Tobacco and Liquor Monopoly Bureau 菸酒專賣局

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12 Reviews

Sunday：Off day

3.9

9488

Introduction

The monopoly system of Taiwan started during the Japanese colonial era. In 1901, Taiwan Governor’s Office consolidated the Taiwan Pharmaceutical Factory, Taiwan Salt Bureau and Taiwan Camphor Bureau into the “Monopoly Bureau of the Taiwan Governor’s Office”, marking an important beginning of the monopoly system. Before the Retrocession of Taiwan, the eight commodities included in the monopoly system were: tobacco, liquor, opium, salt, camphor, matches, petroleum and measuring instruments. The building was constructed in 1913 to cater to the voluminous workload of the monopoly system. It was designed by an engineer of the Construction and Maintenance Division of the Taiwan Governor Office, Matsunosuke Moriyama (1870 -1949) and was completed in 1922. The architectural style is similar to that of the Presidential Office, and it became the model structure that was copied after by other elites architectural projects at that time. The building features an L-shaped floor layout and there is a semi-circular gable at the facade. The foyer has a spherical roof top and the façade; both the right and left wings feature a column-style design, giving the exterior of the building a rich and grandiose look.

After the Retrocession of Taiwan, the Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office, in an effort to maintain its financial resources and minimize the taxpayers’ burden, decided to continue the monopoly system. The organization was restructured as “the Taiwan Province Monopoly Bureau”, with the number of monopolized items down to five: tobacco, liquor, camphor, matches and measuring instruments. By 1968, the two items that remained in the monopoly system were tobacco and liquor.

Information

Themes: Historic Sites
Subject: Campus teaching
Suggested Months for Visiting: All year
Phone Number: +886-2-23214567
Address: No.4, Section 1, Nanchang Road, Zhongzheng Dist., Taipei City Taiwan, R.O.C

Opening Hours


Sunday	Off day
Monday	08:00 - 18:00
Tuesday	08:00 - 18:00
Wednesday	08:00 - 18:00
Thursday	08:00 - 18:00
Friday	08:00 - 18:00
Saturday	Off day

Reminders

The Tobacco and Liquor Monopoly Bureau was an organization responsible for the production, transportation and marketing of tobacco and liquor to meet the public demand. It also implemented the Tobacco and Liquor Monopoly Act to govern the organization, the tobacco and liquor distribution units as well as the approved retailers throughout Taiwan. The Bureau performed very well in product marketing and sales through the years, and the profit brought into the treasury became an important tax revenue source for the country.

In recent years, in response to internationalization and liberalization, the Government abolished the monopoly system on January 1st, 2002, and restructured the bureau into “Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corporation” on July 1st, 2002. This building, which has witnessed the history of Taiwan’s monopoly system, was designated as a historical site by the Ministry of the Interior in 1998.

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Nearby MRT

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Review

TripAdvisor Reviews

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619jeffry

Essendon, Australia

Memorial to Japanese colonialism

2021-08

The Japanese colonial era (1895-1945) had a profound influence on Taiwan. The StateTobacco Monopoly Administration is an imposing Gothic-style building that indicates the importance of the Tobacco Monopoly in raising revenue for the government. The Republic of China Government, after the Retrocession of Taiwan, also relied on tobacco revenues to raise taxes. Many older people will remember the ubiquitous "Long Life" cigarettes which were sold by the Tobacco Bureau.
619jeffry

Essendon, Australia

Reminder of an era of benign rule

2021-03

Many older people regard the Japanese colonial era (1895-1945) with some nostalgia. Indeed, many elderly people speak better Japanese than Mandarin. Unlike Korea, Japanese rule in Taiwan was relatively benign. Taiwan was part of the Japanese Empire, and the Japanese undertook to develop the economy, because it was intended that Taiwan would remain attached to Japan. The State Tobacco Monopoly Administration headquarters is a melding of classical European and Japanese architectural styles, typical of significant buildings of this era.
619jeffry

Essendon, Australia

Magnificent building has controversial past

2020-08

The former State Tobacco Monopoly Administration building dates from the Japanese colonial era (1895-1945). It is a classic Japanese building, a mixture of Japanese construction and classic European style. It is certainly a grand building, one of the most impressive in the Zhongzheng district. . The Tobacco Monopoly was crucial to the finances of the Japanese colonial administration and the Kuomintang government, as both relied heavily on the Tobacco Monopoly to finance public spending. It was not popular. In fact, a dispute over the tobacco tax led to the 2-28 confrontation in 1947 between the KMT government and the native Taiwanese, which poisoned relations between the KMT and the Taiwanese for many years. Those with memories going back 40 years or so will remember "Long Life" cigarettes, which were produced by the Tobacco Monopoly, and smoked by almost every man in Taiwan.
klaster612

Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Rusia

Ни убавить, ни прибавить

2019-03

Наследство колониальной зависимости. Шикарное культурное архитектурное наследство. Нужно понимать, что Тайвань японцы включили в состав империи. Навсегда, как её неотъемлемую часть, так они тогда думали. И строили тоже навсегда. Кирпичное красное здание просто шикарно по архитектуре и соразмерности. В русском языке говорят ни убавить, ни прибавить.
shirojiro

Prefectura de Saitama , Japón

Traveler type:

En solitario

元台湾総督府専売局、歴史博物館として整備が待たれる国指定文化財です

2019-06

中正紀念堂駅から徒歩5分ほどのところにある、台湾総督府専売局の庁舎として1922年に完成した重厚な煉瓦造りの建物です。戦後は中華民国政府に引き継がれ、公売局となりさらに現在は民営化した台湾菸酒股份有限公司の建物となっています。現在は中に入ることは出来ません。日本時代からの歴史建築物のひとつとして産業博物館として整備される予定になっています。