The rise of Japan as THE international power for trends is undisputed (at least in our minds!), and we reconfirm this every day in our work here at CScout Japan. We are, however, often surprised by the extent that the culture moves outside of Japan and into the world, even if it’s not so far away.
During a trendscouting trip to Taiwan last week we discovered one major theme of the culture: Taiwan loves Japan. A lot. In fact, Taipei is the perfect mix of Japan and mainland China in atmosphere, attitudes, and lifestyle. This may have a lot to do with the former occupation of Taiwan by Japan, but people in Taipei are catching on to Japanese trends much faster than we ever expected.
Sure, the mainland has purikura, but it’s with very old Japanese machines, but Taipei’s selection was the same you’d see at any game center here in Tokyo. From the clean and well-stocked convenience stores on every corner to the hairstyles on the young and trendy, Taiwan has adopted many aspects of modern Japanese culture and integrated them into daily life.
In Ximen, Taipei’s version of Shibuya mixed with Harajuku, we had several moments where we weren’t sure exactly what country we were in. It’s still Taiwan, of course, but the distinct Japanese flavor is strong. Taiwanese have also adopted a good amount of Japanese words into their vocabulary, including older words from the occupation times, but also more modern usages such as baka (idiot) and kawaii (cute). Needless to say, we were delighted to see that they not only pick up on Japanese trends quickly, but do it well. Case in point: Black over-knee socks which were everywhere.
We were only in Taiwan for a few days, so we must have missed a million more examples of this modern cultural crossover. If you have any more good examples of this in Taiwan or anywhere else we’d love to hear about them!
Michael is the Editor of JapanTrends.com and Director of the 
Dude…be original,this has got nothing to do with the former occupation of taiwan by japan.Anime,manga and j-pop are the culprits.I use to love Asia for the fact that many people believe all asians are alike due to physical similarities,but they were so different culturally AND linguistically,but not anymore.If Taiwan doesn’t gain some originality,im afraid it will become another prefecture
To be fair, the Japanese words they use like “ojiisan” and “obaasan” most certainly came from the occupation and were passed down through old people. “Baka” and “kawaii”? Likely recent imports, at least for kawaii.
i’m Taiwanese/American and i kinda like this trend…its way better than chinese communist dominance…besides Japan was nicer to us in WWII than to Korea, China, and all the other countries it abused
(regarding comment above) BUT, Korea and China resisted Japan’s invasion, whereas Taiwan welcomed it and didn’t fight back. Korea and China could easily be in the same situation as the Japan-Taiwan relationship, but they put their national sovereignty and their independence ahead of Japan’s influence.
(regarding comment above) Taiwan didn’t have a chance to fight back. In the Sino-Japanese war, China gave Taiwan to Japan, and all the people who resisted were killed. This trend is mostly the results of the interest of Taiwanese in the technology, fashion, and ideas of the Japanese.
very good!!!I, maybe, will go to Japan when I will be
18. I am with very, very…from you!!!
Hi! I just happened to stop by your website and find what you have to say very accurate. I just spent the last ten months in Taiwan for an exchange program. I’d never been to any other country in Asia, but after returning home to the u.s. I did more research about the cultural crossovers and it is HUGE! Yes, in all fairness, Taiwan is still in a fight to find it’s own independence and what is the very fine originality, but it’s still interesting to see the influence of many cultures in one country that you wouldn’t expect to see it in! :)
Lived in Taiwan for 4 1/2 years; I think it has plenty to do with the Japanese occupation of Taiwan AND recent importing of culture due to recent worldwide attention on their culture. My ex-boyfriend from Taiwan said he ‘does not like Japan’ but his favorite band is a J-pop band, he likes learning Japanese and wants to study abroad there, he likes Japanese food, and the list goes on. I think the Taiwanese feel like they had first dibbs on the Japanese culture craze.
Taiwan is Japan’s little doggie.
It’s funny that the majority of Taiwanese do not like China (I guess the thousand missiles pointed at Taiwan have something to do with that) yet they adore Japan. I live in the U.S. and have met many half Taiwanese half Japanese people. There are also pure Taiwanese that have family in Japan. I have also met many Japanese here that have visited Taiwan at least once.
Korea and China fought back because they were invaded by Japan. Taiwan was signed over to Japan in a treaty so it wasn’t actually invaded now was it?
Well, technically Taiwan was China back then in the sense that the ROC when the ROC controlled mainland and Taiwan but that all ended when the Communist fought the ROC and won and the ROC was forced to flee to Taiwan. My grandmother lived in Taiwan during the time Japan was in control and only had good things to say about it and even married a Japanese man, my grandfather. I love both the Taiwanese culture and the Japanese culture.