Marking the bloody Mudan Village Incident, a group of natives who have been taught to remain silent over many generations now want to have their say on the story of the first Japanese expedition to reach "Formosa" after the Meiji Restoration.

Their ambition is not to rewrite history or obtain compensation.

All they want, they say, is to restore the reputation of their tribe and to console the lonely souls of brave warriors.

In December 1871, a ship from the Ryukyu Kingdom, now known as Okinawa Prefecture, carrying a crew of 66 from Miyako Island ran aground near the southern tip of Taiwan.