In 1938, the Sea Scout Department of the Boy Scouts of Nippon became independent and formed the Dainippon Kaiyo Shonendan (DKS). Both the former and newly formed versions of the Kaiyo Shonendan, the Sea Scout troops, were included in DKS, and they continued until 1945. Since 1938, the Imperial Japanese Navy had played a role in the organisation. In 1941, the Ministry of Education decided to integrate youth groups (both male and female, Seinendan and Jyoshi Seinendan), and children's groups, Shonendan into one national youth organization. Therefore, the Ministry of Education also began paying attention to DKS. DKS did not join the national youth organization, but they remade their regulations in a way that mimicked the regulations of that organization. Moreover, DKS entered under the management of the Ministry of Education formally when the post of president of DKS became one that was commissioned by the Minister of Education. Actual activities of DKS, however, were strongly regulated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Furthermore, the Kaiyo Shonendan was based on a system like a school credit systm, and adopted a principle of elitism. In other words, the Kaiyo Shonendan at that time did not consist of groups whose activities took place at sea, but groups based on schools on land, even in the mountains, and only for selected children.
