How to Become a Naval Officer

This is a thought experiment of sorts, exploring what options one would have had to become a naval officer if one were born in pre-war Japan.
Note that this is basically assuming the period just before the Pacific War.

Introduction

First, as a major premise, one needed to be born as an imperial male with a registered domicile in the mainland. The Military Service Law imposed military service on 'male imperial subjects,' but the Military Service Law did not apply to outer territories such as Korea and Taiwan. Since the conscription examination was held at the place of registered domicile, those from the outer territories could not take the conscription examination, whether they liked it or not, and were not conscripted.
Admittedly, there were individuals from the Korean Peninsula who, for example, took and passed the entrance examination for the Army Military Academy and became army officers; while it was a narrow gate, it was not as if the path was completely closed. There were no explicit regulations excluding those from outer territories from the Naval Academy, but I have not heard of any actual examples. Even if there were applicants, it is possible they were kept at arm's length.

I want to become a ship captain

It is often said that the desire of many officers was, 'Since I have become an officer, even if I cannot become a Minister or an Admiral, I want to serve as a ship captain at least once.'
To climb to the position of ship captain, the almost sole path is to graduate from the Naval Academy and become a line officer. One can take the Naval Academy entrance exam between the ages of 16 and 19, and must pass both academic and physical examinations. The expected academic level is about the completion of the second year of middle school, but no specific educational background is required, and self-study is acceptable. The competition was high and it was considered quite difficult; passing was said to be an honor for one's hometown, but it seems there were times when the middle schools they were attending did not view it favorably, as students were being pulled out in the middle of their studies.
If you pass and enter the school, you gain the status of a naval cadet and are enrolled in the naval register. Being enrolled in the naval register also means you are removed from the scope of the conscription examination overseen by the Army. Note that married men are not accepted as naval cadets. Incidentally, the permission of the Minister of the Navy is required for an active-duty naval officer to marry.

After completing the three- or four-year cadet course (depending on the period) and graduating to become a midshipman, you will be assigned to a unit such as a fleet to serve. Once commissioned as an ensign, you are officially a naval officer. If you progress to the rank of lieutenant, you may be appointed as the captain of a small vessel. If you become a lieutenant commander, you can expect to be a submarine captain or a destroyer captain (depending on your specialty). The captain of a warship is basically a position for a captain (colonel). Many former naval officers recall that they felt a sense of loneliness when they were promoted to rear admiral and retired from being a ship captain.

To become a ship captain without going through the Naval Academy, there is another method: graduating from a merchant marine school or similar, becoming a naval reserve officer, and being called up during wartime to be appointed as a ship captain. It is said that half of the captains of coastal defense ships were reserve officers.
When you graduate from a merchant marine school and become a seaman, you are automatically enrolled in the naval register and given the status and rank of a naval reservist. Graduates of higher merchant marine schools (equivalent to later merchant marine universities) become reserve officers. A feature of this is that even without serving in the Navy, your rank advances as you accumulate experience working on merchant ships, and you may hold ranks like lieutenant commander or commander while living a life almost entirely unrelated to the Navy (strictly speaking, they were called reserve lieutenant commanders, reserve commanders, etc.). There is a formula for converting the number of days worked on merchant ships into days worked in the Navy, and there is a system where you are promoted once you exceed the criteria. You are called up as needed during wartime and given duties according to your rank. It is entirely possible for a reserve captain who has served as a ship captain his whole life on merchant ships to be called up and ordered to be a warship captain (though aptitude would likely be considered).
However, I do not think there was actually a motive to aim for merchant marine school because one wanted to become a naval reserve officer.

I want to become an officer

If you don't mind not becoming a ship captain but want to be called a naval officer, there is also the method of taking the entrance exam for the Naval Engineering College or the Naval Paymaster School. The requirements for taking the exam are almost the same as for the Naval Academy, but the Naval Paymaster School had looser requirements for eyesight, so it is said that applicants with nearsightedness gathered there.

If you want to become an officer without going through the naval cadet program, you would give up on the line and engineering branches and aim to become a paymaster officer, medical officer, or technical officer. To do this, you must pass the entrance exam for a university or vocational school (equivalent to a modern junior college) with an appropriate faculty or department. For example, if you graduate from a university medical school and apply and pass, you can be commissioned as a medical lieutenant (in the case of a medical officer, a medical license is also required). University and vocational school students have their conscription examinations deferred while they are enrolled.
It is even more certain if you apply for and pass as a sponsored student (vocational school students are sponsored pupils) while enrolled. Sponsored students are enrolled in the naval register at the same time they are accepted. Sponsored students are paid a monthly allowance, and after graduation, they are commissioned as lieutenants (university graduates) or ensigns (vocational school graduates).
Note that there was a two-year active-duty officer system (so-called short-term active-duty officers) for medical, paymaster, and technical officers. The system for paymaster officers is famous, but for medical and technical officers, it was a system that had existed since the Taisho era. After being commissioned, they would serve on active duty for only two years, then be transferred to the reserve, and be called up during wartime. It was also possible to transfer to permanent service (indefinite active duty) upon request.

The reserve system also existed for the engineering branch, and there was a method of working as an engineer on a merchant ship and becoming a reserve engineering officer.

I want to become a sailor

To become a sailor (strictly speaking, 'sailor' is one of the naval ratings, and there are many naval enlisted personnel who are not sailors. Here, I will use it to refer broadly to naval enlisted personnel), volunteering is the most certain way. Although it changes depending on the period, you can volunteer between the ages of 16 and 21. If you pass, you will first enter a Naval Barracks (Yokosuka, Kure, Sasebo, Maizuru) located at the naval port of the naval district in charge of your registered domicile, receive basic training, and then be assigned to a fleet or unit. The active duty period for volunteers is 5 years.

Although it is left to luck, there is a method of taking the conscription examination and being assigned to the Navy. In the year you reach the age of 20, you take the conscription examination at your registered domicile. The conscription administration itself is the responsibility of the Army. The Minister of the Navy notifies the Minister of War of the required number of personnel, and the Minister of War distributes them to each regimental district that actually conducts the examinations. From among those who pass the physical examination and are suitable for active duty (Class A, Class B), the required number of people are allocated to the Navy's active duty and first reserve service. Who is allocated to the Navy is decided by the Army, but it seems there was no particular attempt by the Army side to hoard excellent talent.The active duty period for those allocated to the Navy through conscription is 3 years (it is 2 years in the Army). It is no different from volunteers in that you first receive basic training at the Naval Barracks before being assigned to a unit.

If the 5-year active duty period is too long but you really want to go to the Navy, there is a method of volunteering for conscription. Under the provisions of Article 7 of the Military Service Enforcement Ordinance, you can volunteer for active duty under the same conditions as conscription once you reach the age of 17 (you can also volunteer for the Army). This was commonly called 'Rei-7' (Order 7). The active duty period for Rei-7 is the same as conscription, so it is 3 years.

Once you have served as an active-duty soldier in the Army, you cannot volunteer for the Navy even after being discharged. This is usually impossible, but it can happen in combination with Rei-7. In other words, if you turn 17 and immediately become an active-duty soldier in the Army through Rei-7, and are discharged after your two-year term expires, you are still only 19. However, those who have an Army military record as a trained soldier cannot volunteer for the Navy. This is likely prohibited because if this were allowed, the Army would not be able to predict the number of troops it could mobilize thereafter.

For some branches that require special skills and are considered best to be trained from a young age, the age at which one can volunteer has been lowered. Sonar operators are those who listen to sounds in the water with underwater listening devices to detect submarines and the like; because individual aptitude and early training are required, the age at which one can volunteer is low (about 14-16 years old, depending on the period), and they were commonly called 'boy sonar operators.' Military band members also require special skills, so the age at which one can volunteer is lowered. The Minister of the Navy determines which branches accept volunteers and in what age ranges.

After the conscription examination, those allocated to the first reserve service do not need to serve in a unit like active-duty personnel for the time being, but there is a possibility of being called up when a vacancy arises in active duty. In the case of the Navy, the first reserve service is for one year, after which one serves in the second reserve service for 11 years and 4 months. If a need for replacements arises, they are called up with priority from the first reserve service, and the second reserve service is called up after that. During the Pacific War, when the Navy's troop strength expanded rapidly, some reserve service personnel were transferred from the Army military register to the Navy military register.

I want to become a squad leader

It is the role of the squad leader to actually gather, command, and guide the enlisted personnel in the field in fleets and units. Veteran non-commissioned officers are assigned as squad leaders. To be promoted to a non-commissioned officer, you must pass an examination during your active duty period, whether you are a volunteer or a conscript.

However, it is quite difficult to be promoted to a non-commissioned officer within the 3-year conscription period, let alone the 5-year first term of a volunteer, starting from the lowest rank of fourth-class seaman, and one cannot reach it unless they are exceptionally talented. Therefore, those aiming to become non-commissioned officers almost always request a reenlistment upon completion of their term. Reenlistment is for a 2-year term, and it can be repeated as many times as desired until the age of 35, which is the retirement age for enlisted personnel. Note that even those assigned to the Navy through conscription (including those under the 1932 law) are treated as volunteers from the time their request for reenlistment is granted.
That said, those who are granted reenlistment are limited to those recognized as having some potential. Just because one has not reached the retirement age does not mean that reenlistment is automatically granted. Usually, it is necessary to have acquired some kind of mark (specialty badge) during the first term.

If you are aiming to become a non-commissioned officer, it is essential to acquire some kind of specialized skill. Specifically, these include navigation, gunnery, torpedo warfare, engineering, and communications. The ones listed here are just a few examples among many, and for each, there are established ordinary course trainee programs and advanced course trainee programs. Upon completion, one is awarded a specialty badge and becomes known as a specially trained sailor. While being a specially trained sailor greatly influences whether reenlistment is granted, specially trained sailors have a mandatory service period; for example, those who have completed the ordinary gunnery trainee course are subject to a 4-year mandatory service period from that point on, and in most cases, their active duty period is automatically extended.
There are popular and unpopular skills; for example, gunnery was said to be a star profession. However, there is no doubt that even unpopular skills are necessary, and there were times when one was ordered to acquire a skill different from their own preference. They self-deprecatingly called this 'conscription'.

The promotion of an enlisted man to a non-commissioned officer is called appointment to office. This is because those from non-commissioned officer rank and above are considered government officials (military officers).The term of active duty is no longer fixed, and only the retirement age is set(Correction: The active duty period for non-commissioned officers is 6 years. Reenlistment is available). The retirement age for non-commissioned officers is 40, and for warrant officers, it is 48. However, there are cases where one is transferred to the reserves due to personnel requirements before reaching the retirement age. (Addendum: In the case of warrant officers.)

When a non-commissioned officer continues to be promoted and reaches the rank of warrant officer, they receive treatment literally equivalent to that of a commissioned officer. Their living quarters on ships and in units change, and their uniforms change as well. Clothing and meals are at their own expense and must be paid for from their salary.

When a warrant officer is promoted further, they are ranked alongside commissioned officers, but they are called special service officers, a separate category. There were differences in treatment, such as special service officers being placed after commissioned officers in the order of succession for command in the event that a commander was incapacitated or absent.

I want to fly an airplane

If you intend to join the Navy with the goal of flying an airplane from the start, it is certain to take the entrance examination for the Preparatory Flight Training Program (Yokaren). Although the Yokaren is broadly treated as a volunteer program, it is one for which applicants specifically state their goal of becoming an aviator. Initially, it was intended for those with a level of education equivalent to graduating from a higher elementary school, and the age at which one could volunteer was set lower than that for general volunteers.
It is often misunderstood, but flight training is not conducted in the Yokaren (officially, the Flight Preparatory Trainee program). Flight training is conducted in the flight trainee course, and the Yokaren is the preliminary stage where basic training (both general Navy training and training as a crew member) and aptitude tests are conducted, and after completion, one proceeds to the flight trainee course.
Later, to shorten the education period, a Type A course was established, assuming a level of education equivalent to completing the second year of middle school (with reduced classroom content), and the conventional course, which assumed a level equivalent to graduating from a higher elementary school, was called Type B. Furthermore, among those in Type B, those with relatively higher academic backgrounds had some courses omitted and were called Special Type B.

The supply source for flight trainees was not only the Yokaren. Rather, as a system that existed longer than the Yokaren, there were pilot trainees (Soren) and reconnaissance trainees (Soren) who recruited volunteers for flight trainees from among soldiers (sailors, etc.) already serving on active duty. They underwent the trainee course while remaining in their original branch, and upon completion, they became specially trained flight personnel and transferred to the aviation branch (later flight branch). Later, this became the Type C course of the Yokaren. At the Navy headquarters, they actively encouraged those with aptitude to volunteer as much as possible, but in the field, it was not welcomed because it would reduce the number of personnel, and it seems that veteran soldiers sometimes obstructed it, either overtly or covertly.

Commissioned officer aircrew were trained by ordering flight students from among officers who had graduated from the Naval Academy, either through volunteering or selection. By the time the Showa era began, it became customary to experience several months of service in an air group during the period from second lieutenant to first lieutenant. Perhaps the purpose was to deepen their understanding of airplanes as well as to determine their aptitude.

A flight student/trainee course specialized for aircrew was established among the reservists. Initially, it was a system that started on a small scale, targeting flying clubs at universities and local aircraft crew training centers, but it expanded rapidly during the war to train university students and those who graduated early, who were mobilized as students, as aircrew. It became a major supply source for commissioned officer aircrew at the end of the Great War.

A characteristic of Japanese airplane aircrew is that they include many non-commissioned officers and enlisted men (in both the Army and Navy). In the United States and Britain, it was required that at least the captain be a commissioned officer, as the ability to make independent judgments was necessary for aircraft aircrew. It goes without saying that single-seat fighter pilots were commissioned officers. However, in Japan, the base of higher education was narrow, and if it were limited only to commissioned officers, the required number of personnel could not be secured. They had no choice but to adopt non-commissioned officers as aircrew if they had the aptitude. They were trained from a young age to specialize in flight operations, effectively creating craftsmen.

Personnel affairs for special service officers, warrant officers, and non-commissioned officers and enlisted men were originally handled by the Naval District. For example, non-commissioned officers and enlisted men assigned to the Sasebo Air Group were those belonging to the Sasebo Naval District. However, regarding aircrew, even for non-commissioned officers and enlisted men, they were under the jurisdiction of the central Navy Ministry, just like commissioned officers. Since their military register is ultimately in the Naval District, it is like saying that in a company, their registration is at a branch office and they receive their salary from the branch office, but they are dispatched to the head office and are flying around the country under the instructions of the head office.

Anything is fine

Although it is a very rare case, there were instances of transferring from Navy civilian employees (civil officials) to Navy military officers or enlisted men. In 1942, legal officers who were Navy civil officials transferred to military officers. Even if one is working for the Navy as a civil official, there are not a few who have military registration in the Army. If they pass the conscription examination, even if they have not actually served on active duty in the Army, most are assigned to the Army's supplementary reserve service. Theoretically, it would not be strange if they were called up at any time. It is said that if one is 'irreplaceable by others,' the call-up is postponed, but the final decision on that rests with the Minister of War. The strongest defensive measure against this is to be incorporated into the Navy military register.
In 1945, legal officers equivalent to non-commissioned officers also transferred to military officers. There was such a scene in the movie 'In This Corner of the World'.

Similar militarization is also being done for technical officers. Originally, technical officers in fields such as shipbuilding, engine manufacturing, and ordnance manufacturing were military officers, but technical officers related to construction were civil officials. Also, many of the workers working at the Naval Arsenal operated by the Navy are not even civil officials but hired employees, but there were those who were hired as employees and then promoted to engineers, who are high-ranking officials, after working as technical assistants. Among these technical officers, there were those who similarly transferred to technical military officers during the war.

Finally, regarding the reserve system. The supply source for reserve officers is mainly graduates of merchant marine universities, higher merchant marine schools, and equivalent educational institutions, but, for example, graduates of local seaman training centers were appointed as reserve sailors. Depending on the educational institution completed, the initial rank varies, ranging from enlisted man to non-commissioned officer to commissioned officer.
As a result, we were able to secure reserve personnel in a wide range from senior seaman to captain. Although this is a separate matter from the individual's wishes.

Conclusion

Actually, I had been writing an article about the rank system of the Japanese Navy for a while, but I was in trouble because I couldn't get it together. I thought I could write as much as I wanted about this, but once I started writing, I wanted to say this and that, and it wouldn't converge. I managed to proceed, but it became incoherent and I gave up on it.
So, instead, what I came up with was an approach specialized in the entrance to becoming a Navy serviceman. I hope this will be of help in understanding when reading memoirs of Navy servicemen.

If you say that everything is written in 'Japan in the Early Showa Period,' I have nothing to say.

Well then, if there is an opportunity, let's meet again.

(The cover image shows naval gymnastics at a naval barracks)