 | Imperial Japanese Navy: Encyclopedia II - Imperial Japanese Navy - Origins
Imperial Japanese Navy - Origins
Main article Naval history of Japan
Japan has a long history of naval interaction with the Asian continent, involving transportation of troops between Korea and Japan, starting at least with the beginning of the Kofun period in the 3rd century.
Following the attempts at Mongol invasions of Japan by Kubilai Khan in 1281, Japanese "Wakō" pirates became very active plundering the coast of the Chinese Empire.
Japan undertook major naval building efforts in the 16th century, during the Warring States period, when feudal rulers vying for supremacy built vast coastal navies of several hundred ships. Around that time, Japan seems to have developed the first ironclad warships in history, when Oda Nobunaga, a Japanese daimyo, had six iron-covered Oatakebune made in 1576 [2].
Japan built her first large ocean-going warships in the beginning of the 17th century, following contacts with the Western nations during the Nanban trade period. In 1613, the Daimyo of Sendai, in agreement with the Tokugawa Bakufu, built Date Maru, a 500 ton galleon-type ship that transported a Japanese embassy to the Americas, and then continued to Europe. From 1604, about 350 Red seal ships, usually armed and incorporating some Western technologies, were also commissioned by the Bakufu, mainly for Southeast Asian trade.
From 1640, Japan chose the policy of Sakoku (seclusion), which forbade contacts with the West, eradicated Christianity, and prohibited the construction of ocean-going ships on pain of death.
The study of Western shipbuilding techniques resumed in the 1840s during the Late Tokugawa shogunate ("Bakumatsu"). In 1853 and 1854, U.S. Navy Commodore Matthew Perry, made a demonstration of force with the newest steam warships of the US Navy. Perry finally obtained the opening of the country to international trade through the 1854 Convention of Kanagawa. This was soon followed by the 1858 "unequal" U.S.-Japan Treaty of Amity and Commerce, which allowed the establishment of foreign concessions, extra-territoriality for foreigners, and minimal import taxes for foreign goods.
As soon as Japan agreed to open up to foreign influence, the Tokugawa shogun government initiated an active policy of assimilation of Western naval technologies. In 1855, with Dutch assistance, the Shogunate acquired its first steam warship, the Kankō Maru, which was used for training, and established the Nagasaki Naval Training Center. In 1857, it acquired its first screw-driven steam warship, the Kanrin Maru. Naval students were sent to study in Western naval schools for several years, such as the future Admiral Takeaki Enomoto (who studied in the Netherlands from 1862–1867), starting a tradition of foreign-educated future leaders such Admirals Heihachiro Togo and, later, Isoroku Yamamoto. In 1865, the French naval engineer Léonce Verny was hired to build Japan's first modern naval arsenals, at Yokosuka and Nagasaki.
By the end of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1867, the Tokugawa navy already possessed eight Western-style steam warships around the flagship Kaiyō Maru which were used against pro-imperial forces during the Boshin war, under the command of Admiral Enomoto. The conflict culminated with the Naval Battle of Hakodate in 1869, Japan's first large-scale modern naval battle, and ended with the defeat of the last Tokugawa forces and the restoration of Imperial rule.
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 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Origins", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
