Brewing History: Technology Transfer, Institutional Inheritance, and Postcolonial Reinterpretation in Taiwan’s Sake Industry

Abstract

Although Taiwan’s sake industry remains a small market niche, it represents a historically significant colonial and postcolonial industrial formation. Drawing on historical literature, this study traces its development across a century, from the early Japanese colonial period to the early twenty-first century, in five phases: (1) the colonial introduction of brewing technologies, (2) the establishment of the alcohol monopoly under Japanese rule, (3) the postwar inheritance of the monopoly system and the decline of sake production, (4) the revival of sake brewing amid market liberalization from the 1990s, and (5) the monopoly’s abolition following WTO accession and the industry’s subsequent transformation. Through this historical description, the article highlights three interrelated dimensions shaping its trajectory: technology transfer, institutional inheritance, and postcolonial reinterpretation. By tracing this narrative, this study reveals the technological, institutional, and postcolonial contexts that have shaped Taiwan’s sake industry, contributing to food history, sake industry research, and Taiwan studies.