英文摘要 |
Dried bonito (katsuobushi) is one of the most colonial-style foods among Taiwan’s many processed aquatic products, dating from the Japanese colonial period. As the imperial gateway between Japan and Taiwan, the Taiwanese metropolitan area of Keelung not only developed a bonito fishery industry, but also diversified the industry by producing“sōda bonito”(frigate-tuna products) and“true bonito”(skipjack-tuna products), the latter being particularly prized in food circles. In this article, I use historical materials such as the Taiwan Daily News and colonial-era reports issued by the Governor-General’s Office of Taiwan to discuss changes in the Keelung bonito industry. I divide these changes into three historical periods: (1) from 1900 to 1910, the industry shifted from experimental production to prosperity; (2) in the 1920s, bonito fisheries and dried-bonito production companies reached their peak; and (3) since the 1930s, the bonito industry has generally shrunk, because of the economic downturn and the competition from the Nanyo (South Seas) bonito. In terms of regional distribution, both colonial Taiwan’s Japanese-run dried-bonito factories and the Japanese colonial governor’s bonito-manufacturing laboratory were set up in the fishing port Bachimen in greater Keelung, on Sheliao Island off the Keelung coast, and in nearby areas. In terms of processing technology, the core improvement in dried-bonito production centered on the technology used to‘degrease’(i.e., remove fat from) bonito products. In sum, this study traces the evolution of the skipjack industry in Keelung during and after the Japanese colonial period. |