Episode 452 – The Waves are High but the Day is Clear, Part 1

September 2, 2022

This week: the start of a two part series on the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces. Today: how did Japan’s current navy grow out of its old one, and what does that say about the force’s relationship with Japan’s prewar past?

Sources

Patalano, Alessio. Postwar Japan as a Sea Power: Imperial Legacy, Wartime Experience, and the Making of a Navy.

Eldridge, Robert D and Katsuhiro Musashi. The Japan Self-Defense Forces Law: Translation, History, and Analysis. 

Martin, Edward L. “The Evolving Missions and Forces of the JMSDF.” Naval War College Review 48, No 2 (Spring, 1995).

Media

Just in case you didn’t believe me

The grounds of the old Imperial Navy Officers Academy (current JMSDF Officer Candidate school) at Etajima. The grounds are modeled on the Royal Naval Academy at Dartmouth.