World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseLan Gaochuan was born into a prosperous family in Pingtung County, Takau (now Kaohsiung), Taiwan, Qing Dynasty China. In 1898, he began working with the newly arrived Japanese occupation administration. In Nov 1901, he was given a position with the Ako Cho administrative division in southern Taiwan. In 1901, he began expanding his family's land holdings to establish a sugar cane business, which would prove to be extremely successful. In 1909, Ako Cho was renamed Akugu Cho, and he remained as part of the administration. In 1910, he, along with 28 other investors, founded the Taiwan Industrial and Commercial Bank, which laid some of the roots for today's First Commercial Bank, as its first general manager. In 1912, he founded the Taiwan Industries, Limited and served as its first comptroller. In 1915, he was awarded the Japanese Medal of Honor with Blue Ribbon for his contributions to the occupation administration. In Aug 1920, Akugu Cho was abolished; in the following year, he was appointed a councilor to the occupation General Government based in Taihoku (now Taipei). In 1923, during Crown Prince Hirohito's visit to Taiwan, he was awarded Order of the Japanese Sacred Treasure, 6th Class. In 1927, he was awarded by the International Red Cross. Because he passed away prior to the end of the occupation, his two Japanese-educated sons Lan Jiading and Lan Jiajing and his two daughters Lan Jinmian and Lan Dunzi bore the brunt of dealing with accusations of collaboration against the Lan family.

Photographs

Lan Gaochuan Timeline