The Taiwanese island was the first colonial enterprise of the Empire of Japan, and it was to be a model for all others to follow. The model would be based off of the scientific models and policies Japan would bring to all its colonial possessions, and Taiwan would be the perfect example. It was a land full of barbarians and undeveloped territory, the only vestige of civilization remaining with the Han Chinese that resided primarily in its coastal towns. Even those towns lacked many of the cultural and technological innovations that the Japanese enjoyed on the Home Islands, and it was up to Japan to conquer the barbarity of the island to bring it into the modern age.

There had been a struggle for the first few decades, as the Japanese that ruled the island attempted to bring it into the modern age with a heavy hand. While the educational system amongst many others had improved significantly since it was under the Qing, there were many of the inland tribes who refused to leave their old traditions and continued to misbehave. This was the impetus for Prime Minister Hara Takashi to remove the old Governor-General of Taiwan, and put his ally and ideologically-aligned friend Den Kenjiro into the position.

The two men shared a similar aim in the policy of cultural assimilation first, with punishment second. There were lines that were not to be crossed, as seen in the March 1st Movement in Korea which had been effectively crushed, but both men recognized the policies that had been integral to the reasons behind the uprising in the first place. The intended model colony needed to have locals who would cooperate and understand their place within the natural order of things and not fight against it. Of course, there were groups who were more like to understand such concepts. This was where the three primary groups would be treated under the "imperial subject order."

At the highest would be the Han Chinese that lived on the island, many of which in reality had mixed blood with some of the native tribes. They would make up most of the lower level bureaucratic positions under the Japanese in Taiwan, as they had been, and Den would change the laws to allow some level of Chinese to be taught in schools. They would be treated to rights as any Japanese citizen on the Home Islands to the courts and judicial practice, and they would now be allowed into the medicinal practices, a prestigious occupation.

Below them would be the civilized natives, those who lived primarily along the coastline along with the Han Chinese. They were primarily a sedentary peoples, and their lifestyle living alongside the Han and Japanese had allowed them to absorb some of the civility of those peoples. While they were in practice treated better than the lowest of the natives, legally they had not shared much of a distinction until Den arrived. He quickly carved out a new legal status, arguing that they needed to be awarded the protections as Taiwan was as integral as state as the Home Islands, and that this would teach them of the new ways and their place under the Japanese flag. The restrictions on the teachings of some of their traditions in schooling would be lifted. The police, which had constituted practically all of the interaction between the natives and the Japanese in terms of judicial matters, would be weakened in their legal rights as the courts were strengthened for the civilized natives. While they would still be considered worse candidates for the very lowest of bureaucratic positions, they would be allowed to at least be legally able to be chosen for some positions in the aims of the intent to teach them of their integral position within the Empire of Japan.

At the very bottom of the imperial subjects would be the inland native tribes, considered "raw savages" by imperial decree. They would be barred from practically all judicial and administrative positions and protections, and the police would not be weakened in their rights as they were against the civilized tribes. Forceful re-settlement of the inland tribes to territory more acclimatized to farming to force those tribes to a more sedentary lifestyle would become commonplace, and the Japanese would utilize inter-tribal conflict to maintain order and stability between the tribes. Violence and police authority would be the first order of business should trouble arise. The stated goal of Den was to civilize them, as these tribes were incapable of understanding their importance within the Empire and would need to be 'sedentarized and civilized' before they could receive the rights their other fellow tribesmen enjoyed.