臺灣文學虛擬博物館

The abandoned harbor in Anping is a perfect theme for paintings as well as novels. Haruo Sato's "Strange Tale of the Precepts for Women's Fan" conveys the essence of Anping more than the real Anping because the current Anping no longer has the atmosphere it had before (cited from Tetsuomi Tateishi's "Beautiful Taiwan: Anping and Tamshui", 1940).

Haruo Sato's "Strange Tale of the Precepts for Women's Fan" was inspired by this place. Anping is home to Dutch colonizers' Fort Zeelandia. Meanwhile, abandoned houses are everywhere, and the harbor is deserted due to the deposition of sediment (cited from Tetsuomi Tateishi' s "Taiwan Picture Book: Deserted Anping Harbor",1962).

In literature, paintings, poems, and novels, Haruo Sato oscillated between fantasy and reality; the worlds he created are colorful and diverse. Though it has been years since he passed away, he is still prominent in literature. The travel writing pieces on Taiwan on display demonstrate Sato's spot-on insights into problems in a colonial society as well as his witty, sharp writing skills. Though Sato's patriotic poems during the war made him an object of criticism, his constant unbiased introspection as an intellectual in the Taisho era still emits fascinating sparks.

A century ago this traveler stood in the conflicting gap between the Taiwanese and Japanese people; by interacting with both peoples, he learned from their respective expectations and disappointments, which he incorporated into his works. At the critical moment of a disordered world, Haruo Sato never cared for standpoints; instead, he paid attention to the folds and creases in culture and the differences between nationalities. Like continuous waves, his works have traversed a span of a hundred years while continuing to flow towards the future.