The wartime restrictions on the telephone service strengthened with the outbreak and progress of the Pacific War. A request for non-essential telephones collected 4000 telephones between January and March 1943 (Showa 18). However, a cabinet decision in April the following year saw the commandeering of existing telephones from general subscribers. This was called the telephone mobilization and the total number of telephones commandeered reached 123,000. As the war situation got worse, the heightened conflict emergency measures were determined and local and long distance calls by low priority subscribers stopped.

---