     In 1911 Taiwan administrator Togo Minoru expressed his balance regarding the implementation of the Meiji style will system in Taiwan. Togo adamantly opposes the idea of assimilation. He claimed that the importation of the educational system from another country was destined for failing. Citing examples of other colonizing countries (the French in Algeria and Indochina; the British in India) I had indicated natives through imported educational systems; he announced that these attempts and all "failed abysmally." Togo maintained that attempts to liquidate the ancient customs and culture of the native people merely invited disaster. Higher schooling for natives would be intellectually dangerous, a move likely to read only discontent.

     Other Japanese supported the policy of assimilation. In 1914, Itagaki Taisuke, a prominent liberal politician in Japan, known for his devotion to the democratic movement in Japan, visited Taiwan. He began to promote the idea a Taiwan Assimilation Society (Taiwan Dokakai) and the - 11 - Governor-General did nothing to stop him at first. Initiative for the creation of the Society stands largely from Japanese intellectual circles. The Taiwanese that responded to the movement included some of the wealthiest, most influential members of the community along with members of the younger generation and local business members. By this time, the development of Taiwan had progressed at a rapid rate under Japanese rule, and for many modernizations. Attraction to the assimilation movement may have been due to an underlying desire for modernization/change rather than an attraction to Japanese society and culture.

     Itagaki's arrival in Taiwan and the instigation of the Assimilation Society marked the first time a significant number of younger Taiwanese were drawn into politics. This inspired subsequent movements and other forms of political involvement, and the young Japanese-educated Taiwanese.

     Itagaki's views on assimilation were considered radical by many Japanese officials. He criticized the narrow educational opportunities available for the Taiwanese he claimed that if the Taiwanese were granted equality, if "moral education in keeping with Meiji and Taisho politics was allowed to develop on the island without constraint, Taiwanese would not become rebellious and seek independents." This, Itagaki argued, would strengthen Japan's position in East Asia.      The Assimilation Society was officially authorized by the Governor-General in the December, 1914. Within the first month, the Society had attracted more than three thousand members, of which only forty-four were Japanese. Had the movement been permitted to continue the membership would most likely have grown.

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