Introduction to Kaohsiung Xiaoyao Garden since 1940-Kyoto Chinese Villa

On the way to dinner, I accidentally saw this historical site called Xiaoyao Garden. The name aroused my interest, so I went over to take a look. It is open until five o'clock every day except Monday. (The visit lasts about 40 minutes)

When I first arrived, I found it to be a small space, but after reading the introduction, I found that it was a former military village that was rebuilt and there were many farmlands in the past, but they were all rebuilt. Following the tour route on the first floor, you will first see the introduction to Xiaoyao Garden and there is also a very good cafe!

The villa is the last overseas villa of the former Japanese nobleman Otani Kozui.
Hidden in a small military dependents' village (the Army Xingren New Village) in Kaohsiung for decades, in 1940, Otani Mitsuru opened the Otani Farm with the Xiaoyaoyuan complex at Dagangpu, Kaohsiung. It was later abandoned for a long time and was restored by the Cultural Affairs Bureau to its current appearance.

There is air conditioning on the second floor! You can see Otani’s former living space. The combination of Japanese and Western styles is very interesting. You can find some graffiti surprises and Western influences. Overall, I hope that this building can be seen by more people. After all, it is not easy to repair it, and the key is to keep it visible.

After the visit, you can watch a video introduction in the air-raid shelter and there is also a souvenir shop! Very rich

#Kaohsiung #historical buildings

Post by Magtrip | May 15, 2025