Baakasan Shinto Shrine

Established in either 1912 or December 1923 (sources disagree), this was a small Shinto shrine serving the Danan settlement (大湳部落) in Penglai Village (蓬萊村) in the mountains of Miaoli. Yoshino cherry trees (吉野櫻) lined the grounds, seven stone lanterns flanked the torii, and spring and autumn festivals were held with accompanying sumo matches. When news of Japan’s defeat reached the village, soldiers and residents together burned down the hinoki main hall. The precise location is unclear, and today the area is still marked on maps as Shenshe (神社), literally “shinto shrine”; accounts disagree on whether a stone base of the main hall survives on the ridge above the settlement. Presumably known as Baakasan-sha in the original Japanese, sometimes with some variation in the characters used (大南祠).