This term names the era in which the Japanese were in control of Tobi. It lasted from 1914 until 1945. On Tobi as in the rest of Palau this was a period of rapid social change. Land was divided into individual plots, a Japanese run trade store was opened, and regularly scheduled ships carried people and cargo back and forth to Koror. In 1931 most people were baptized into the Roman Catholic Church and in 1937 phosphate mining was begun on the island. Each of these had tremendous impact on how life was lived on the island. And then came World War II.