The 50-year Japanese occupation era can be divided into three parts depending on the main policy adopted toward Taiwan: the period of military rule (1895-1919), the period of civilian rule (1919-1936), and the period of the war between China and Japan (1936-1945).
在日本治台的五十年當中，可依其政策之主要考量分為三個時期：軍人統治階段（一八九五∼一九一九），文人統治階段（一九一九∼一九三六），及中日戰爭時期（一九三七∼一九四五）。