Tainan Travel

Chen-an Temple is also known as the “General Flying Tiger Temple”. The deity enshrined in the temple is not from the gods, but a Japanese warrior from World War II, Sugiura Shigemine. Sugiura Shigemine was stationed in Taiwan in 1944, and was a warrant officer of the Japanese Navy. On the morning of October 12 of the same year, an air battle took place in which Sugiura flew his fighter plane against attacking U.S. forces. During the battle, which took place in the Haiwei area of Tainan, Sugiura's fighter plant was hit by the U.S. forces on the tail. As the plane descended, Sugiura did not escape immediately in order to avoid crashing into the village and harming innocent people. Instead, he tried to pull the plane to the fish farms and farmland outside the village and waited until the plane was far away from the village before he parachuted out. Unfortunately, Sugiura's parachute was shot down by the U.S.  forces and Sugiura fell from a high altitude. He was posthumously awarded the rank of second lieutenant after his death.

After the war, people gradually forgot about the incident until one day, local residents saw a spirit wearing a white hat and white clothes wandering around the farm, seemingly looking for something, and disappearing when people approached. The locals sought advice from  Emperor Baosheng of Chaohuang Temple in Haiwei, who indicated that the spirit was Sugiura, who had been killed in battle, and that he wished to rest here in peace.

Later, with the help of the Japanese military, locals learned the full name of the Japanese soldier and built a small shrine at the crash site in 1971 to commemorate Sugiura and thank him for sacrificing himself to save the villagers. After that, no more supernatural events happened in the village and life resumed back to normal.

The shrine was expanded to 50 ping (165sqm) in 1993 by the Chen-an Temple Management Committee, and is also known as the "General Flying Tiger Temple". The temple is decorated with Japanese flags and has become a must-see attraction for Japanese tourists.