“Once I got in Taihoku Higher School, I won’t have to shave my head anymore! As a high school student, I’ll be able to grow my hair out!”
“The course load is quite heavy. Japanese, German, and English languages are all compulsory subjects.”
“There is a Liberty Bell on campus. The banana leaf school logo was designed by painter Shiotsuki Toho.”
“I heard that some students found the Culture and Arts Club’s magazine, Soaring Wind, boring. So, they started their own magazine...”
In the 1930s, Yeh Hsing-Chiao moved into Chisingliao Dormitory. Taihoku Higher School was the only higher school in colonial Taiwan known for its liberal and autonomous education style. With a goal of becoming a doctor and the weight of his family’s expectation on his shoulders, Hsing-Chiao was accepted by the top-notch school, and moved to Taipei. His roommate, Minashiro Kumotarou, is a notorious troublemaker at school. He had a wild spirit. He loved to read, but was facing expulsion for skipping too many classes.
Despite their different personalities and backgrounds, the two got along and became friends. In the cradle of liberty and knowledge, they were brimmed with youthful uncertainties and hopefulness. One day, Minashiro said to Hsing-Chiao excitedly, “The format of Soaring Wind is so rigid these days. Let's make our own magazine.”
After extensive research, comic artist Zuo Hsuan recreated the rich extracurricular activities and off-campus life of Taihoku Higher School students with a detailed drawing style. Depicting a “worn-out style” of the uninhibited students, Zuo reproduced the wonderful 1930s era of Taihoku Higher School.
