The beginning of Japanese rule over Taiwan in 1895 marked the start of modernization as the colonial authorities pushed to industrialize Taiwan. The biggest changes in Chiaotou came about after the establishment here of Taiwan's first modern sugar refinery, the Chiaotsaitou Sugar Refinery.
一八九五年，日本開始殖民統治台灣，伴隨而來的殖民產業經濟與近代化建設，開展了橋頭社區一百年來的發展型態，其中影響最大的就是台灣第一個新式糖廠──橋仔頭糖廠的設立。