In the history of Japan, Taiwan and Taiwanese aborigines, and even World War II, *Takasago has its own historical position. There are accounts about it in history, anthropology, ethnology, political science and sociology researches, but the term itself in this production does not represent any character, yet at the same time, it is every character!

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Dressed in white costumes, the dancers move their joints unchanging and rigid movements, expressionless, like the souls of Taiwan aboriginal youths who couldn’t decide their future at the end of World War II. In a split second, they are transformed into red beings, their movements are orderly and uniform yet twisted, more like puppets manipulated by state apparatus in historical times.

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* Takasago Volunteers were volunteer soldiers in the Imperial Japanese Army, recruited from the Taiwanese aboriginal tribes during World War II.

 

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Critic Reviews

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| Taiwan premiere |

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Source | Preface from Takasago program
Author | Chih-Fang Chao

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As they pay homage to the Takasago volunteer soldiers who had sacrificed themselves in this complicated history, what kind of burden do the aborigines have to carry? What interests me is Kuo-Shin’s use of "Teru's Song" that's composed by the son of Miyazaki Hayao, Gorō Miyazaki, as the theme music. Is this another way of declaring his stand on the colonists in the past? I think there ought to be another viewpoint. From the lyrics, a solitary shadow jumps out, taking over the overly proud historical attitude of a soldier. In the usually aggressive binary opposition of Taiwan and Japan, colonists and natives, etc. in the interpretation of history, such an arrangement presents a more superior viewpoint.