20. THE NAVY. Naval affairs had been fairly well developed in Japan until the isola tion policy of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1635 prohibted the building of ocean-going vessels under pain of capital punishment.
A few ancient naval undertakings which are noteworthy in Japanese history are: The ex pedition of the Jingo to Sankau (ancient Korea) in A.D.; the fighting in the Inland Sea of Japan between the clans Gen and Hei in 1186; the Chinese attempt to invade Japan and the arrival of Kublars armada on the coast of Kiushu and the annihilation of it in 1280; the encounters between the Japanese and Korean fleets on the southern coast of Korea on the occasion of Taiko's (Hideyoshi's) invasion of that peninsula in 1592-98. In the beginning of the 17th century the predatory visit of Japanese pirate junks to the coast of South China is notable and it was about that time also that Japanese junks sailed, for commercial purpose, to China, the Philippines, Java, Siam and India. The ocean-going vessels of Japan at that period numbered over 200.
It may perhaps be worth while to recall how warships of Western style were introduced into Japan.
In 1838 the Mito clan, obtaining some necessary information from a Dutchman (the Dutch were the only foreign traders who were allowed to come to Nagasaki until after the commercial treaty was made with the United States of America), built the first ship on a foreign model ever constructed in Japan. Al though this ship was completed and named it was never allowed to be used After the visit of American men-of-war in 1853, the 'Tokugawa Shogunate permitted the building of large ships, and at the same time ordered from Holland, through their trading agents, one steam corvette, one sailing corvette, with auxiliary steamers of different sizes; but these vessels did not arrive in Japan, owing to the trouble existing in Europe at that time.
In 1854 a two-masted ship, the Howo-maru (length 130 feet, beam 30 feet) was built at Uraga, on an English model; and at about the same time two more were built, one at Yedo (Tokio), the other at Satsuma, both of which were planned on European models.
At the time of the Crimean War a Russian sloop was wrecked on the coast of Japan, and permission was given that Japanese workmen might he employed in repairing the vessel; this gave an opportunity to obtain some practical working knowledge of Western naval architec ture.
In 1855 His Majesty the King of Holland presented a steam corvette to the Tokugawa Shogun, which was named the Kanko-kan. At this time the Japanese ensign Himomaru (the sun or a red ball in a white ground) was in-, troduced, and has been used as the national flag ever since.
Subsequently the naval school was estab lished at Nagasaki by the Tokugawa Shogun ate, and instruction in naval matters was given there by Dutch naval officers. The students for admission to this school were appointed by the Shogunate, and also selected by the different clans. Another naval school was organized at Yedo with Kanko-maru as a training ship, and employed both Dutch and English officers as instructors. Some new ships were built at Nagasaki, and two ships were bought abroad, one of which named the Kanrin-maru after ward (1860) made a cruise to San Francisco manned by Japanese officers and crew under Captain Katsu (late Count Katsu).
In 1857 Her Majesty Queen Victoria pre sented a steam yacht to the Tokugawa Shogun, and it was named the Hanrio-kan.
In this way the navy of the Tokugawa Sho gunate was slowly gathered together and organ ized, and in 1867 nine men-of-war and 36 auxil iary vessels were on the list (besides the ships belonging to the different clans).
Then came the War of Restoration (1867), and most of the ships of the Tokugawa Sho gunate, except the iron-clad Kotetsu (old Stonewall Jackson), led by Admiral Yeno mato (the rebel chief), fled to Yezo Island (Hokkaido) and fought a battle at Hakodate which resulted in the total destruction of the rebel fleet, which, however, had lost some of their best ships before the battle.