On May 16th 1908(Meiji 41) , the Choshi coastal radio telegraph station and the shipboard radio telegraph station on the Tenyo-maru owned by Toyo Kisen were opened simultaneously for public wireless communications. By December, five coastal stations and ten shipboard stations (including the above two stations) had been opened. As private radio stations were not yet approved at that time, all the radio stations belonged to the Communications Department and all operators were government officials. Even on a private ship, the communication room was a government office staffed by government officials. This situation continued until a radio communications law was established in 1915 (Taisho 4).

---