609. A Japanese account from the same year records the remnants of the mining operation:
Over 10,000 tons of phosphate ore were stored here which looked like a castle wall. A Japanese-style protection bank was made on the seashore, and the frames of a big water tank were desolately abandoned: it is said that the iron plates were taken by pirates. All buildings were destroyed, and the area bleakly became a papaya forest. Almost all of the lumber was moved to other places, and only concrete flag stones of tank wells remained: it was done in a more thorough way than that of starving wolves devouring their prey. The weighing machine, located at the place which used to be an analysis room, is only thing protecting Japanese science which had spread to the south.
610. By 1937, however, a new Japanese commercial presence had been established on Itu Aba in the form of the Kaiyo Kogyo Company, engaged in the fishing industry. This is confirmed in the account of HMS Herald’s visit to the area in that year, which includes the description that:
A fishing company also live on the island and engage in the turtle industry. There would appear to be about 40 of these men, mostly Formosans by appearance, who live in large wooden huts. The manager of the company, who only understands a few words of English,
Mr. Sadae Chiya, Kaiyokogyo Co. Ltd, Takao Formosa. He lives in an attractive little hut of two rooms.
Also on the island are a generator for electric power, and what looked like a small wireless transmitting and received set.”
611. A Japanese account from 1939 confirms the same facts:
In the early Showa era, the area around the island became the major fishing places for tunas and shellfish based on Kaohsiung City, and the Japanese were active there. They got water in Long Island (the Itu Aba Island) and North Danger (so called the Danger Island). In other words, at that time, the place was considerably developed as a fishery advanced base of Kaohsiung, and thus the fishermen of Kaohsiung feel that it is strange for the government to announce that the place will be incorporated into Kaohsiung after all these years. After that, Kaiyo Kogyo Company was established as suggested by Mr. Sueharu Hirata, who is a resident of Kaohsiung City in 1935. The purposes of the company are fishery and mining phosphate ore. The company is based in the Long Island having employees there and has operated business to date.