Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff

The nihongo|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, and reported directly to the Emperor, and not to the Prime Minister, Diet of Japan 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" [Spector] .

After the Washington Naval Conference of 1921-22, where Japan agreed to keeping the size of its fleet smaller than that of the United Kingdom and the United States, the Imperial Japanese Navy became divided into mutually hostile into 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 Section: Operations Bureau
*2nd Section: Weapons and Mobilization Bureau
*3rd Section: Intelligence Bureau
*4th Section: Communications Bureau

Chiefs of the Naval General Staff

Notes

References

Books

*cite book
last = Asada
first = Sadao
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2006
chapter =
title = From Mahan to Pearl Harbor: The Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States
publisher = US Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 1557500428
*cite book
last = Schencking
first = J. Charles
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2005
chapter =
title = Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868-1922
publisher = Stanford University Press
location =
id = ISBN 0804749779
*cite book
last = Spector
first = Ronald
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1985
chapter =
title = Eagle Against the Sun
publisher = Vintage Books
location = New York
id = ISBN 0394741013

External links

*"Foreign Office Files for Japan and the Far East". [http://www.adam-matthew-publications.co.uk/digital_guides/fo_japan_series1_prt1to2/japanese_minister_officals.aspx#sixth Adam Matthew Publications] . Accessed 2 March 2005.