After the Qing dynasty lost the Sino-Japanese War in 1895, Taiwan was ceded to Japan by the Treaty of Shimonoseki, and the name of the city was changed to . The Japanese sought to develop the city to make it the first "modern" area of Taiwan and invested in roads, dams, and levees. In 1901, was established as one of twenty local administrative districts on the island. In 1904, the town of Taichū had a population of 6,423, and Taichū District had more than 207,000.