Page 377 - 1992 - XVIII Congresso Internazionale di Storia Militare

SEA POWER IN THE P AClFIC
THE RlSE AND FALL OF THE IMPERIALJAPANESE NAVYS
STRATEGY BETWEEN 1907 Al'ID 1941

TERUAKI K A\VANO

Foreword
Japan endcd its period of isolation and joined che imernational community
of nacions afccr che Mciji Restaration in 1868. In 1870. che new governmcnr an·
nounced crs policy to build up its milirary forces. In so doing, che Jnpanesc mO·
deled ics military after che thc:n·leading Western nations with che army patccrncd
afrcr thar of France, and the navy afcer chnt of che Bricisb Empire. Somcwhat later
che Imperia! Japanesc Army decided thar Germany provided a bcrrcr cxamplc ro
mode! their forccs nfcer rhnn Francll.
The lmperiuiJaptlnese Navy W:IS o most fAithful scudent ofche British Nnvy.
nnd scrongly held che view thatJapnn should similnrly devclop and m:dntnin mari·
dmc superiority nnd pursue n policy of a macitimc power. In sharp contrasr co
this, thc Imperia! Japancse Army stubbornly argucd for :l natio nn! policy of con·
tinencal elrpansion.
Moreovcr, because ofthe unique charnner ofthe lmperiaiJapancse Consmu·
rion which gave che military "the independence of the prerogative of supreme com·
mand", che execudve power lacked thc authority 10 conrrolJapan's military forces.
Il. p roblem of equnl imporcancc was rhe lack of a dominane organization w i·
thin the high command with the powcr m coordinate the fundamcncally divisivc
policies of che rwo serviccs.
Therefore, it is not an exaggcration 10 say thar thc Japancse military forces
were operated under che dual contro! of both che navy and the army wichout che
ovcrriding guidancc of a unified nacional policy.
In this srudy, l shall cxaminc the essence of the naval srracegics which this
rapidly modernizing island narion, loc:~tcd on the oucskirrs of che Asia n contincnt
developcd over ti me. l w ili go o n co argue why such srrategies conllicccd w i rh rhose
of che impcrialJapancse Arrny and cvcnruaUy rcsuhed in failure during world War Il.
Thc pcriod l shall deal with bcgins wirh che end of thc Russo:Japnnese war
in 1905 and ends with che outbrenk o( che Pacifìc War in l941.

Formation of National Dcfcnsc Policy and Naval Strarcgy
Afrcr che Russo·Japnncsc War, Lr. Col. Giichi Tanaka of the Army Generai
Smff Officc, drafted an essay rided "Zuiknnoruroku". This essay expressed his serious