Kaohsiung Museum of History and the Japanese Railway Museum will display display together the "Trans-oceanic Railway Technology - Railway Museum Exchange Exhibition" focusing on the history of modernization of Taiwan and Japan in the Meiji era through railway construction. The exhibition will be held from July 18, 2019 to June 30, 2020.
This exhibition has two major themes, namely, "The introduction Railway Technology in the Meiji’s Japan” and "From Japan to Taiwan: Reproduction of Railway Technology", explaining the construction of the first railway lines in Japan and Taiwan: "Xinqiao-Yokohama" (opened in 1872) and the story of the birth of Keelung-Takao (opened in 1908).
Wang Yufeng, the director of the Kaohsiung Museum of History, said that, last year, thanks to the "International Forum on the 110th Anniversary of Kaohsiung Building in Hong Kong", it was fortunate to invite representatives of the Railway Museum in Saitama to attend the conference about the construction of the railway, getting an opportunity for the present cooperation. He looks forward to a closer cooperation in the future.
The Railway Museum in Saitama has agreed to lend “the first measuring instrument used in railway construction", "the earliest railroad track in Japan - the 1870 railroad track of Darlington, UK", "the first model of locomotive", and the "Napoleon locomotive model". Besides these four precious historic relics, they has also lent countless photos and pictures for this exhibition. In particular, the "the first model of locomotive" is a treasure of the Railway Museum and the town of Saitama.
The Kaohsiung Museum of History also presented the deluxe book "Genuine photos from Taiwan" published by the Taiwan Governor's Office in 1908, as well as invitations for the opening ceremony of the railway line, a Taiwan's island map, train schedules and other precious cultural relics. What a rich exhibition, friends who like the railway, don't miss it!
