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The [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] was created in 1868, initially the officers and sailors who manned the new navy reflected the composition of the Meiji government's bureaucracy. [[Samurai]] who originated from the victorious coalition of western domains dominated the navy's small officer corps. Japan's important south western domains which had led the restoration, particularly Satsuma, also dominated the numbers of recruits sent to the new Naval Academy which had opened in October 1869. The leadership of the new navy, later took steps to reform recruitment into the officer corps and the creation of a system of recruitment based on merit rather than class or region. In 1871, the government announced that applicants would be accepted from the public at large and that entry would be based upon competitive examinations. Eventually, in the words of Arthur Marder, the Imperial Japanese Navy turned out officers of "unquestioned professional competence, fanatical courage, and extraordinary elan". The IJN molded among the ranks a standard of discipline, self-sacrifice, and devotion to duty that became the envy of all navies in the world. Japan's later victories at sea, one commentator has observed, "came as much from the training and morale of the average Japanese seaman as from the effectiveness of the navy's ships or the caliber of its guns".
==Early years==
===Establishment of the Officer Corps===
[[Image:Japanesenavalacademy001.JPG|thumb|right|The building of Imperial Japanese Naval Academy.]]
One of the first steps to train a modern officer corps was the establishment of a naval academy not unlike those of navies of many Western nations. A facility was established in 1869 at [[Tsukiji]] in Tokyo and moved to [[Etajima]] in 1888, on the Inland Sea and which not far from Hiroshima.
Initially, the officers and sailors who manned the new navy mirrored the composition of the government's bureaucracy. Samurai who originated from the victorious coalition of the south western domains dominated the navy's small officer corps. This stranglehold over the officer corps was in large part, echoed the naval strength that had been accumulated by the various anti-Tokugawa domains. Beginning in 1870, the most powerful han (''domains'') with independent naval forces offered their vessels to the state, they did so on the condition that the officers and enlisted personnel who manned them should subsequently obtain positions and rank in the new navy. Since [[Satsuma domain|Satsuma]], offered the three largest warships to the new government, it also provided more officers and enlisted sailors than any other domain.
In the initial recruitment of new cadets for the Naval Academy, the Hyōbushō (''Military Ministry'') drew heavily from bakumatsu-era precedents. Similar to the recruitment of cadets at the two Dutch-assisted bakufu naval training centers that had opened in 1855 and 1857, respectively, it continued a tribute system to secure cadets. Domains of the 17 original anti-bakufu coalition that possessed naval units, were ordered to provide cadets to the academy based on the size of their respective han (''domains''). Within this scheme, the larger political domains provided five students, and the smaller ones provided three each. As [[Choshu domain|Chōshu]], [[Satsuma domain|Satsuma]], and [[Saga domain|Hizen]] were three of the most important naval domains, they sent the largest contingents. Furthermore, Satsuma officials also sent fourteen full-fee paying day students along with the five tribute students, giving their domain the largest single representation at the school. Quality did not match quantity, and as a consequence, the first batch of students sent under the tribute system did little to impress either the academy authorities or officials in the Military Ministry. Of the original 114 students who attended the academy in 1870, only two remained for the full course and graduated in 1873, this awful performance motivated the naval leadership, at the time, to implement changes.
Japan's early naval leadership was aware of the severely limited economic and material resources of the country at the time, leading to initial priority given to the education and training of officers and men rather than to the acquisition of additional naval vessels. Conscious of the fact that officers could not be trained overnight, they set about a reorganization of the naval academy; they view this as essential, realizing that this was a cost-effective means of establishing the foundations for a future navy. Therefore, after the first full year of subjects, the academy implemented a revised program to secure better recruits. As a first step, the government abolished the feudal recruitment and enrollment program which had been retained by the new government. Not only did such a system provide no quality control over cadets, but it also led to a furtherance of regional identities among cadets and did little to cultivate the aura of a national navy.
In 1871 the government implemented a new policy for naval officer recruitment, one that had wide-ranging political, geographical, and social implications for the navy. First, the navy made enrollment contingent upon the successful completion of an entrance examination. Second, in order to attract anyone of outstanding intellectual ability and in an effort to make the navy a national service, the navy opened applications to anyone who desired a naval career regardless of their social or geographical origin. Although individuals of samurai background made up the vast majority of cadets in the early Meiji period, accounting for 90 percent of those who enrolled in 1874, the implementation of an examination-based entrance qualification led to a noticeable increase in officers of commoner background, who had been exposed to little or no previous military training. By 1891 in fact, commoners (''heimin'') accounted for just over 21 percent of the academy's graduates, a figure which would increase to 34 percent in 1901.
During an average course of four years, cadets at the [[Imperial Japanese Naval Academy|Imperial Naval Academy]] were taught various subjects in naval science such as seamanship, navigation, and gunnery, as well as general education subjects. The training program stressed physical fitness and toughness and placed great emphasis on the traditional Japanese military values of loyalty, courtesy, valor, and simplicity.
===Enlisted personnel===
While the beginnings of a professional officer corps were being established, similar steps were taken to train the sailors and petty officers who would man the future navy. Unlike the [[Imperial Japanese Army|army]], the navy initially avoided using the universal conscription act of 1873, seeking instead to recruit volunteers rather than conscripts into its ranks. There was preference for those who already knew something of the sea, particularly for the sons of fishermen between the ages of 18 and 25. Later, as the navy grew, its enlisted personnel were drawn from both volunteers and conscripts. Of necessity, the initial training of navy enlisted personnel focused on instilling an esprit de corps that fostered patriotism and loyalty, while renewing traditional Japanese military virtues of courage and obedience.
==Notes==
==References==
*
*
*
[[Category:Imperial Japanese Navy| ]]
==Early years==
===Establishment of the Officer Corps===
[[Image:Japanesenavalacademy001.JPG|thumb|right|The building of Imperial Japanese Naval Academy.]]
One of the first steps to train a modern officer corps was the establishment of a naval academy not unlike those of navies of many Western nations. A facility was established in 1869 at [[Tsukiji]] in Tokyo and moved to [[Etajima]] in 1888, on the Inland Sea and which not far from Hiroshima.
Initially, the officers and sailors who manned the new navy mirrored the composition of the government's bureaucracy. Samurai who originated from the victorious coalition of the south western domains dominated the navy's small officer corps. This stranglehold over the officer corps was in large part, echoed the naval strength that had been accumulated by the various anti-Tokugawa domains. Beginning in 1870, the most powerful han (''domains'') with independent naval forces offered their vessels to the state, they did so on the condition that the officers and enlisted personnel who manned them should subsequently obtain positions and rank in the new navy. Since [[Satsuma domain|Satsuma]], offered the three largest warships to the new government, it also provided more officers and enlisted sailors than any other domain.
In the initial recruitment of new cadets for the Naval Academy, the Hyōbushō (''Military Ministry'') drew heavily from bakumatsu-era precedents. Similar to the recruitment of cadets at the two Dutch-assisted bakufu naval training centers that had opened in 1855 and 1857, respectively, it continued a tribute system to secure cadets. Domains of the 17 original anti-bakufu coalition that possessed naval units, were ordered to provide cadets to the academy based on the size of their respective han (''domains''). Within this scheme, the larger political domains provided five students, and the smaller ones provided three each. As [[Choshu domain|Chōshu]], [[Satsuma domain|Satsuma]], and [[Saga domain|Hizen]] were three of the most important naval domains, they sent the largest contingents. Furthermore, Satsuma officials also sent fourteen full-fee paying day students along with the five tribute students, giving their domain the largest single representation at the school. Quality did not match quantity, and as a consequence, the first batch of students sent under the tribute system did little to impress either the academy authorities or officials in the Military Ministry. Of the original 114 students who attended the academy in 1870, only two remained for the full course and graduated in 1873, this awful performance motivated the naval leadership, at the time, to implement changes.
Japan's early naval leadership was aware of the severely limited economic and material resources of the country at the time, leading to initial priority given to the education and training of officers and men rather than to the acquisition of additional naval vessels. Conscious of the fact that officers could not be trained overnight, they set about a reorganization of the naval academy; they view this as essential, realizing that this was a cost-effective means of establishing the foundations for a future navy. Therefore, after the first full year of subjects, the academy implemented a revised program to secure better recruits. As a first step, the government abolished the feudal recruitment and enrollment program which had been retained by the new government. Not only did such a system provide no quality control over cadets, but it also led to a furtherance of regional identities among cadets and did little to cultivate the aura of a national navy.
In 1871 the government implemented a new policy for naval officer recruitment, one that had wide-ranging political, geographical, and social implications for the navy. First, the navy made enrollment contingent upon the successful completion of an entrance examination. Second, in order to attract anyone of outstanding intellectual ability and in an effort to make the navy a national service, the navy opened applications to anyone who desired a naval career regardless of their social or geographical origin. Although individuals of samurai background made up the vast majority of cadets in the early Meiji period, accounting for 90 percent of those who enrolled in 1874, the implementation of an examination-based entrance qualification led to a noticeable increase in officers of commoner background, who had been exposed to little or no previous military training. By 1891 in fact, commoners (''heimin'') accounted for just over 21 percent of the academy's graduates, a figure which would increase to 34 percent in 1901.
During an average course of four years, cadets at the [[Imperial Japanese Naval Academy|Imperial Naval Academy]] were taught various subjects in naval science such as seamanship, navigation, and gunnery, as well as general education subjects. The training program stressed physical fitness and toughness and placed great emphasis on the traditional Japanese military values of loyalty, courtesy, valor, and simplicity.
===Enlisted personnel===
While the beginnings of a professional officer corps were being established, similar steps were taken to train the sailors and petty officers who would man the future navy. Unlike the [[Imperial Japanese Army|army]], the navy initially avoided using the universal conscription act of 1873, seeking instead to recruit volunteers rather than conscripts into its ranks. There was preference for those who already knew something of the sea, particularly for the sons of fishermen between the ages of 18 and 25. Later, as the navy grew, its enlisted personnel were drawn from both volunteers and conscripts. Of necessity, the initial training of navy enlisted personnel focused on instilling an esprit de corps that fostered patriotism and loyalty, while renewing traditional Japanese military virtues of courage and obedience.
==Notes==
==References==
*
*
*
[[Category:Imperial Japanese Navy| ]]
December 16, 2017 at 08:37PM
