These rather unkept doors are part of an old Japanese style building in the old part of Hsinchu city. Though old I wouldn't doubt that these doors work far better than the more recent ones on my house which have never closed properly in 3 years. The building itself is quite a bit more interesting than the doors themselves but the alley the building is on is no more than an arms length wide, making a shot very difficult.
"As opposed to elsewhere in Asia, Japan attempted to use Taiwan as a model colony and was instrumental in the industrialization of the island; they extended the railroads that had just sprung up in late Qing rule, built a sanitation system and a public school system, among other things." (wikipedia)
There are still quite allot of colonial and southern Chinese influences in the older parts of Hsinchu; I would say that any architecture of any style or interest here has it's roots from this. Most of the so called modern buildings were built with a sense of urgency and short term economic efficiency. No real vision or pride is evident. This is changing though and not too soon as most of these beautiful old buildings are being torn down for the sake of building new ones. One notable exception would be Hsinchu City Hall which underwent a long restoration effort.
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