Shinto in Taiwan

Shinto in Taiwan has its origins in the beginning of the 50-year Japanese colonial rule of Taiwan in 1895 when the Empire of Japan brought their state religion, Shinto, to the island. The Taiwanese were encouraged to adopt the religion in 1937 as the Empire of Japan began to intensify its expansionist policy in China and used Taiwan as its base into southeast Asia. Of the Taiwanese who lost their lives fighting for the Japanese Emperor until the Empire's defeat in 1945, a total of 27,863 are recorded in the Book of Souls and enshrined as heroes (英霊 eirei) in Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan.