Beitou Kaikosha

Date CapturedApril 9th, 2026 at 08:54 UTCCameraDC-S5M2LensLUMIX S 20-60mm F3.5-5.6Apertureƒ / 3.8Shutter Speed1/60 secFocal Length25.0 mmISO100Exposure Value9.8 EVOriginal Size3600 × 2400

A modest wooden building on Wenquan Road (溫泉路) originally serving as a kaikōsha (偕行社), or officers’ club, for the Japanese military in Beitou, Taipei. In the post-war era it was repurposed for use as the headquarters of the Baituan (白團), literally “white group”, a clandestine team of former Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) officers secretly employed by Chiang Kai-shek to train KMT military personnel. The group was smuggled into Taiwan via Hong Kong in 1949 and operated under Chinese aliases; its leader, former Major General Tomita Naosuke (富田直亮), took the name Bái Hóngliàng (白鴻亮) and lived in this building until his death in 1979. At least 10,000 soldiers trained under the group’s guidance before it was officially disbanded in 1959 under American pressure, though limited operations continued for years after. The building is now privately owned.