The Gofukushoten (五福商店), a building built during the Japanese colonial period in Tainan City, has been restored and revitalized to show its glory from a century ago.
Located on the Zhongzheng Road, Tainan, the Gofukushoten was founded by Yang Tian-sih (楊添賜) in 1914. Called “Ginza Street” back then, the bustling road was packed with grocery stores, including the famous Hayashi Department Store (林百貨), selling a variety of products from Japan like cosmetics, records, soaps, and even life and fire insurance.
The architectural style of the store is an exquisite beauty, and the building façade has great artistic value. The restoration of the old house has received a lot of support, especially the façade restoration, which has obtained up to 80% subsidy from the Project for Preservation and Revitalization of Old Private Buildings launched by the Ministry of Culture. Now the restoration of this building is about to be completed.
Mayor of Tainan Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) said that, through the concerted efforts of the MOC, the city government, and the store owner’s family, the Gofukushoten will restore its original splendor and captivate the general public in the future.