After the Japanese occupied Taiwan, Yoshitora Nagano, Yasushi Noro, Ushinosuke Mori and other Japanese explorers surveyed this road, which begins in Chichi Township in Nantou County and passes eastward over Mt. Kuanmen to Juisui Rural Township in Hualien County, stretching a total length of 104 kilometers. The Japanese administration even considered restoring the route.
日人佔領台灣後，長野義虎、野呂寧和森丑之助等探險家都曾親往這條西起南投集集鎮、途經關門山，東至花蓮縣瑞穗鄉，長達一百零四公里的橫貫道路踏勘，日本政府甚而一度思考重修。