It was reported that on November 6, 1908 the small coastal passenger steamer Taishin Maru sank off of Hokkaido, Japan. From what I have been able to find out the ship was built in 1904 at H. Kataoka in Osaka, Japan and was about 170' long and 642 gross tons. According to published reports the ship went down off Iturup (Etorofu) Island, South Kuril Islands, Japan. At the time the ship was carrying about 179 people, of which one hundred and fifty perished. No reason was given for the loss and I have been unable to find further details.