversation John Ross enjoyed with Dr. Jimmy Lee on the remarkable life of Dr. Takagi Tomoe, one of colonial Taiwan’s most influential figures.
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27:20
Takagi Tomoe: The Japanese Doctor Who Devoted Himself to Taiwan – S5-E14
In 1902, Dr. Takagi Tomoe arrived in newly-colonized Japanese Formosa as a seasoned Japanese medical expert sent here to battle bubonic plague – one of the many tropical sicknesses that killed thousands of local people each year. Takagi had a rare sense of empathy. Unlike many of his peers, he encouraged local students to attend his medical school (even letting them speak Taiwanese). This brilliant Japanese and German-trained doctor helped create Taiwan’s medical system – and also, in an unexpected twist, Takagi was tasked with managing the company that’s today known as Taipower. In this largely forgotten story, Taipei physician Dr. Jimmy Lee joins John Ross to tell the story of how Dr. Takagi became one of colonial Taiwan’s most influential figures.
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21:01
1962: Taiwan’s Bloody Year You’ve Never Heard Of -S5-E13
PLEASE NOTE: Formosa Files 中文版 has a new, separate feed. Hear it HERE, or on our website. Thanks! This week, Formosa Files digs into two wild and almost totally forgotten killings from Taiwan’s Cold War years. First up: a soldier named Li Wei, a former POW, sets his army barracks on fire in the middle of the night and opens fire on his fellow soldiers. The whole thing gets swept under the rug. No local news coverage. It’s been basically erased from memory.Then there’s Taiwan’s deadliest school shooting: the Lixing High School Massacre. A fired sports coach shows up at school with a pistol and a grudge. He kills the principal, teachers, and even goes after the principal’s family. This one made the headlines at the time, but somehow, almost nobody talks about it today.Both happened in 1962, when Taiwan was still under martial law and the government kept a very tight lid on the media. With help from researcher and Formosa Files Chinese version co-host Eric Hsu, we dug through old court records and tracked down as much truth as we could find.
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28:17
Chinese and Taiwanese Names… Too Many Names! – S5-E12
Your name carries history, identity, and sometimes in Taiwan, salmon? In this episode, we explore Taiwanese/Chinese naming traditions: family names, generational names, courtesy names, and how colonization, politics, and even sushi promotions have shaped them. From the chaos of post-war name changes to the viral “Salmon Naming Incident” of 2021, join Formosa Files for a fascinating and funny audio journey into what our names say about us.It's worth checking out our WEBSITE as that's where you'll find show notes, transcripts, photos, images, info, links and more.
Now streaming season five, the world's biggest and highest-rated Taiwan history podcast, Formosa Files, releases ENGLISH episodes every THURSDAY, as well as one short CHINESE episode on WEDNESDAYS. Formosa Files: The Taiwan History Podcast uses an engaging storytelling format and is non-chronological, meaning every week is a new adventure. John Ross is an author and publisher of works on Taiwan and China, while Eryk Michael Smith is a writer and journalist for local and global media outlets. Both hosts have lived in Taiwan for decades and call the island home.
Email: formosafiles@gmail.com
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