100 People Writing from the Other Side
100 people in this crowd are left-handed — more than both South Korea and Japan, but far fewer than the US or the Netherlands. Taiwan's rate sits between East Asian norms and the Western baseline, a quiet signal of how much cultural pressure shapes a number that should be purely biological.
Did you know
Taiwan's reported left-handedness rate is around 5% — higher than Korea or Japan but below the global average. The suppression narrative is less dominant here: Taiwan's school system historically discouraged but didn't systematically prohibit left-hand writing. What's more striking is that Taiwan's daily life is particularly challenging for left-handers — from the prevalence of right-handed scissors to the layout of night market stalls — a quiet ergonomic tax most people never notice.