A leaseholder in Dormitory Art Park in Tainan surnamed Hsieh (謝) found a marble head under the wooden floor of his rental that some officials believe might depict Gentaro Kodama, a governor-general of Taiwan during the Japanese colonial period.
Kodama served as the fourth governor-general of Taiwan from 1898 to 1906, and the Japanese government believed he made a great contribution to the then-Japanese colony, along with his head of civilian affairs, Shinpei Goto.
Kodama was also a leading military figure in the Russo-Japanese War.
Photo: Wang Chieh, Taipei Times
Taiwanese political leaders and businesspeople led by Koo Hsien-jung (辜顯榮) in 1907 launched a fundraising campaign to erect statues of Kodama and Goto in Taipei — which the Japanese called Taihoku — Taichung (Taichu) and Tainan.
Tainan Cultural Property Protection Association chairman Tseng Kuo-dong (曾國棟) said historical documents show that a statue of Kodama was erected in Taisho Park in Tainan, which is now known as Minsheng Green Park or Tang Te-chang (湯德章) Memorial Park.
The statue was said to have been carved out of marble by Florentine artisans and showed Kodama wearing the full dress uniform of a lieutenant general, including a hat, Tseng said.
After 1945, Kodama’s statue was replaced by one of Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙).
The marble head found by Hsieh has Western-like features and a hat, which is why Tseng said he thinks it might be from the Kodama statue.
A local historical worker said that based on pictures he has seen, the marble head does not look like Kodama, but the Western features and the marble appearance could be explained if it is the lost Kodama statue from the park.
The worker urged the Tainan Cultural Affairs Bureau and the National Museum of Taiwan History to search through their archives for material that might help identify the head.
The bureau said it cannot yet confirm that the marble head belongs to the Kodama statue.
The Tainan Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage said that it is reviewing records of statues in Taiwan for possible comparisons.
Bureau Director Yeh Tse-shan (葉澤山) said that according to the Japanese colonial-era regulations governing military officials’ rank and uniforms, the “Order of the Rising Sun” on the hat and its horizontal lines indicate that the wearer was a general, but whether the person was a major general, lieutenant general or full general is to be determined.
Yeh said while the identity of the head has yet to be determined, it would be cleaned and restored by specialists and put on public display.
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