The History of Japan's Opening from the Perspective of Yokosuka (Part 2)

In the first part, we discussed the events from the arrival of the Black Ships to the conclusion of the Convention of Kanagawa and the end of national isolation, focusing on the Uraga and Kurihama areas. In this second part, we will talk about how Yokosuka became a base for the modern Japanese Navy.

1. Late Edo Period
(1) Moves toward Naval Construction
With the arrival of the Black Ships as a turning point, the Shogunate began to seriously consider countermeasures against the threats coming from across the sea.

They realized that building batteries along the coast was not enough; they felt a keen need for full-scale shipbuilding and repair facilities to construct new warships, as well as educational institutions to train the engineers and crew who would operate them.

As mentioned in the first part, the Shogunate relaxed the ban on building large ships in September 1853, immediately after the arrival of the Black Ships, and established the Uraga Shipyard to build Japan's first domestically produced Western-style warship, the "Ho-o Maru", over the course of seven months (in September of the following year, 1854, they ordered two steamships from the Netherlands).

Also, in 1855, they opened the "Nagasaki Naval Training Center". Katsu Kaishu and Nakajima Saburosuke became early trainees and would go on to lead the Shogunate Navy (Katsu Kaishu later established the "Kobe Naval Training Center" and the private school "Kaigun Juku", which had a major influence on the thoughts and activities of many patriots like Sakamoto Ryoma).

(2) The Kanrin Maru's Pacific Crossing
When it was decided that a Shogunate mission would visit the United States on the American warship "Powhatan" to exchange ratification documents for the "Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the United States and Japan" signed in June 1858, the idea of attaching an escort ship to this vessel was raised (there was also an intention to promote the presence of the Shogunate Navy both domestically and internationally).

The following year, 1859, the "Kanrin Maru" was assigned to the task (the Kanrin Maru was one of the steamships ordered from the Netherlands in September 1854).

That same year, Japan's first brick-built dry dock (a facility where a ship can be pulled into a dock for hull repairs, and seawater can be completely drained by closing a watertight gate) was completed in Uraga, and maintenance for the Kanrin Maru's long voyage was carried out.

Then, in February 1860, it departed with Katsu Kaishu and John Manjiro on board, and after a 37-day voyage, it reached San Francisco (the first Pacific crossing in Japanese history).

The mission visited warships and repair facilities in the United States and strongly recognized the need to build a shipyard in Japan as well. That mission included Oguri Kozukenosuke Tadamasa, who accompanied them in the capacity of an inspector.

Oguri and his colleagues initially requested cooperation from the United States for the construction of a shipyard, but the United States was in the midst of the Civil War at the time and refused. They were also turned down by Britain, Russia, and the Netherlands, and finding a country that would cooperate was difficult.

(3) French Involvement
In such a situation, France stepped forward. At the time, silkworms that supported the silk industry in France had contracted an infectious disease, leaving the industry in a state of collapse, and they were seeking silk imports and silkworms resistant to European diseases from overseas.

For this reason, the French Minister to Japan, Roche, sought to approach the Shogunate. Roche contacted pro-French factions within the Shogunate, such as Kurimoto Seibei and Oguri, through the secretary Cachon, and they agreed to establish a shipyard near Kusugaura in Yokosuka.

Reasons why Yokosuka was chosen as the location for the shipyard:
1. It is close to Yokohama Port, which opened its doors to foreign countries.
2. It has a water depth that allows large ships to navigate safely.
3. It has solid bedrock where a dry dock can be built.

And so, François Léonce Verny, a shipbuilding engineer from France's top science and engineering school recommended by Roche, was appointed as the head.

Verny arrived in Japan in January 1865 and is said to have liked the topography of Yokosuka, which resembled his home country's Port of Toulon. He then returned to France temporarily to secure technicians and procure machinery.

(4) Groundbreaking of the Yokosuka Ironworks
During this time, the Shogunate held the groundbreaking ceremony for the "Yokosuka Ironworks" (later the Yokosuka Shipyard) in November 1865.

Verny returned to Yokosuka from France, where he had been temporarily staying, in June 1866 and set out to build and operate the ironworks with 43 French technicians (he subsequently served as the head of the ironworks (later the shipyard) for about 10 years until March 1876).

2. The Meiji Era
In November 1867, the 15th Shogun of the Edo Shogunate, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, returned political power to Emperor Meiji (Taisei Hokan). In April 1868, Edo Castle was surrendered without bloodshed. From July onwards, Edo was renamed Tokyo, the era name was changed to Meiji, and in October, Emperor Meiji ascended to the throne (marking the beginning of the Meiji era). The Yokosuka Ironworks were then taken over by the Meiji government (meanwhile, the Uraga Magistrate's Office finished its duties and was dismantled).

In 1870, the Meiji government's military was separated into the Army and Navy. When the Ministry of the Navy was established in Tsukiji, Tokyo in 1872, the "Imperial Japanese Navy" was born (initially guided by figures such as Katsu Kaishu).

(1) Completion of the Dry Dock
In February 1871, when Japan's first stone dry dock (Dock No. 1) was completed at the Yokosuka Ironworks, the facility was renamed the "Yokosuka Shipyard" in April of the same year.

For the masonry of this Dock No. 1, the same stones as those used in the walls of Edo Castle were used. It is said that the French engineers of the time were amazed by the high level of Japanese stone-laying techniques (Reference: During the construction of Dock No. 1, elephant fossils were unearthed, and they were named Naumann's elephant after the geologist Naumann who confirmed them).

The Yokosuka Shipyard was placed under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Navy starting in October 1872. Dock No. 2 was completed in 1884, and Dock No. 3 was completed in 1874 (Note: construction on Dock No. 2 began before Dock No. 3). In March 1875, the "Seiki", the first warship built at the Yokosuka Shipyard, was launched (subsequently, the Imperial Navy planned to build three warships every year).

(2) What was brought from France
As the operating rate of the Yokosuka Shipyard increased, a new water source was needed to ensure a water supply.

In 1873, Verny planned to draw water from Hashirimizu, which had a large amount of spring water, to the shipyard, and completed the approximately 7 km project in December 1876 (the elevation difference between Hashirimizu and the shipyard was only 10 meters, so four tunnels were dug to draw the water efficiently).

During this period, Verny and other Frenchmen brought not only ship construction and repair and water supply, but also various knowledge and technologies as follows:

○ A French doctor hired by the Yokosuka Ironworks from 1868,Savatier, treated not only French people but also Japanese people, including local residents, and contributed to the transmission of French medicine to Japan.
○ In 1869, the first Western-style lighthouse in Japan, Kannonzaki Lighthouse, was designed and constructed by the French engineer Florent at the Yokosuka Ironworks (in January of the same year, the Uraga Tomyodo, built by the Shogunate in 1648, finished its role).
○ In 1870, the Tomioka Silk Mill, which is now a World Heritage site, was built by the French engineer Bastian from the Yokosuka Ironworks.
○ A school was built within the Yokosuka Ironworks, and Dupont and others provided the highest level of knowledge in Japan at the time, such as algebra, geometry, analysis, and trigonometry.
○ When the Yokosuka Ironworks was established, highly fire-resistant red bricks were mass-produced by French engineers, making Yokosuka a pioneer in red brick architecture.

In this way, Yokosuka developed rapidly and became a model for the Meiji government's promotion of industry and strengthening of the nation.

On the other hand, Uraga, which had been used as a repair facility for warships since the end of the Edo period, was declining, but in 1873, when the Yokosuka Shipyard was transferred to the Ministry of the Navy, a "Sailor Training Center" was opened in Uraga, and it gradually regained its vitality (although the "Uraga Shipyard" itself was closed in 1876, Enomoto Takeaki and others took the lead in establishing the "Uraga Dock Company" in 1897, and the Uraga Dock Company continued to support Japanese ship construction and repair until 2003).

Then, in November 1875, ten years after the founding of the Yokosuka Shipyard, the Meiji government judged that the technology for ship construction and repair had been almost mastered, and decided to dismiss Verny, Savatier, and others, bringing an end to the transmission of knowledge and technology by the French.

(3) A major transformation into a naval base
In 1880, the Army began construction of the Kannonzaki Battery, and in 1884, when the Navy established a Naval District in Yokosuka, the Yokosuka Shipyard was renamed the "Yokosuka Naval Shipyard", and Yokosuka's importance as a military city increased further (Reference: Starting from 1867, the coast east of Otaki-cho was reclaimed in stages, and by 1882, the prototype of the current Yokosuka city area had been formed).

Also, as Yokosuka became a major naval base, it became an urgent task to connect it to Tokyo and Yokohama by rail. In June 1886, the Army and Navy requested the Cabinet to build a railway, and in June 1889, the Yokosuka Line was officially opened (the Keihin Kyuko Line opened in 1930).

(4) Yokosuka Naval Arsenal
After the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895, in 1903, the Yokosuka Naval Shipyard was renamed the "Yokosuka Naval Arsenal". The number of ships held by the Imperial Navy grew from 55 during the First Sino-Japanese War to 152 during the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. After this, with the completion of Dock No. 4 in 1905, Dock No. 5 in 1916, and Dock No. 6 in 1940, 30 ships (including 8 aircraft carriers, such as the "Shinano" (62,000 tons)) were built in the six dry docks by 1944 (these dry docks are still in operation within the U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka and are used for the repair of numerous Japanese and American ships).

The battleship "Mikasa", which led the way to victory in the Russo-Japanese War, is said to be one of the "Three Great Memorial Ships of the World" along with the British "Victory" and the American "Constitution", because they fought bravely and won in important naval battles to protect their countries' independence (Mikasa was the sixth battleship ordered from the UK and was incorporated into the Combined Fleet in December 1903).

Mikasa was removed from the naval register in September 1923, and it was decided in January 1925 to preserve it in Yokosuka as a memorial ship. After World War II, it was temporarily used as an entertainment facility, but it was restored as a memorial ship by the Mikasa Preservation Society, which was revived in 1958, and it remains so to this day.

3. Taisho Era to Present
(1) Becoming One of the World's Three Great Navies
The Imperial Japanese Navy, emboldened by its victory in the Russo-Japanese War, went on to become the world's third-largest navy by warship tonnage in 1920. Alongside the British and American navies, it was hailed globally as one of the "World's Three Great Navies," and by the Pacific War, it had come to control a vast maritime area stretching from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean.

However, following the crushing defeat at the Battle of Midway in 1942, the tide turned against them, and their strength gradually depleted until they were left in a state of collapse after the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

(2) Defeat and the Dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy
After the defeat, approximately 20,000 U.S. and British troops landed in Yokosuka on August 30, 1945, and the Imperial Japanese Navy was dissolved. The Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, which had supported the Imperial Navy, was also requisitioned by the U.S. Navy and has been used to this day as U.S. Navy Fleet Activities, Yokosuka.

(3) U.S. Navy Fleet Activities, YokosukaKnown locally as the
"Base," the U.S. Navy Yokosuka base covers 680,000 square meters (about four times the size of Tokyo Disneyland) and serves as one of the U.S. Navy's largest forward-deployed hubs in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition to being the home port for over a dozen ships, including the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier

"Ronald Reagan" of the U.S. 7th Fleet, as well as Aegis cruisers and destroyers, the base houses the Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Japan, along with 55 operational and support units and 12 workshops. Incidentally, the U.S. Naval Forces Japan headquarters flies the United Nations flag alongside the Japanese and American flags, signifying that the headquarters still
functions as a rear-support command for the UN Command
regarding the Korean War (1950), which remains in a state of truce.

There are also about 1,200 housing units on the base, where approximately 8,000 military personnel and 5,000 family members reside, with another 5,000 living off-base.
Because of this, the base is equipped with various welfare facilities such as shopping malls, restaurants, cafes, barbershops, post offices, movie theaters, swimming pools, gyms, bowling alleys, gas stations, churches, schools, shuttle buses, and taxis, creating a landscape that feels like a foreign country.

(4) Founding of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
After the defeat, Japan had a period without a navy, but when the Korean War broke out in 1950, moves to reorganize naval power intensified. On April 26, 1952, the
Coastal Safety Force (renamed the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force in July 1954), the predecessor to the JMSDF, was established in Taura. Since the sites of the former Yokosuka Naval District and Naval Arsenal from the Imperial Navy era remained requisitioned by the U.S., the JMSDF's headquarters, district commands, port facilities, security units, schools, training units, repair facilities, and supply depots were successively established in the current areas of Hemmi, Yoshikura, Nagaura, Taura, and Funakoshi.
4. Summary

With the arrival of the Black Ships in 1853, the Shogunate, against the wishes of the Imperial Court, ended over 200 years of national isolation and opened the country. While moving toward treaty signings, warship construction, and shipyard development, the Sonno Joi (Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians) faction, which had advocated for the expulsion of foreigners while upholding the Imperial Court, eventually grew wary of the disparity in national power compared to Western powers. They gradually shifted toward becoming an opening-up faction that sought to adopt foreign culture and technology, which became the driving force behind the Meiji government's policy of a wealthy nation and strong army.
That wealthy nation and strong army was supported precisely by the modern Japanese Navy.

The navy, which began construction with the arrival of the Black Ships, grew rapidly in just half a century to defeat Russia's
Baltic Fleet. Even in the era of imperialism where the strong preyed on the weak, it maintained its independence with composure, eventually boasting such glory that it was hailed as one of the World's Three Great Navies. Although the Imperial Navy was dissolved with the defeat, the new Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force continues to this day as its descendant to support the development and prosperity of Japan as a maritime nation. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty. Could it not be said that Japan's modern history has always been intertwined with both the Japanese and American navies, and with Yokosuka, which has continuously supported Japan's naval power?

[Reference] The Final Resting Place of Sakamoto Ryoma's Wife, "Oryo-san"
Sakamoto Ryoma's wife, Narasaki Ryo (commonly known as "Oryo-san") lived for a time as a widow with the Sakamoto family in Tosa after Ryoma was assassinated in 1867 (age 26), but it did not last long. She moved from place to place, and later, in 1875 (age 34), she remarried a street merchant named Matsubei Nishimura. She lived out the remaining 30 years of her life in Yokosuka as Tsuru Nishimura until her death in 1906 (age 64).