Taiwan (also known as Formosa) is an island located off the coast of Fujian in mainland China. The Chinese and Taiwanese people have a long history together, with the first Han Chinese settlers arriving in Taiwan in the seventeenth century. The Japanese empire acquired Taiwan (also known as Formosa) following its cessation from Qing dynasty China in the Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895) at the conclusion of the First Sino-Japanese War. This period of Japanese rule of Taiwan lasted until the Japanese surrender of WW2. During this period the colonial government of Japan initiated major policies to reduce the consumption of opium and opium derived products with much regarded success from contemporary sources both from the Japanese Colonial government and international sources. There is a long history of opium use in Taiwan dating back to the arrival of the Han Chinese settlers in the 18th Century. The opium habit in Taiwan grew as a result of the Opium Wars in China, which inevitably led to the forced legalisation of opium in 1890. Between 1890 and 1891 the amount of legal opium imported into Taiwan increased from sixty kilos to four hundred thousand kilo. In 1892 alone the opium trade made up half of Taiwan's revenue sources, resulting in the widespread presence of opium throughout Taiwan. Opium Opium is a highly addictive type of depressant drug which dates back to 3400BC. The opium poppy pods contain a milky substance called latex, which is made up of a number of chemicals such as morphine and codeine. The Latex from the pods is boiled and dried to become opium. Opium has been used throughout history recreationally and as medicine, with historians predicting that opium was likely introduced throughout East Asia in the sixth century A.D. along the Silk Road trade route. The First and Second Opium Wars of the 19th century between the British Empire and Qing Dynasty saw the continued spread of opium throughout East Asia. While opium presented the opportunity for a lucrative trading market to many countries, the devastating impact of the addictive substance caused havoc across East Asia as well as throughout the US and Europe. Japanese views on opium The Meiji Japanese held a negative view of opium and regarded it as an uncivilized and lazy practice. These fears may have stemmed from their observation of its effects on the Chinese population as well as aggression from western powers