Ministry of the Navy

An administrative body that oversaw military administration in the former Japanese Navy. Established on February 28, 1872 (Meiji 5), and abolished on December 1, 1945 (Showa 20). The first official system related to the military of the Meiji government was the Navy and Army Affairs Department, which was part of the seven department system, then the Military Defense Bureau, which was part of the eight bureau system, and then the Military Affairs Officer and the Ministry of War under the Dajokan system. As an administrative body unique to the Navy, the Navy Bureau was once placed under the Military Affairs Officer, but this was discontinued when the Ministry of War was established. A Navy Section was then established within the Ministry of War on February 9, 1870, which then became the Navy Department of the Ministry of War in July 1871, and became independent as the Ministry of the Navy in 1872. The Ministry of the Navy was originally the highest organ of the Navy, with unified control over military orders and military administration. The head was the Lord Admiral of the Navy, under whom were the Taifu and Shoyu, and three bureaus were established by the Navy Ministry organizational system and Navy Ministry ordinance of October of the same year. The Navy Ministry organizational system of 1876 established five bureaus and three sections, and the Navy Ministry was made to manage all affairs related to naval battleships. In 1884, a Military Department was established within the Navy Ministry as an external bureau in charge of military orders, and in 1886 this was transferred to the General Staff Headquarters and became the Navy Department, but in 1889 it was taken back and became the Naval Staff Department under the Minister of the Navy. Then in 1893 it became independent and became the Naval Military Order Department, directly subordinate to the Emperor. After the Cabinet system was established in 1885, the head of the Navy Ministry became the Minister of the Navy. The first Navy Minister, Katsu Yasuyoshi, was a civil servant, and the Navy Ministers after the establishment of the Cabinet system were the first Saigo Tsugumichi, the second Oyama Iwao, the third Saigo's reappointment, and the fourth Kabayama Sukenori, all of whom were army generals. In 1900 (Meiji 33), the government system stipulated that the qualifications for appointment as Navy Minister must be active-duty Navy generals (the system of active-duty military ministers). In the government system reform of 1913 (Taisho 2) after the Taisho Political Crisis, the requirement that the Minister must be an active-duty officer was removed, but in 1936 (Showa 11) after the February 26 Incident, the system was restored to active duty.

The Navy's status improved through the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars, and it gradually became equal to the Army. After the Russo-Japanese War, the Navy expanded its military capabilities with America as its hypothetical enemy, and the organization of the Ministry of the Navy was gradually strengthened. In 1916, in addition to the Minister's Secretariat, seven bureaus were established: the Military Affairs Bureau, the Personnel Bureau, the Fleet Management Bureau, the Engineering Bureau, the Medical Affairs Bureau, the Accounting Bureau, and the Legal Affairs Bureau. In 1920, the Fleet Management Bureau was changed to the Munitions Bureau, and in 1923, the Education Bureau and the Architecture Bureau were added, and in 1940, the Ordnance Bureau was established. The authority of the Ministry of the Navy was far greater within the Navy Department than that of the Ministry of the Army, but the issue of the London Naval Treaty in 1930 led to an emphasis on the idea of ​​independent command, and in 1933, the Naval General Staff was renamed the Military General Staff and some of its authority was transferred to the Military General Staff. When the Ministry of the Navy was abolished in December 1945, its duties were taken over by the Second Ministry of Demobilization.

[Akira Fujiwara]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

旧日本海軍の軍政をつかさどった行政機関。1872年（明治5）2月28日設置、1945年（昭和20）12月1日廃止。明治政府の軍事に関する最初の官制は、七科制のなかの海陸軍務科で、ついで八局制の軍防事務局、さらに太政官(だじょうかん)制の軍務官、兵部省と変遷した。海軍独自の行政機関としては、軍務官の下に海軍局がいったん置かれたが、兵部省設置に際し中絶し、改めて1870年2月9日兵部省内に海軍掛が設けられ、ついで1871年7月兵部省海軍部となり、1872年海軍省として独立した。当初の海軍省は、軍令と軍政を一元的に統轄する海軍の最高機関であった。長は海軍卿(きょう)で、そのもとに大輔(たいふ)、少輔(しょうゆう)などが置かれ、同年10月の海軍省職制と海軍省条例により3局が置かれた。1876年の海軍省職制により5局と3課が置かれ、海軍省は海軍戦艦に関するいっさいの事務を管理するところとされた。1884年海軍省内に軍令部門をつかさどる外局として軍事部が置かれ、1886年これを参謀本部に移管して海軍部としたが、1889年ふたたびこれを取り戻して海軍大臣のもとの海軍参謀部とした。そして1893年これが独立して天皇直隷の海軍軍令部となった。1885年内閣制度成立後は海軍省の長が海軍大臣となった。初代海軍卿勝安芳(かつやすよし)は文官であり、内閣制度成立後の海軍大臣は、初代西郷従道(つぐみち)、2代大山巌(いわお)、3代西郷の再任、4代樺山資紀(かばやますけのり)でいずれも陸軍の将官であった。1900年（明治33）の官制により海軍大臣の補任資格が海軍の現役将官に限られる（軍部大臣現役武官制）ようになった。この補任資格は、大正政変後の1913年（大正2）の官制改正で現役に限る点を削除したが、二・二六事件後の1936年（昭和11）ふたたび現役制に戻った。

　日清(にっしん)・日露戦争を経ることで海軍の地位は向上し、しだいに陸軍と対等になった。日露戦争後アメリカを仮想敵国として海軍軍備を拡張し、海軍省の機構もしだいに充実した。1916年には大臣官房のほかに、軍務局、人事局、艦政局、機関局、医務局、経理局、法務局の7局を置いた。1920年には艦政局が軍需局に変わり、1923年には教育局と建築局が、1940年には兵備局が新設された。海軍省の権限は、陸軍省よりも海軍部内に対してははるかに強大であったが、1930年のロンドン軍縮条約問題を契機として統帥権独立論が強調され、1933年海軍軍令部が軍令部に改称するとともに、権限の一部を軍令部に委譲した。1945年12月海軍省廃止とともにその業務は第二復員省に引き継がれた。

［藤原　彰］

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