Unlike the majority of Japanese arrivals, who were public officials or businessmen, these farmers from the "mainland" had sold everything they owned and invested themselves entirely in the unfamiliar little island of Taiwan. They made their way into wild areas the Chinese had not opened up, in the hopes of setting up nice, peaceful lives for themselves, building their own homes, and owning their own parcels of land.
與當時一般到台灣工作的日本公務員或生意人不同，這幾批來自「內地」（日本）的農民，變賣一切家當，深入台灣這個異鄉小島，他們進入漢人尚未開墾的蠻荒之地，希望在這裡安身立命，建立自己的家園，擁有自己的土地。