On the way to the Xitou Nature Education Area, there is a Japanese-inspired Monster Village among the forest of Nantou. Nantou Monster Village is now one of the most popular attractions in Nantou and has drawn more than 200,000 visitors a month since it was rebuilt in a monster-based cultural theme in 2011.

Nantou Monster Village is a Japanese style village located at the entrance of Xitou Nature Education Area. When you arrive at Nantou Monster Village, a big red “Toril” will instantly grab you attention. Toril is a traditional Japanese gate mostly found at the entrance of the Shinto shrine, which is a symbolic gate between profane to the sacred. After passing the toril, adorable Japanese monster statues and cute creatures can be seen all over the village, as well as red lanterns hung on the eaves. Among the village, you may also find many striking yellow signs cautions for “Kuma,” which means a bear in Japanese. There is a tale goes that long ago that a bear fought with the monsters and saved the residents in the village. However, the bear was injured and hided in the forests. Although the bear has not appeared in a long time, the signs are setup in memory of Kuma, and it has become the village’s mascots.

Decades ago, Xitou was an experiment forest of a university during Japanese colonization. Kubota (久保田) who is Japanese was the head of institute in Xitou. He had a close Taiwanese friends named Matsubayashi (松林勝一). Their friendship lasted years even after Kubota backed to Japan after WWII. Kubota made a wooden sculpture when he was in Japan and wanted to give it to Matsubayashi in person to express the friendship and gratitude. Sadly, they could not meet each other for one last time in the end. Finally, their descendants had a chance to accomplish their last wish in 2009, and the wooden sculpture is now put in Ming Shan Resort. In order to commemorate their friendship, Ming Shan Resort built this village and named it after Matsunayashi, and the bakery in the village is named after Kubota.

The village is actually constituted by many stores selling local delights including monster bread, snacks and souvenirs. Next time when you visit Nantou, do not forget to stop by this charming, whimsical, and fun village themed around morbid-looking yet lovely monsters that you cannot stop taking picture of them. You may find more information on Nantou Monster Village’s official website at http://www.mingshan.com.tw/ (currently only available in Mandarin).