Flying Tiger General Temple

Date CapturedApril 4th, 2021 at 09:08 UTCCameraNIKON D3400LensAF-P DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR or AF-P DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6GApertureƒ / 5.6Shutter Speed1/125 secFocal Length18.0 mmISO100Exposure Value11.9 EVOriginal Size3600 × 2400

Officially known as Chen-an Temple (鎮安堂), this unusual temple venerates Sugiura Shigemine (杉浦茂峰), a 21-year-old Japanese navy pilot shot down over Tainan on October 12th, 1944. According to legend he is said to have steered his stricken Mitsubishi A6M Zero away from the houses below before crashing in a nearby field. In the post-war era his ghost haunted the rice paddies and he appeared in the dreams of local people until a small shrine was built, seemingly in secret. The current temple was built in 1993 after the original shrine became a popular spot for divination during the lottery crazy of the late 1980s. Inside the temple are idols of the late Japanese pilot and Imperial Japanese regalia. In 2015 a Japanese-style palanquin built for the deity in Shizuoka was brought across to the temple.