Here, we observe the colonial footprint of the Japanese in the early history of Journal of the Formosan Medical Association. The end of Japanese rule brought an end to the use of Japanese among Taiwanese doctors. The decision to publish in Chinese coincided with the tide of decolonisation. The decision to split the journal into two, one in English for the publication of research output and one in Chinese for the continuing medical education at the grass-roots level, is a classic example of the dilemma between serving local needs and communicating research outputs to the world. [98] .