週邊景點

The 1930s signified the start of Taiwan's entry into modern civilization, which was ushered in with the opening of Hayashi Department Store.

On December 5, 1932, Hayashi Department Store was inaugurated, ushering in Taiwan's modern era.

The 1930s were a transformative period for Taiwan,

where electricity, telephones, tap water, airplanes, and automobiles were introduced.

Cafés became popular, as did pop culture, movies, phonographs, and jazz music.

Social attitudes also changed, with open advocacy for love marriages, Western clothing replacing traditional attire, and Western education becoming more widespread. This is Taiwan in the 1930s.

In 1932, Columbia Records released the theme song for the Taiwanese film "Peach Blossom Weeps Tears of Blood."

In 1933, Deng Yu-Xian's "Dancing Era" introduced Taiwan's first pop music singer, Chun Chun (born Liu Qing-Xiang, 1914-1943). Deng Yu-Xian also wrote classic Taiwanese songs like "Wang Chun Feng," "Rainy Night Flower," and "Moon Night Sorrow."

With the outbreak of the Pacific War, Taiwan's era of dance and music came to an end.

Hayashi Department Store also concluded its brief but brilliant existence in Tainan.

[Hayashi Department Store founder Lin Fangyi]

The founder of Hayashi Department Store, commonly called the five-story building in Tainan, Lin Fangyi was born on December 6, 1883, in a mountain village in Japan's Yamaguchi Prefecture.

Orphaned at a young age, he was raised by his uncle and aunt, who subsequently passed away, leaving him and his siblings to fend for themselves.

At 19, in 1902, he left home to make a living and joined the Sanyo Railway Company. Six years later, he left to start his own transport business.  At a young age, Lin Fangyi closed his company in April, 1912 and came to Tainan to make his mark. He initially set up a traditional Chinese clothing store as the accountant and gradually gained an understanding of the market. Coupled with Lin Fangyi's keen business acumen and skills, eight years after working at the traditional clothing store, he was able to start his own small shop with the support of Mabang De Cilang, who provided a residence at 1-2 Omiya-cho (currently opposite to the Quanmei Theater on the corner). Later, he successively opened two more stores, earning his initial wealth. Subsequently, he invested in four other companies, accumulating the capital he needed to establish Hayashi Department Store. On December 5, 1932, Hayashi Department Store officially opened, just days after the Taipei-based Kikumoto Department Store, making it Taiwan's second major department store and the largest modern department store in southern Taiwan.  Sadly, Lin Fangyi fell ill before the store's opening and passed away in Taipei on December 10, 1932.

In early January 2013, Lin Fangyi's daughter-in-law Lin Chien-Hui and her family visited Taiwan from Japan to tour Hayashi Department Store, marking the first time in 80 years that Lin Fangyi's descendants had set foot in the establishment.

Hayashi Department Store Lin Fangyi Family Photo

Lin Fangyi and his wife Lin Toshi (originally named Kodera Toshi) have four sons: Lin Ichiro, Lin Jiro, Lin Saburo, and Kodera Shigeru.  The image on the right is a family portrait of Lin Fangyi.

1945-2013, Post-War Dark Years

After the end of the Pacific War in 1945, Hayashi Department Store, located near the city center, was affected by U.S. bombings. In the subsequent years after the Kuomintang came to Taiwan, the building was shared by Taiwan Salt Corporation and "Salt Police" as their office. The rooftop served as an air raid shelter. In 1977, after the salt tax was abolished, the building was mostly used by Taiwan Salt. The office was later moved to its current location on Jiankang Road.  In 1998, Hayashi Department Store was designated as a city monument, and the property was owned by the city government. Restoration was completed in 2013.

2013 New Beginnings

In 2013, after the restoration of Hayashi Department Store was complete, Tainan's Cultural Affairs Bureau initiated a public selection for its operations. Eventually, Gao Qing Fashion Co., Ltd. was granted the right to operate. 81 years later, Hayashi Department Store was reborn as a cultural and creative department store in Tainan, representing a new era for the city and its residents.

Data sourced from Hayashi Department Store.