Taiwan Travelogue

May 1938. The young Japanese novelist Aoyama Chizuko arrives in Taiwan on the invitation the Japanese colonial government. With no interest in their imperial agenda, Chizuko longs to experience real island life and to taste as much of its authentic cuisine as her famously monstrous appetite can bear.

Soon, a young Taiwanese woman is hired as her interpreter: the charming, meticulous Chizuru, who provides expert guidance on the Land of the South and cooks her sumptuous meals. Over scenic train rides and braised pork rice, Chizuko grows infatuated with her companion and intent on drawing her closer. But the elusive Chizuru seems to keep drawing away - and as conflict begins to simmer between them, Chizuko begins the painful process of understanding why.

Disguised as a translation of a rediscovered text by a Japanese writer, Taiwan Travelogue is a bittersweet story of love between two women that is shadowed by complexities of language, history and power.