engineering

Kikumoto Department Store

Kikumoto Department Store is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kikumoto Department Store rather than just read about it. In short: Kikumoto Department Store (Japanese: 菊元百貨店), also known as Juyuan Department Store (Chinese: 菊元百貨), was a department store in Sakaechō, Taihoku (now Zhongzheng District, Taipei), Taiwan. It was founded by the Japanese entrepreneur Eiji Shigeta (重田榮治) on November 28, 1932, and officially opened on December 3.

Key takeaways

Kikumoto Department Store belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Kikumoto Department Store to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kikumoto Department Store from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Kikumoto Department Store (Japanese: 菊元百貨店), also known as Juyuan Department Store (Chinese: 菊元百貨), was a department store in Sakaechō, Taihoku (now Zhongzheng District, Taipei), Taiwan. It was founded by the Japanese entrepreneur Eiji Shigeta (重田榮治) on November 28, 1932, and officially opened on December 3. Along with Hayashi Department Store in Tainan and Yoshii Department Store in Takao (now Kaoshiung), Kikumoto was one of the three major department stores in Taiwan during its Japanese colonial period. It was the first department store in Taiwan. Nicknamed "seven-storied sky" (Chinese: 七重天) for its seven-story building, Kikumoto Department Store was the second tallest structure in Taiwan, surpassed only by the Presidential Office Building. The department store introduced some of the most advanced facilities in Taiwan, including the first commercial passenger elevator, and became the symbol of prosperity in Sakaechō. After World War Two, the department store was taken over by the Nationalist Government and continued to operate until its closure in 1979. The department store building was officially designated a Historic Building of Taiwan in 2017.

History

Under Japanese rule period

Eiji Shigeta, a businessman born in Yamaguchi, Japan, began his cotton cloth business in Taiwan when he was 26. He established Kikumoto Department Store on November 28, 1932, after knowing that Japanese retailers Mitsukoshi and Takashimaya were considering opening department stores in Taiwan. At the time, Taiwan was in the middle period of Japanese rule. During the store's completion ceremony, Shigeta invited several high-ranking officials and prominent local figures, including Ueda Shunkichi, director of shokusan in Government-General of Taiwan (Japanese: 台湾総督府殖産局, ja); Nakase Setsuo, Governor of Taihoku Prefecture; and Gichō Nishizawa, Mayor of Taihoku Prefecture. The department store officially opened to the public on December 3, 1932. The Kikumoto Department Store building stood seven stories high, with six floors and a rooftop. At the time, the store self-proclaimed to be the tallest building in Taiwan, earning it the nickname "seven-storied sky." The department store was associated with Kikumoto Trading Co, Ltd. (Japanese: 株式会社菊元商行), which was also involved in wholesale, retail, and managing its Takao branch. The restaurant on the fifth floor was also famous in Taiwan at the time. Many visitors came to see the department store's elevator and its operator, as such features were rare during that time. In 1939, a journalist writing for the Taiwan Geijutsu Simpo described its female elevator operator as:

...a golden teeth sparkles when she smiles, just like a younger version of Kiyoko Izumi with a well-developed body... every man would daydream about her upon hearing her clear voice. She will even push young men out of the elevator if they have stayed too long. The department store was called "the window of modernization in Taiwan" for its remarkable records. A tie sold by Kikumoto Department Store, now exhibited in the National Museum of Taiwan History serves as evidence that Taihoku was a modern city with a distinct and notable fashion trend. On December 1, 1934, the Japan Travel Bureau Foundation (JTB Corporation today) Taihoku branch was established in Kikumoto Department Store. After World War Two, the Government of the Republic of China confiscated Shigeta's properties, and the Shigeta family was sent to Yamaguchi, Japan. Former staff later established Juronghui (Chinese: 菊榮會), and get together regularly to reminisce. The event continues today even after Eiji Shigeta died.

Under Nationalist Government rule period

Kikumoto Department Store was re-established as "Shin Tai Department Store" (Chinese: 新台百貨公司) on October 24, 1945. It was taken over by the Government of the Republic of China and rebranded as "Taiwan Chung Hua department store" (Chinese: 台灣中華國貨公司) in 1948. The building also served as the headquarters of the Friends of Armed Forces Association during the time. In 1968, Gong Han-Sheng (Chinese: 龔漢生), owner of Nanyang Department Store (Chinese: 南洋百貨), purchased the building. Following Nanyang's bankruptcy in 1977, Yeh Yi-Ren (Chinese: 葉依仁) acquired the property and rebranded it as "Young Young Department Store" (Chinese: 洋洋百貨). Young Young declared bankruptcy in 1979, and Yeh Yi-Ren fled overseas. The building was subsequently taken over by Cathay United Bank. In 2017, the Taipei City Government designated the building as a historic building of Taiwan rather than a heritage building, as Hayashi Department Store had been classified. This decision sparked criticism from cultural heritage groups, who launched a campaign urging the government to grant it heritage status. In response, Cathay United Bank explained that the building no longer retains its original appearance, but promised that key elements of its design, including the facade and arcade, would be preserved during renovations. On July 26, 2024, Cathay United Bank launched a reconstruction plan for the Kikumoto Department Store. It also hold an exhibition from July 26, 2024, to January 5, 2025.

Gallery

See also Hayashi Department Store: the second department store in Tainan, established two days after Kikumoto. Rebooted in 2014. Yoshii Department Store: the third department store in Kaoshiung. Demolished in 1994.

References

External links Media related to Kikumoto at Wikimedia Commons

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kikumoto Department Store

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kikumoto Department Store claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kikumoto Department Store before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kikumoto Department Store ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kikumoto Department Store

In research: Kikumoto Department Store appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kikumoto Department Store in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kikumoto Department Store is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1932 establishments in Taiwan, Buildings and structures completed in 1932, Department stores of Taiwan, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kikumoto Department Store outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Kikumoto Department Store in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kikumoto Department Store means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Kikumoto Department Store out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kikumoto Department Store in simple terms?

Why does Kikumoto Department Store matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kikumoto Department Store?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kikumoto Department Store.