The Japanese economy had gotten a kick start following World War II thanks to the US military occupation and the outbreak of the Korean War, and continued to grow at breakneck pace throughout the 1960s. Japanese buyers snapped up Chishan bananas at premium prices. Sugar cane was also selling well in those years, and workers came from around Taiwan to toil in the labor-intensive cane fields and sugar refineries of Chishan.
由於日本戰後拜美軍託管及韓戰爆發之賜，經濟快速復甦，台灣的香蕉以一簍數十美金的高價大量輸往日本；加上旗山也出產甘蔗，甘蔗田及糖廠需要大量人力，更吸引了全省工人前來「賺食」。