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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.

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 Department: Operations Bureau
- 1st Section: Operations
- 2nd Section: Training
2nd Department: Weapons and Mobilization Bureau
- 3rd Section: Weapons
- 4th Section: Mobilization
3rd Department: Intelligence Bureau
- 5th Section: Intelligence for America
- 6th Section: Intelligence for China
- 7th Section: Intelligence for Soviet Union
- 8th Section: Intelligence for UK and Europe
4th Department: Communications Bureau
- 9th Section: Communications
- 10th Section: Cryptography

Chiefs of the General Staff

No.	Chief of the General Staff	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1	Toshiyoshi, ItōRear Admiral Itō Toshiyoshi 伊藤雋吉 (1840–1921)	8 March 1889	17 May 1889	70 days
2	Shinanojō, ArichiRear Admiral Arichi Shinanojō 有地品之允 (1843–1919)	17 May 1889	17 June 1891	2 years, 31 days
3	Yoshika, InoueRear Admiral Baron Inoue Yoshika 井上良馨 (1845–1929)	17 June 1891	12 December 1892	1 year, 178 days
4	Kuranosuke, NakamutaVice Admiral Viscount Nakamuta Kuranosuke 中牟田倉之助 (1837–1916)	12 December 1892^[a]	18 July 1894^[b]	1 year, 218 days
5	Sukenori, KabayamaVice Admiral^[c] Viscount Kabayama Sukenori 樺山資紀 (1837–1922)	18 July 1894	11 May 1895^[d]	297 days
6	Sukeyuki, ItōVice Admiral^[f] Itō Sukeyuki^[e] 伊藤雋吉 (1843–1914)	11 May 1895	20 December 1905	10 years, 223 days
7	Heihachirō, TōgōAdmiral Tōgō Heihachirō^[g] 東郷平八郎 (1848–1934)	20 December 1905	1 December 1909	3 years, 346 days
8	Gorō, IjuinVice Admiral^[h] Baron Ijūin Gorō 伊集院五郎 (1848–1934)	1 December 1909	22 April 1914	4 years, 142 days
9	Hayao, ShimamuraVice Admiral^[j] Shimamura Hayao^[i] 島村速雄 (1858–1923)	22 April 1914	1 December 1920	6 years, 223 days
10	Gentarō, YamashitaAdmiral Yamashita Gentarō 山下源太郎 (1863–1931)	1 December 1920	15 April 1925	4 years, 135 days
11	Suzuki, KantarōAdmiral Kantarō Suzuki 鈴木貫太郎 (1868–1948)	15 April 1925	22 January 1929^[k]	3 years, 282 days
12	Kato, KanjiAdmiral Katō Hiroharu 加藤寛治 (1870–1939)	22 January 1929	11 June 1930^[l]	1 year, 140 days
13	Naomi, TaniguchiVice Admiral Taniguchi Naomi [ja] 谷口尚真 (1870–1941)	11 June 1930	2 February 1932^[m]	1 year, 236 days
14	Hiroyasu, FushimiAdmiral^[n] Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu 伏見宮博恭王 (1875–1946)	2 February 1932	9 April 1941	9 years, 66 days
15	Osami, NaganoAdmiral^[o] Nagano Osami 永野修身 (1880–1947)	9 April 1941	21 February 1944^[p]	2 years, 318 days
16	Shigetarō, ShimadaAdmiral Shimada Shigetarō 嶋田繁太郎 (1883–1976)	21 February 1944^[q]	2 August 1944^[r]	163 days
17	Koshirō, OikawaAdmiral Oikawa Koshirō 及川古志郎 (1883–1958)	2 August 1944	29 May 1945^[s]	300 days
18	Soemu, ToyodaAdmiral Toyoda Soemu 豊田副武 (1885–1957)	29 May 1945	15 October 1945	139 days

Notes

^ Concurrently Headmaster of the Naval War College until 20 May 1893.
^ Re-assigned to Privy Council over objections to escalating hostilities with China that led to the First Sino-Japanese War.
^ Promoted to Admiral on 5 May 1895.
^ Resigned to accept appointment as first Governor-General of Taiwan.
^ Created Viscount on 5 August 1898.
^ Promoted to Admiral on 28 September 1898.
^ Created Count on 21 September 1907.
^ Promoted to Admiral on 1 December 1910.
^ Created Baron on 14 July 1916.
^ Promoted to Admiral on 28 August 1915.
^ Resigned to become Grand Chamberlain.
^ Resigned rather than attend a state dinner in honor of US Ambassador William Richards Castle Jr.
^ Forced to resign due to tepid support for the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.
^ Promoted to Marshal Admiral on 27 May 1932.
^ Promoted to Marshal Admiral on 21 June 1943.
^ Forced to resign following Operation Hailstone.
^ Concurrently Minister of the Navy until 17 July 1944.
^ Forced to resign after the downfall of the Tōjō Cabinet following the loss of Saipan.
^ Resigned in protest of the Emperor's refusal to consider peace proposals.

References

^ 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.