From an article titled “The Meaning of the Period of Japanese Rule” by Akio Yaita, then deputy foreign news editor of the Sankei Shimbun. In Taiwan, the choice between the Chinese expressions “Riju Shidai,” implying Japanese occupation, and “Rizhi Shidai,” meaning the period of Japanese rule, reflects differing historical perceptions. A Taiwanese lawyer remarked that Taiwan had been ceded to Japan through the Treaty of Shimonoseki, a formal diplomatic agreement, and said, “Without an objective understanding of history, we cannot open the way to the future.”

August 12, 2020
The following is from an article by Akio Yaita, deputy foreign news editor of the Sankei Shimbun, published in yesterday’s Sankei Shimbun under the title “The Meaning of the Period of Japanese Rule.”
It happened when I was sitting around a dining table with several Taiwanese friends and our conversation turned animatedly to history.
I inadvertently used the expression “Riju Shidai,” meaning the “period of Japanese occupation,” whereupon everyone corrected me and said that “Rizhi Shidai,” meaning the “period of Japanese rule,” was the proper expression.
In Taiwan, both “Riju Shidai” and “Rizhi Shidai” refer to the same fifty-year period of Japanese rule from 1895 to 1945.
However, because different Chinese characters are used, the nuances of the two expressions are different.
The character used in “Riju” carries a negative implication of forcibly occupying territory through military power or similar means.
By contrast, the character used in “Rizhi” means “to govern” or “to administer” and is neutral in nuance.
The two expressions had long been used side by side in Taiwan.
In 2013, however, under the administration of Ma Ying-jeou, which took a severe stance toward Japan on historical issues, the Executive Yuan, equivalent to the cabinet, issued a directive requiring all official documents to use the term “Riju Shidai,” thereby attempting to standardize the terminology.
Three years later, when the Democratic Progressive Party administration of Tsai Ing-wen came to power, it effectively abolished the previous administration’s directive on the grounds that it had “no legal basis.”
In Taiwan today, except among some pro-China groups, the expression “Rizhi Shidai,” or “the period of Japanese rule,” has become the predominant usage.
One comment by a Taiwanese lawyer remained particularly striking:
“Taiwan was ceded to Japan through the Treaty of Shimonoseki, a formal diplomatic document, so there was no element of forcible seizure. Without an objective understanding of history, we cannot open the way to the future.”