With the controlled economy during the war, obtaining raw materials, fuel and packaging material for flat glass became increasingly difficult. Common practice at the time was to pack the glass tightly in a box covered with the wood on all sides, but to reduce the amount of wood, the Yokkaichi Plant experimented on shipping the glass without any packaging on a freight train in 1939.
Although the glass arrived in Osaka safely, the novel shipping method never caught on because of the requirement for a specially equipped of freight car. It was an early effort for what is now a standard practice of shipping the glass without packaging material.