Toward the end of World War II, Japanese authorities in Taiwan began to prepare for a possible invasion the United States, which would have included a blockade of the island's ports and isolation of major population centers from sources of essential supplies.
Among these preparations was the construction of an emergency food storage facility in Taipei.
A long, low, gable-roofed building, surfaced with gray stucco and with small ventilation windows in the walls, the No. 1 Granary was not meant to be pretty.