Alpha Scorpii in Summer, written by Taiwanese nature writer Liu Kashiang, traces the
intellectual formation of Japanese naturalist Tadao Kano during his years in Taiwan
from the 1920s to 1933. Structured along a chronological and geographical framework,
the book follows Tadao’s fieldwork across Taiwan’s mountains and indigenous
communities as he transforms from a butterfly-chasing youth into a committed
ethnographer and environmental observer.
The narrative interweaves Tadao’s life with the lives and legacies of other key
Taiwanese and Japanese intellectuals of the time such as Lin Hsien-tang, Chen
Cheng-po, and Akashi Tetsuzō, offering a multifaceted view of the era’s knowledge
landscape. Blending literary prose with archival research, the book is enriched with
hand-drawn maps and illustrations of flora and fauna. It stands as a refined work of
narrative nonfiction that integrates nature writing, historical memory, and landscape
observation, preserving a vital and overlooked chapter in Taiwan’s environmental and
intellectual history.