Naval War College (Japan)

This article deals with the Empire of Japan's Naval War College. For other war colleges, see: War College.

Commemorative postcard showing Naval Ministry and Naval War College, circa 1900

The Naval War College (海軍大学校, Kaigun Daigakkō) was the staff college of the Imperial Japanese Navy, responsible for training officers for command positions either on warships, or in staff roles.

In the 1880s, the Imperial Japanese Navy realized the need for post-graduate study by officer graduates of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, and established a college in Tsukiji, Tokyo in 1888, the same year the Naval Academy moved from Tsukiji to Etajima, Hiroshima. The Navy turned to the United Kingdom for assistance in modernizing and Westernizing, and the Royal Navy provided military advisors to assist in the development of the curriculum. The first director of the Naval War College was Inoue Kaoru.

In comparison with the Army War College (Japan), it took longer for navy officers to apply for admission to the Navy War College. A lieutenant or lieutenant commander could apply only after ten years of active service after graduation from the naval academy. Within that ten year period, most applicants also graduated from specialized naval artillery school and torpedo school, lasting six months each. The Naval War College itself was a one-year course.

See also

• Imperial Japanese Naval Academy
• List of graduates of the Japanese Imperial Military Academies

References

• Gow, Ian (2004). Military Intervention in Pre-War Japanese Politics: Admiral Kato Kanji and the Washington System'. RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN 0-7007-1315-8.