Making waves : politics, propaganda, and the emergence of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868-1922

This book explores the political emergence of the Imperial Japanese Navy between 1868 and 1922. It fundamentally challenges the popular notion that the navy was a 'silent,' apolitical service. Politics, particularly budgetary politics, became the primary domestic focus—if not the overriding preoccupation—of Japan's admirals in the prewar period. This study convincingly demonstrates that as the Japanese polity broadened after 1890, navy leaders expanded their political activities to secure appropriations commensurate with the creation of a world-class blue-water fleet.The navy's sophisticated political efforts included lobbying oligarchs, coercing cabinet ministers, forging alliances with political parties, occupying overseas territories, conducting well-orchestrated naval pageants, and launching spirited propaganda campaigns. These efforts succeeded: by 1921 naval expenditures equaled nearly 32 percent of the country's total budget, making Japan the world's third-largest maritime power. The navy, as this book details, made waves at sea and on shore, and in doing so significantly altered the state, society, politics, and empire in prewar Japan. This book explores the political emergence of the Imperial Japanese Navy between 1868 and 1922. It fundamentally challenges the popular notion that the navy was a 'silent, ' apolitical service. Politics, particularly budgetary politics, became the primary domestic focus if not the overriding preoccupation of Japan's admirals in the prewar period. This study convincingly demonstrates that as the Japanese polity broadened after 1890, navy leaders expanded their political activities to secure appropriations commensurate with the creation of a world-class blue-water fleet. The navy's sophisticated political efforts included lobbying oligarchs, coercing cabinet ministers, forging alliances with political parties, occupying overseas territories, conducting well-orchestrated naval pageants, and launching spirited propaganda campaigns. These efforts succeeded: by 1921 naval expenditures equaled nearly 32 percent of the country's total budget, making Japan the world's third-largest maritime power. The navy, as this book details, made waves at sea and on shore, and in doing so significantly altered the state, society, politics, and empire in prewar Japan Contents......Page 12 Introduction......Page 16 1 Maritime Dreams, Meiji Realities, 1868–1878......Page 24 2 Parochialism and Empire: Satsuma, the South Seas, and Naval Expansion, 1878–1889......Page 41 3 Political Baptism by Fire: The Navy and the Early Diet Sessions, 1890–1894......Page 65 4 The Rich Rewards and Rivalry of War, 1894–1904......Page 93 5 War, Pageantry, and Propaganda in the Service of Naval Expansion, 1905–1910......Page 122 6 Coercion, Pragmatism, and Interservice Rivalry: Elite-Level Politics and Naval Expansion, 1910–1913......Page 152 7 The Rise and Fall of Navy Political Fortunes, 1913–1914......Page 181 8 Opportunism, Expansion and Limitation: The Imperial Navy and Japan’s Great War, 1914–1922......Page 216 Conclusion......Page 238 Notes......Page 246 Bibliography......Page 280 H......Page 294 K......Page 295 N......Page 296 S......Page 297 Y......Page 298 "This book explores the political emergence of the Imperial Japanese Navy between 1868 and 1922. It fundamentally challenges the popular notion that the navy was a 'silent,' apolitical service. Politics, particularly budgetary politics, became the primary domestic focus - if not the overriding preoccupation - of Japan's admirals in the prewar period. This study convincingly demonstrates that as the Japanese polity broadened after 1890, navy leaders expanded their political activities to secure appropriations commensurate with the creation of a world-class blue-water fleet."--BOOK JACKET ON A BRISK autumn day in November 1913, Prime Minister Yamamoto Gonnohyoe looked out to sea and smiled.