Yoshino Village in Hualian

In 1909, the Governor-general of Taiwan designated the areas of Yoshino, Toyota, and Hayashita near the Hualian port as model Japanese immigrant farming villages. Of these, the Yoshino village was the largest. Originally named Cikasuan, Yoshino village was established in 1910. Since most of the immigrants came from Yoshinogawa in the Tokushima Prefecture, it was changed to “Yoshino village.” In the village there were communal ranches, an immigrant guidance office, a doctor’s office, an elementary school, and a Buddhist mission. In the beginning, a total of 61 households moved in. In 1917, the number jumped to 371, with a population close to two thousand people.
The people in Yoshino led an arduous life. Not only did they have to overcome tropical diseases and ferocious wild boars, but their agricultural experience from Japan did little to help them survive summer typhoons. The picture shows a woman leisurely leading a water buffalo to the fields. Her calm expression fully depicts the strong determination of these immigrants to survive in a new land.