Asano Cement Plant

The former Asano Cement Plant stands at the foot of Shoushan (壽山) in Gushan, Kaohsiung. It was the first modern industrial-scale cement works in Taiwan and helped lay the foundation of Kaohsiung’s growth as an industrial city. Asano Cement (浅野セメント) chose the site for its access to the abundant raised coral-reef limestone outcrops on Shoushan, securing a mining concession in 1913 and completing the plant between 1915 and 1917, linked by canal and rail to the rapidly developing port. Three red-brick lime kilns survive from a set of seven built around 1918 to convert the plant to a new firing method; the other four collapsed under Allied bombing in World War 2. In the post-war era the plant was absorbed into Taiwan Cement (台灣水泥) in 1946 and privatized in 1954, operating until its mining rights expired in 1992 and cement production ceased in 1994. The surviving brick warehouse and lime kilns were registered as historic buildings in 2020.