The Japanese Imperial Navy and Local Reservist Associations

The present article examines the relationship between the Japanese Navy and Local Reservist Associations in relation to such important research topics as Navy recruiting and the Navy’s involvement in domestic regional affairs. When the first Reservist Associations were formed in 1910, the Navy did not participate due to differing views concerning Association funding and governance. Despite the Navy’s refusal to participate, there were Naval personnel that joined the Associations; and in order to correct the difficulties encountered by the Associations due to being exclusively Army-operated institutions, Naval reservists decided to officially participate in the program in 1914. An imperial edict issued after the Naval participation in the program, which was heavily influenced by the view of Tanaka Gi’ichi, the founder of the Association program and Army deputy chief of staff, contained the phrase, “consensus between the Army and Navy”(despite the Navy’s opposition to such such a expression), which was utilized from then on as the basis for claiming “Army-Navy consensus” regarding the Reserve Association Program. Despite the Naval reservists presence in the Program, the Associations continued to be centered around the Army.<br> It was only around 1919, due to the influence of the First World War, that the Navy began to become genuinely involved in the governance of the Associations, searching for ways to improve the position of Naval reservists, including forming separate branch Associations for them.<br> Then in 1921, private Associations of Naval reservists began to be formed all over the country. In response, the Ministry of the Navy Personnel Bureau adopted a negative attitude, considering making it mandatory for Naval reservists with small numbers to stay with existing Associations; however, as the result of analyzing the situation pertaining to Naval recruitment, teams of local Naval recruiters and PR experts were organized in 1925, thus avoiding Army-Navy schisms within existing Associations.<br> Despite such efforts to alleviate the tension, Naval reservists were bent on forming associations separate from their Army counterparts; and so in 1936, separate Naval Reservist Associations began to be set up. Such efforts, however, failed to alter the Army’s predominance, creating more discontent among local Naval reservists wanting their Associations to perform more multifaceted functions than just Naval recruitment and public relations.<br> The author concludes that the Japanese Navy continued to participate in the original Local Reservist Association Program, without establishing a program of its own, while never turning its back on local Naval reservists, always keeping their interests in mind.