Formosan Alder - Ecological Knowledge and Sustainability (Personal Views on TaipeiTimes Article)

May 05, 2026

A Day in Mongolia
@ The Mongolian and Tibetan Cultural Center
(蒙藏文化中心) Taipei

A fabulous artwork featuring Mongolia ecology and society including Slash-and-burn farming, Forestry, Hide tanning, Shamanism, Deer hunting, Buddhism stone altar.

A few personal points of view about Michael Turton's informative and well-researched Taipeitimes article: "Notes from Central Taiwan: What the Japanese learned from indigenous farmers"

I. The cover photo should be about Mudan Incident and "The Japanese soldiers" should be Saigō Tsugumichi 西郷従道 and his troop. The indigenous should be Paiwan. Two Japanese commanders were identified in the photo.

(The 1871 Mudan Incident involved the killing of 54 Ryukyuan sailors by Paiwan people (specifically from Mudan and Kuskus villages) in southern Taiwan after a shipwreck, resulting in a Japanese punitive expedition in 1874. )

II. There are two Kada 賀田 - Kinzaburo Kada (賀田金三郎, 1857-1922) and his son-in-law Naoji Kada (賀田直治). Source HERE.

From Taiwan to Korea (page 12,13) HERE.

"Focusing once again solely on colonial Korea, the Kada Corporation faced challenges from the economic downturn after World War I. However, after Naoji Kada assumed the responsibility for overseeing all Korean operations, the company gradually regained its original performance levels. Under his leadership, the business adapted to the shifting economic environment, stabilizing and restoring its profitability over time. According to records, as of 1930, Kada Corporation’s operations in Korea were primarily concentrated in agriculture, mining, and forestry. The organization maintained a structure whereby it directly managed land while operating affiliated companies, to utilize the resources derived from these lands as raw materials. The close interconnections between affiliated companies facilitated a chain of profitability. This structure reflects Kada’s strategy for adapting his developmental experiences from colonial Taiwan to the specific conditions in Korea. It demonstrates the efforts to maintain profitability through a well-coordinated and resource-focused approach, tailored to the colonial context."

Naoji Kada studied and recorded forestry techniques (in this particular case Formosan Alder) and executed colonial administration's efforts to turn forests into profit-driven industries.

III. Slash-and -burn (and 出草 chū cǎo）

出草 chū cǎo in Taiwan - Origin is 'deer-hunt' 捕鹿 (番俗六考 1722） developed into 'head-hunt' probably sometimes in early 20th century.

Slash-and-burn is one of the deer-hunt methods. The two practices are related.

捕鹿 Deer-hunt is called 出草 chū cǎo (1722)

@Tamsui Prefecture 淡防

Slash-and-burn. Capture-deer. Mongolia

IV. Fallow and Crop Rotation

Formosan Alder indigenous ecological knowledge and tradition are detailed on 1930s The Bunun People book. I looked at it (and The Tsou) a few years ago and took some photos including these pages on Formosan Alder.

What I am thinking of is Fallow and Rotation - that Formosan Alder is used as one of the typical examples of such practice.

And because the reports was 1930s - are these examples of Japanese colonial administration into profit-driven industry followed by sustainable profitability management?

Japanese pioneered Highland Vegetables rotation and cultivation in Zhuzi lake. 竹子湖 see HERE.

V. Taro-field woman's back cover

Interesting. I in the meantime saw 種芋 (taro planting) - featuring taro-field woman wearing back-cover very similar to what I saw first in Palau (2019 @Palau Anthropology Museum where such woman and back-cover tradition is identified) and then recently in Lanyu at the underground house.

It appears back-cover gear for taro field woman farmers existed in 1722 鳳邑 Kaohsiung.