Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff

The Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff (軍令部, Gunreibu) was the highest organ within the Imperial Japanese Navy. In charge of planning and operations, it was headed by an Admiral headquartered in Tokyo.

Imperial Japanese Navy HQ, 1930s

History

Created in 1893, the Navy General Staff took over operational (as opposed to administrative) authority over the Imperial Japanese Navy from the Navy Ministry. It was responsible for the planning and execution of national defense strategy. Through the Imperial General Headquarters it reported directly to the Emperor, not to the Prime Minister, National Diet or even the Navy Ministry. It was always headed by an admiral on active duty, and was based in Tokyo.

"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]

After the Washington Naval Conference of 1921–22, where Japan agreed to keep the size of its fleet smaller than that of the United Kingdom and the United States, the Imperial Japanese Navy became divided into the mutually hostile Fleet Faction and Treaty Faction political cliques. The Navy Ministry tended to be pro-Treaty Faction and was anxious to maintain the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. However the Navy General Staff came to be dominated by the Fleet faction, and gradually gained ascendancy in the 1930s with increasing Japanese militarism.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 General Staff was abolished together with the Imperial Japanese Navy by the American occupation authorities in November 1945 and was not revived by the post-war Constitution of Japan.

Organization

The General Staff was organized as follows:

  • 1st Section: Operations Bureau
  • 2nd Section: Weapons and Mobilization Bureau
  • 3rd Section: Intelligence Bureau
  • 4th Section: Communications Bureau

Chiefs of the General Staff
No. Portrait Chief of the General StaffTook officeLeft officeTime in office
1
Toshiyoshi, ItōRear Admiral
Itō Toshiyoshi
伊藤雋吉
(1840–1921)		8 March 188917 May 188970 days
2
Shinanojō, ArichiRear Admiral
Arichi Shinanojō
有地品之允
(1843–1919)		17 May 188917 June 18912 years, 31 days
3
Yoshika, InoueRear Admiral
Baron Inoue Yoshika
井上良馨
(1845–1929)		17 June 189112 December 18921 year, 178 days
4
Kuranosuke, NakamutaVice Admiral
Viscount Nakamuta Kuranosuke
中牟田倉之助
(1837–1916)		12 December 1892[lower-alpha 1]18 July 1894[lower-alpha 2]1 year, 218 days
5
Sukenori, KabayamaVice Admiral[lower-alpha 3]
Viscount Kabayama Sukenori
樺山資紀
(1837–1922)		18 July 189411 May 1895[lower-alpha 4]297 days
6
Sukeyuki, ItōVice Admiral[lower-alpha 6]
Itō Sukeyuki[lower-alpha 7]
伊藤雋吉
(1843–1914)		11 May 189520 December 190510 years, 223 days
7
Heihachirō, TōgōAdmiral
Tōgō Heihachirō[lower-alpha 9]
東郷平八郎
(1848–1934)		20 December 19051 December 19093 years, 346 days
8
Gorō, IjuinVice Admiral[lower-alpha 10]
Baron Ijūin Gorō
伊集院五郎
(1848–1934)		1 December 190922 April 19144 years, 142 days
9
Hayao, ShimamuraVice Admiral[lower-alpha 12]
Shimamura Hayao[lower-alpha 13]
島村速雄
(1858–1923)		22 April 19141 December 19206 years, 223 days
10
Gentarō, YamashitaAdmiral
Yamashita Gentarō
山下源太郎
(1863–1931)		1 December 192015 April 19254 years, 135 days
11
Suzuki, KantarōAdmiral
Suzuki Kantarō
鈴木貫太郎
(1868–1948)		15 April 192522 January 1929[lower-alpha 14]3 years, 282 days
12
Kato, KanjiAdmiral
Katō Hiroharu
加藤寛治
(1870–1939)		22 January 192911 June 1930[lower-alpha 15]1 year, 140 days
13
Naomi, TaniguchiVice Admiral
Taniguchi Naomi
谷口尚真
(1870–1941)		11 June 19302 February 1932[lower-alpha 16]1 year, 236 days
14
Hiroyasu, FushimiAdmiral[lower-alpha 17]
Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu
伏見宮博恭王
(1875–1946)		2 February 19329 April 19419 years, 66 days
15
Osami, NaganoAdmiral[lower-alpha 18]
Nagano Osami
永野修身
(1880–1947)		9 April 194121 February 1944[lower-alpha 19]2 years, 318 days
16
Shigetarō, ShimadaAdmiral
Shimada Shigetarō
嶋田繁太郎
(1883–1976)		21 February 1944[lower-alpha 20]2 August 1944[lower-alpha 21]163 days
17
Koshirō, OikawaAdmiral
Oikawa Koshirō
及川古志郎
(1883–1958)		2 August 194429 May 1945[lower-alpha 22]300 days
18
Soemu, ToyodaAdmiral
Toyoda Soemu
豊田副武
(1885–1957)		29 May 194515 October 1945139 days

See also

Notes
  1. Concurrently Headmaster of the Naval War College until 20 May 1893
  2. Re-assigned to Privy Council over objections to escalating hostilities with China that led to the First Sino-Japanese War.
  3. Promoted to Admiral 5 May 1895
  4. Resigned to accept appointment as first Governor-General of Taiwan
  5. Created Viscount 5 August 1898.
  6. Promoted to Admiral 28 September 1898
  7. Created Viscount 5 August 1898.
  8. Created Count 21 September 1907.
  9. Created Count 21 September 1907.
  10. Promoted to Admiral 1 December 1910
  11. Created Baron 14 July 1916.
  12. Promoted to Admiral 28 August 1915
  13. Created Baron 14 July 1916.
  14. Resigned to become Grand Chamberlain
  15. Resigned rather than attend a state dinner in honor of US Ambassador William Richards Castle Jr.
  16. Forced to resign due to tepid support for the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.
  17. Promoted to Marshal Admiral 27 May 1932
  18. Promoted to Marshal Admiral 21 June 1934
  19. Forced to resign following Operation Hailstone.
  20. Concurrently Minister of the Navy until 17 July
  21. Forced to resign after the downfall of the Tōjō Cabinet following the loss of Saipan
  22. Resigned in protest of the Emperor's refusal to consider peace proposals

References
  1. Spector

Bibliography
  • Asada, Sadao (2006). From Mahan to Pearl Harbor: The Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-042-8.
  • Schencking, J. Charles (2005). Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868-1922. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-4977-9.
  • Spector, Ronald (1985). Eagle Against the Sun. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0-394-74101-3.
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