The "modern" newsprint era in Taiwan was ushered in by the Japanese. Using moveable lead-type printing equipment brought from Japan, Taiwan shimpō 臺灣新報 (Taiwan News) was launched in Taiwan in June 1896, marking the arrival of the first "modern" newspaper on the island.1 In the first period of their colonial rule, the Japanese monopolized the operation of newspapers in Taiwan. It was not until 1920 that Taiwanese publications expressing resistance to colonization began to appear. The first journal in Taiwanese history, Taiwan seinen 臺灣青年 (Taiwan Youth), was established by overseas students in Tokyo and published bilingually. Despite its limited circulation, Taiwan seinen evolved into Taiwan minpō 臺灣民報 (Taiwan People's Journal), published in vernacular Chinese in Tokyo, in 1923. Taiwan People's Journal played a valuable role in introducing new ideas to Taiwan. Its articles usually reflected the public opinion of the Taiwanese population, and it was thus hailed as "the only mouthpiece for Taiwanese."2 Regarding it a thorn in their flesh, the Japanese colonizers prevented the distribution of several issues of the journal and prohibited its direct production in Taiwan. On the condition that it increased the number of its Japanese-language columns, the Taiwan Government-General finally allowed the journal to be published in Taiwan in 1927.
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