Ministry of the Navy of Japan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Navy Ministry of Japan (海軍省 Kaigunshō?) was the cabinet-level ministry from 1872-1945 in charge with administration of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN).
Contents |
[edit] History
The Navy Ministry was created in April 1872, along with the Army Ministry, to replace the Ministry of Military Affairs (Hyōbushō) of the early Meiji government.
Initially, the Navy Ministry was in charge of both administration and operational command of the Imperial Japanese Navy; however, with the creation of the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff in May 1893, it was left with only administrative functions.
"The ministry was responsible for the naval budget, ship construction, weapons procurement, personnel, relations with the Diet and the cabinet and broad matters of naval policy. The General Staff directed the operations of the fleet and the preparation of war plans" [1].
Up until the 1920s, the Navy Ministry held the upper hand over the Navy General Staff in terms of political influence. However, the officers of the Navy General Staff found an opportunity at the Washington Naval Conference in 1921-22 to improve their situation. At this meeting, the United States and Britain wanted to establish a worldwide naval ratio, asking the Japanese to limit themselves to a smaller navy than the Western powers. The Naval Ministry was willing to agree to this, seeking to maintain the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, but the Navy General Staff refused. The Imperial Japanese Navy became divided into mutually hostile Fleet Faction and Treaty Faction political cliques. Ultimately, the treaty was signed by Japan, but terminated in 1934. Through the 1930s, with increasing Japanese militarism, the Fleet faction gradually gained ascendancy over the Treaty Faction, and dominating the Navy General Staff pushed through the attack on Pearl Harbor against the wishes of the more diplomatic Navy Ministry.
After 1937, both the Navy Minister and the Chief of the Navy General Staff were members of the Imperial General Headquarters.
With the defeat of the Empire of Japan in World War II, the Navy Ministry was abolished together with the Imperial Japanese Navy by the American occupation authorities in November 1945 and was not revived in the post-war Constitution of Japan.
[edit] Organization
[edit] Internally Operating Divisions
|
|||||||||||||||||||
- Military Affairs Bureau
- Mobilization Bureau
- Technical Bureau
- Personnel Bureau
- Training Bureau
- Medical Bureau
- Shipyard Bureau
- Naval Construction Bureau
- Legal Bureau
- Administrative/Accounting Bureau
[edit] Externally Operating Divisions
- Imperial Japanese Navy Aviation Bureau
- Imperial Japanese Navy Academy
- Naval War College (Japan)
- Naval Accounting School
- Navy Medical School
- Naval Engineering School
- Submarine Division
- Canals and Waterways Division
- Naval Technical Department
- Naval Tribunal
- Tokyo Naval Tribunal
- Chemical Warfare Division
- Radio and Radar Division
- Supply and Transport Bureau
- Naval Construction Division
- Naval Maintenance & Repair Division
- Special Attack Weapons Division
- Emergency Reaction Division
- Naval Aviation Training Division
- Naval Intelligence Division
[edit] Ministers of the Navy of Japan
By law, Navy Ministers had to be appointed from active duty admirals or vice-admirals. Their primary function was to provide communications and liaison between the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff, the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Cabinet and the Diet of Japan.
[edit] Naval Lords under the Ministry of Military Affairs
[edit] Naval Minister under the Meiji Constitution
| Date | Name | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | July 1885-July 1886 | Saigo Tsugumichi | |
| 2 | July 1886 – July 1887 | Oyama Iwao | |
| 3 | July 1887 – May 1890 | Saigo Tsugumichi | |
| 4 | May 1890 – Aug 1892 | Kabayama Sukenori | |
| 5 | Aug 1892 – Mar 1893 | Nire Kagenori | |
| 6 | Mar 1893 – Nov 1898 | Saigo Tsugumichi | |
| 7 | Nov 1898 - Jan 1906 | Yamamoto Gonnohyōe | |
| 8 | Jan 1906 - Apr 1914 | Saitō Makoto | |
| 9 | Apr 1914 - Aug 1915 | Yashiro Rokurō | |
| 10 | Aug 1915 - Oct 1921 | Katō Tomosaburō | |
| 11 | Oct 1921 - Nov 1921 | Hara Kei (Acting Minister) | |
| 12 | Nov 1921 | Uchida Kosai | |
| 13 | Nov 1921 - Mar 1922 | Takahashi Korekiyo (Acting Minister) | |
| 14 | Mar 1922 - May 1923 | Katō Tomosaburō | |
| 15 | May 1923 - Jan 1924 | Takarabe Takeshi | |
| 16 | Jan 1924 - Jun 1924 | Murakami Kakuichi | |
| 17 | Jun 1924 - Apr 1927 | Takarabe Takeshi | |
| 18 | Apr 1927 - Jul 1929 | Okada Keisuke | |
| 19 | Jul 1929 - Nov 1929 | Takarabe Takeshi | |
| 20 | Nov 1929 - May 1930 | Hamaguchi Osachi (Acting Minister) | |
| 21 | May 1930 - Oct 1930 | Takarabe Takeshi | |
| 22 | Oct 1930 - Dec 1931 | Abo Kiyokazu | |
| 23 | Dec 1931 - May 1932 | Osumi Mineo | |
| 24 | May 1932 - Jan 1933 | Okada Keisuke | |
| 25 | Jan 1933 - Mar 1936 | Osumi Mineo | |
| 26 | Mar 1936 - Feb 1937 | Nagano Osami | |
| 27 | Feb 1937 - Aug 1939 | Yonai Mitsumasa | |
| 28 | Aug 1939 - Sep 1940 | Yoshida Zengo | |
| 29 | Sep 1940 - Oct 1941 | Oikawa Koshirō | |
| 30 | Oct 1941 - Jul 1944 | Shimada Shigetarō | |
| 31 | Jul 1944 | Nomura Naokuni | |
| 32 | Jul 1944 - Dec 1945 | Yonai Mitsumasa |
[edit] References
[edit] Books
- Asada, Sadao (2006). From Mahan to Pearl Harbor: The Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1557500428.
- Schencking, J. Charles (2005). Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868-1922. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804749779.
- Spector, Ronald (1985). Eagle Against the Sun. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0394741013.
[edit] External links
- "Foreign Office Files for Japan and the Far East". Adam Matthew Publications.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Spector
|
|||||
