Chijiwa Suketaro (1897-1911) was a extinguished architecture researcher and also the first one in Taiwan in the investigation and drawings of the formosan traditional housings.
Mr. Suketaro graduated in 1922 from architecture in 名古屋高等工業學校 and was invited to 台北工業學校 (nowadays National Taipei University of Technology) to teach architecture (1925-1940); from 1935 to1944 he explored the hobby of mountain-climbing and it was also the advance of his research interest in the architectures of the formosan groups. His legacy during this time is the detailed drawings of the traditional formosan buildings, and the published manuscript of these drawings is the most detailed collections so far in the academic research of aboriginal buildings.
Apart from the aboriginal house investigation, he had also participated in the research and restoration of Tainan Chikan Tower (赤崁樓) during his teaching career in 臺南高等工業學校 (Tainan Technical College during Japanese Colonial Period, nowadays National Cheng Kung University).
The following is my selected hand-drawn copies based on his manuscript of aboriginal housing investigations (台灣⾼砂族住家の研究). Drawings including Paiwan Tribes in southern Taiwan, Amis tribes at the eastern side of Taiwan, and Tao tribes on the Orchid Island (Pongso no Tao).