the local Taiwanese residents, while stating it was punishable by death to supply opium to any Japanese individual. After the Republic of Formosa was defeated, the Japanese government took great issue with the prevalence of opium through Taiwan, fearing it would spread to Japan if not monitored correctly. On 21 January 1897 the Japanese government issued the Taiwan Opium Edict which established a new opium policy for Taiwan. The Edict outlined the Japanese government's monopoly over the trade of opium and the restricted sale of the drug to "proven addicts" with the necessary licences. The process of 'Licensed opium usage' took three years to complete and resulted in just under 200,000 licences . Japan's opium policy was conducted under the administration and leadership of the East Asia Development Board (Kōain) in operation from December 1938 to November 1942. The policy meant Taiwanese nationals who already addicted to opium could continue to smoke under government regulation. However, by the 1920s there were as many unregistered opium users as registered opium users. The imbalance between the number of registered and unregistered opium smokers demonstrated that the policy was ineffective at keeping nonusers from taking up smoking. Opium dens were common place throughout Southeast Asia. They were establishments where opium was sold and smoked and were frequented by locals and foreigners who were looking to access opium. Opium trade as a revenue source The 'Opium Edict' is viewed by some historians as the initial demonstration by the Japanese government of their intentions to profit from the opium trade. The government was in the process of making the opium trade a monopoly for their individual gain, whilst simultaneously developing policies which permitted users to continue smoking and prohibited people from starting to smoke. In 1896, 1 year after the Japanese began establishing a monopoly, opium revenue made up 60% of Taiwan's total yearly revenue, which continued to grow throughout the 1900s. The monopoly led to an increase in revenue achieved by inflated prices of opium and an overall decrease of smokers. The outcome of the Opium Edict suggests that the Opium policy had a twofold function, in that, revenue was needed to fund Japan's occupation of Formosa and that controlling opium usage in Taiwan was a direct method of controlling the population. Another function of the opium policy was the economic prosperity achieved by the government as a result of the monopoly which could