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An ink painting from 1894 by Migita Toshihide of a battle scene from the first Sino-Japanese War.
Between 1894 and 1895, the Japanese fought the Chinese in the first Sino-Japanese War and came out victorious. The war established Japan as a powerful force on the world stage and gave Japan control of Taiwan, which lasted until 1945. During the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, Taiwanese people became highly influenced by and involved in Japanese culture.
"They had a fondness for the Japanese in a way that I think a lot of Chinese people don't"
Veronica's maternal grandparents fit into this history. Their family was Taiwanese through and through; they even told their daughter, Veronica's mother, never to marry someone whose family was from mainland China--which she later ignored. However, they also assimilated to Japanese cultural traditions and media during the occupation. They grew up speaking Japanese fluently and never traveled to mainland China except for a few years ago when they visited for the first time. There were certainly hardships of this occupation that Veronica's maternal family was fortunate enough not to experience.
Leading up to the civil war, in 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria, the northeastern most part of China, and attempted to take control of more of the mainland. At this time, Veronica's paternal grandfather served in the military for Taiwan on the side of Japan. He worked later as a one of the first tour guides in Taiwan welcoming Japanese tourists from Japan and became very good at it. Even to this day, this side of her family continues to find comfort in watching TV shows and reading books in Japanese.
Veronica's mother grew up with her two brothers and her parents, both elementary school teachers, and received a good education there.
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