The Imperial Japanese Navy was created in 1868, initially the officers and sailors who manned the new navy reflected the composition of the Meiji government's bureaucracy. Samurai who originated from the victorious coalition of south-western domains dominated the navy's small officer corps. These domains which had led the restoration, particularly Satsuma, also dominated the numbers of recruits sent to the new Naval Academy which had opened in October 1869. The leadership of the new navy later took steps to reform recruitment into the officer corps, and to establish the creation of a system of recruitment based on merit rather than on class or region. In 1871, the government announced that applicants would be accepted from the public at large and that entry would be based upon competitive examinations. Eventually, in the words of Arthur Marder, the Imperial Japanese Navy turned out officers of "unquestioned professional competence, fanatical courage, and extraordinary elan". The IJN molded among the ranks a standard of discipline, self-sacrifice, and devotion to duty that became the envy of all navies in the world. Japan's later victories at sea, one commentator has observed, "came as much from the training and morale of the average Japanese seaman as from the effectiveness of the navy's ships or the caliber of its guns".
Early years
Establishment of the Officer Corps
The first steps to train a modern officer corps was the establishment of a naval academy. A facility was established in 1869 at Tsukiji in Tokyo and later relocated to Etajima in 1888, not far from Hiroshima on the Inland Sea. Members who originated from the coalition of the south western domains initially dominated the navy's small officer corps. This stranglehold over the officer corps was in large part, was reflective of the naval strength that had been accumulated by the various anti-Tokugawa domains. Beginning in 1870, the most powerful han (domains) with independent naval forces offered their vessels to the government, they did so on the condition that the officers and enlisted personnel who manned them would subsequently obtain positions and rank in the new navy. Since Satsuma, offered the three largest warships to the new government, it also provided more officers and enlisted sailors than any other domain.
In the initial recruitment of new cadets for the Naval Academy, the Hyōbushō (Military Ministry) drew heavily from bakumatsu-era precedents. Which was similar to the recruitment of cadets at the two Dutch-assisted bakufu naval training centers that had opened in 1855 and 1857, respectively, it continued a tribute system to secure cadets. Domains of the 17 original anti-bakufu coalition that possessed naval units, were ordered to provide cadets to the academy based on the size of their respective domains. Within this scheme, the larger political domains provided five students, and the smaller ones provided three each. As Chōshu, Satsuma, and Hizen were three of the most important naval domains, they sent the largest contingents. Furthermore, Satsuma officials also sent fourteen full-fee paying day students along with the five tribute students, giving their domain the largest single representation at the academy. However, quality did not match quantity, and as a result the first batch of students sent under the tribute system failed to impress either the academy authorities or officials in the Military Ministry. Of the original 114 students who attended the academy in 1870, only two remained for the full course and graduated in 1873, this dismal performance motivated the government to implement changes.
Japan's early naval leadership was aware of the severely limited economic and material resources of the country at the time, leading to initial priority given to the education and training of officers and men rather than to the acquisition of additional naval vessels. Conscious of the fact that officers could not be trained overnight, they set about a reorganization of the naval academy; viewing this as essential and realizing that this was a cost-effective means of establishing the foundations for a future navy. Therefore, after the first full year of subjects, the academy implemented a revised program to secure better recruits. As a first step, the government abolished the feudal recruitment and enrollment program which had been retained by the new government. Not only did such a system provide no quality control over cadets, but it also led to a continuation of regional identities among cadets and did little to cultivate the aura of a national navy.
