Before the First World War, Southeast Asian waters were in the tight grip of European shipping-British, French, Dutch, German and Scandinavian. The drive of Japanese shipping into these waters occurred during the First World War. O.S.K.'s Java line also began in this period, and although might appear that O.S.K. simply jumped on the bandwagon of the war boom, four research reports on Southeast Asian waters have been found that were written by O.S.K. staff before the war. The first study was made in 1900,the second in 1901,the third in 1905 and the fourth in 1912. These reports indicate the following.
Firstly, the Government-General of Taiwan played an important role in the establishment of the Java line. The second study was clearly made at its request. If the O.S.K. would open a Java line, it promised to give subsidies to the line.
Secondly, the last report had already come to the conclusion before the outbreak of the First World War that the Java line was operable and potentially profitable.
Thirdly, the report's conclusion was not based on the quantity of trade between Japan and Indonesia, which was small at that time. Rather, cross trade, such as that between China, Malaya and Indonesia, was thought promising.
Fourthly, O.S.K. staff were keen to compete with European shipping in Southeast Asian waters. They thought that friendship and cooperation between Japanese and other Asian people would be a fundamental factor in their success.
One can conclude that the opening of O.S.K.'s Java line was not simply the result of opportunism in the shipping boom of the First World War.
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