In the 1950s and 1960s an endless stream of Japanese climbers came to Taiwan to make the ascent, "says Chen Pei-chou, author of The Legends of Mountains in Taiwan. For many Japanese, climbing what was once known as" the highest peak in the Japanese empire "was akin to making a sacred pilgrimage.
民國四、五十年代，一批批的日本登山客絡繹不絕地來台灣爬玉山，」《台灣山岳傳奇》作者陳佩周指出，對許多日本人而言，能登上這座昔日「日本大帝國最高峰」，就像聖徒朝聖一樣重要。