若要形容台灣在日本帝國統治下的時代特質，那應該就是「近代化」了。日本統治下的遺產即使在戰後的五○、六○年代，對台灣經濟的助益亦是不可抹滅的。無可諱言地，日本帝國在台灣所奠
定的近代化基礎，基本上完全是為了配合其帝國內部資本主義發展的需求所設計，但是如果台灣史上欠缺了這一段歷史經驗，把今天的台灣社會與中國治下的海南島相比，恐怕也無出其右了。;If you want to describe Taiwan's distinguishing characteristics under the Japanese occupation, the word has to be "modernization." The legacy of the Japanese occupation, even in the post-war period of the 1950s and 1960s, was indelible, and greatly helped Taiwan's economy . There's no hiding the fact that the foundations of modernization that the Japanese Empire laid in Taiwan were fundamentally there to tie in with Japan's domestic capitalist development needs, but if Taiwan had not had this historic experience, there would be no difference between Taiwan society today and Hainan Island, which is under Chinese rule.
