The emigrants who arrived at the farm dedicated themselves to the coffee plantation, working without rest, from sunrise to sunset. Early in the morning, men and women used stairs, scraping the coffee fruits off from the branches with their own hands and dropping them into a large cloth where the fruits were gathered. Then they removed the leaves and dirt by shaking high in the sieves. The fruit harvested after being measured and bagged was carried in the wheelbarrow or cart to the drying area.

The emigrants received treatment similar to that of slaves by the farm owner and supervisors. Obedience to the rules with vigilance, sometimes through violence and forced submission to farm owners. To buy utensils of daily need there was no other choice but to buy from the Venda (store) for exorbitant prices, connected directly to the farm owner thus being no way to save money despite hard work.

The no refund of emigrants' money issue was also greatly influenced. The Imperial Colonization Company gathered money from the emigrants, including Okinawans, as something temporary, but the money was not returned either in the House of immigrants or on the farms, further squeezing their lives.

The measurement of the area of the rails, picada (clearing the forest), earthmoving, installation of the (railroad) ties, laying of the rails, fixing the ties and rails, filling with earth in the ties, and flattening the ground are the stages of the construction of the railway. The ties brought by the trains were loaded in pairs and aligned on the path of the line 1 meter away from each dormant.

The railroad construction workers had a very hard job. Building the railroad sometimes involved suffering attacks from mosquito swarms, clearing the native forest where ferocious wildlife and poisonous snakes hide, filling land in swampy areas to the point of being submerged in waist-deep water; the difficulties of the work were endless.

The railroad workers could not receive adequate treatment even when they became ill because they lived in constant motion with the camp advancing according to the construction. For this reason, about twenty KASATO-MARU emigrants died from malaria. Many wives took part in the construction and because of the heavy work environment, there were sad cases of women losing their babies.

The construction of the Noroeste Railway that began in 1908 by the west and east finally had the East-West interconnection completed about 30 km west of the city of Campo Grande on August 31, 1914, on its 7th year.
The last place where the rail bar was placed was called Ligação (Connection) Station and the steam locomotive that was affectionately called, "Maria Fumaça" began operating.

In the vicinity of Campo Grande, due to the many fertile and cheap lands, there were people, who with the capital accumulated with the construction of the railroad, rented/ bought the land and began agriculture. Among the railroad workers who were forced to move as the railroad expanded, those who found a way out to establish themselves, developed the land by joining forces and built a colony.

Of the colonies developed by Okinawan emigrants in the vicinity of Campo Grande, there were Mata do Segredo, Bandeira, Imbirussu, Mata do Ceroula, and Rincão among others. There were people who worked on many jobs like Koki OSHIRO did, in areas related to the railway (head of workers, train driver, construction contractor, joinery, etc.). There were those who settled in the urban center, who dedicated themselves to trade and laundry, seeking new possibilities in agriculture and commerce, different from the livestock industry, thus rapidly developing Campo Grande.

The reddish soil conducive to coffee cultivation is called "Terra Roxa" in Brazil. Roxa indicates the purple color, and when the soil gets wet with rain, the red becomes more intense and shines.
The completion of the Noroeste Railway changed the times, rapidly developing the train line vicinity, from a time when people and supplies were mainly transported by boat.
From the 1920s, the land along the Noroeste railway was sold by lots and many Okinawan emigrants settled as coffee or cotton farmers by renting or on their own lands.
In 1933, there were many Okinawans living in the regions of the Lins station (164 families), Promissão station (155 families), Bauru station (52 families), Cafelândia station (47 families) among others. Especially in the Lins station region, 71 families of Okinawan emigrants gathered in the Aliança district of the Uetsuka Colony no. 2, becoming one of the largest Okinawan communities to influence Okinawan artistic activities in Brazil.

With the outbreak of World War II, Japanese emigrants in Brazil, as well as in the US and Peru, suffered as citizens of an enemy nation. However, compared to other countries, most were a part of the “The Victorious” (KACHIGUMI), those who did not doubt the Japanese victory even after the Japanese surrendered, and there were cases of bloodshed on the "The Defeated” (MAKEGUMI) Japanese and frauds, creating a great mess.

Freedom Limitation of the Enemy Nation Citizens

As the world advanced into war, the environment surrounding Japanese emigrants became increasingly difficult. In 1939, carrying a foreigner registration and an identity document becomes mandatory. In August 1941, the publication of newspapers in Japanese language was prohibited and for emigrants who could not read Portuguese, and access to information also became very limited. In addition, the Brazilian government issued an order to control the citizens of the Axis countries (Japan, Italy and Germany), prohibiting the distribution of texts in their respective languages, talking in public places in their mother languages, discussing the world situation, meetings in private residences, and even restricting the freedom of movement. In March 1942, the assets of the citizens of the Axis countries were frozen.