Imperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) (大日本帝國海軍 Dai-Nippon Teikoku Kaigun or 日本海軍 Nippon Kaigun) was the navy of Japan before 1945. It was administered by the Ministry of the Navy of Japan and controlled by the Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff at Imperial General Headquarters.

Medieval origins

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.

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The first major references to Japanese naval actions occur in the accounts of the Mongol invasions of Japan by the navy of Kubilai Khan in 1281. Japan had no navy which could compare with Mongol forces, and most of the action took place on Japanese land, but on that occasion, groups of Japanese samurai, transported on small coastal boats, are recorded to have boarded and taken over several ships of the Mongol navy.

Related Topics:
Mongol invasions of Japan - Kubilai Khan - 1281

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During the following centuries, Japanese "Wak?" pirates became very active in plundering the coast of the Chinese Empire. Official trading missions were also sent to China, such as the Tenry?jibune, around 1341.

Related Topics:
Wak? - Chinese Empire - Tenry?jibune - 1341

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Warring States period (15th-16th century)

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. The largest of these ships were called "Atakebune" (安宅船). Around that time, Japan seems to have developed the first ironclad warships in history, when Oda Nobunaga, a Japanese daimyo, had six iron-covered Ōatakebune (大安宅船) made in 1576. These ships were called "Tekk?sen" (???, literally "iron armored ships") and were armed with multiple cannons and large caliber rifles to defeat the large, but not iron-covered, vessels the enemy used. He defeated Mori's navy with them at the mouth of the Kizu River, Osaka in 1578 in a successful naval blockade. These ships are regarded as floating fortresses rather than true warships, and were only used in coastal actions.

Related Topics:
16th century - Warring States period - Atakebune - Ironclad - Oda Nobunaga - Japan - Daimyo - Mori's - Osaka - 1578

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Invasion of Korea (1592-1598)

In 1592 and again in 1598, Japan invaded Korea with an army of 160,000, in the Seven-Year War. Although Japan had several victories on land, her navy suffered several major setbacks against the Korean navy, led by Yi Sun-sin. Her failure on the sea, and the difficulty in resupplying troops on land, were one of the major reasons for the ultimate failure of the invasion. The defeat in the Battle of Myeongnyang was still vivid in memories, when Admiral Togo would mention Yi Sun-sin as one of his "teachers" three hundred years later.

Related Topics:
1592 - 1598 - Korea - Seven-Year War - Yi Sun-sin - Battle of Myeongnyang - Togo

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Invasion of the Ryukyu (1609)

In 1609, the lord Shimazu Tadatsune of Satsuma invaded the southern islands of Ryukyu (modern Okinawa) with a fleet of 13 junks and 2,500 samurai, thereby establishing suzerainty over the islands.

Related Topics:
Shimazu Tadatsune - Satsuma - Ryukyu - Okinawa - Samurai

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Oceanic trade (16th-17th century)

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 1614, the Daimyo of Sendai, in agreement with the Tokugawa Bakufu, built San Juan Bautista, a 500 ton galleon-type ship that transported a Japanese embassy to the Americas, which then continued to Europe.

Related Topics:
17th century - Nanban trade period - 1614 - Daimyo - Sendai - Tokugawa - Bakufu - ''San Juan Bautista'' - Galleon

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From 1604, about 350 Red seal ships, usually armed and incorporating some Western technologies, were also commissionned by the Bakufu, mainly for Southeast Asian trade. Japanese ships and samurai helped in the defense of Malacca on the side of the Portuguese against the Dutch Cornelis Matelief in 1606. The Japanese adventurer Yamada Nagamasa would play a military role in Siam (Thailand) with several armed ships. The English adventurer William Adams participated to Red Seal ship trade and would comment that "the people of this land are very stout seamen".

Related Topics:
1604 - Red seal ships - Southeast Asia - Samurai - Malacca - Portuguese - Dutch - Cornelis Matelief - 1606 - Yamada Nagamasa - Siam - William Adams

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Plan for the invasion of the Philippines (1637)

The Tokugawa shogunate had planned for some time to invade the Philippines in order to eradicate Spanish expansionism in Asia, and its support of Christian strengths in Japan. In November 1637 it notified Nicolas Couckebacker, the head of the Dutch East India Company in Japan, of its intentions. About 10,000 samurai were prepared for the expedition, and the Dutch accepted to provide four warships and two yachts to support the Japanese junks against Spanish galleons. The plans were cancelled with the advent of the Christian Shimabara Rebellion in Japan in December 1637.

Related Topics:
Philippines - Dutch East India Company - Galleon - Shimabara Rebellion

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Seclusion (1638- circa 1840)

Following these events, and for the following two hundred years however, Japan chose the policy of Sakoku (seclusion), which forbid contacts with the West, eradicated Christianity, and prohibited the construction of ocean-going ships on pain of death.

Related Topics:
Sakoku - Christianity

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A tiny Dutch delegation in Dejima, Nagasaki was the only allowed contact with the West, from which the Japanese were kept partly informed of western scientific and technological advances, establishing a body of knowledge known as Rangaku.

Related Topics:
Dutch - Dejima - Nagasaki - Rangaku

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