Japan by the Japanese/Chapter 22.2

The art of shipbuilding in its primitive and rudimentary form, if, indeed, it can be called by such a dignified name, was known among the Japanese from so early an epoch that its origin is beyond the reach of historical investigation. The earliest historical records from which anything can be inferred as to the condition of shipbuilding is found in connection with the eastward march of Emperor Jimmu’s memorable conquest in the year B.C. 667, when he is stated to have proceeded from Hyogo to Setsu at the head of a maritime force. From this it may be inferred that the Japanese were then already in possession of vessels of some pretensions. Subsequently, in the reign of Emperor Suijin (about B.C. 80–90), orders were issued for the construction of ships to be used for the subjugation of the barbarian tribes in the North of Japan, and on the opposite shore of the Sea of Japan (now part of Eastern Siberia). Later still, about A.D. 200, the Empress Jingo invaded Corea, and there then sprang up a constant intercourse with that country and China. All this shows that the Japanese had already learned how to construct sea-going vessels of tolerable dimensions.

Coming down to the beginning of the seventeenth century, we find Japanese merchant ships visiting the Philippines, Siam, and even Mexico. As to the structural features of these ships, nothing definite is known. In view, however, of the frequent presence in Japanese waters at this period of Spanish and Portuguese ships, it may not unreasonably be inferred that the Japanese learned from these Europeans the art of constructing large seaworthy vessels.

Just when the art of shipbuilding had progressed so far as to be capable of turning out vesssels adapted for ocean navigation, it suddenly received a check in consequence of the adoption of a new policy by the newly-established Tokugawa Government. That Government perceived that the Catholic religion, which the Spaniards and Portuguese were engaged in introducing into the country, was prejudicial to peace and order, and in order to prevent its propagation interdicted all intercourse with the outside world except with the Dutch and Chinese, who were permitted to trade only at the port of Nagasaki. Merchants of these favoured nationalities were thus allowed, under rigid restrictions, to bring their merchandise in their own vessels; ​but the Japanese were prohibited, under severe penalties, from constructing any ship of large dimensions, the scope of shipbuilding being henceforth confined to small sailing craft only adapted for coasting trade.

In the 6th year of Koye (1853) Commodore Perry of America appeared in the port of Uraga with a squadron of warships, and presented official communications to the Shogunate Government, demanding the establishment of friendly and commercial intercourse between the two countries. Previous to this the war-vessels of England, Russia, the United States, and other countries, had, for thirty or forty years, occasionally called at Japanese ports; while the neighbouring country, China, had, in consequence of an unsuccessful conflict with England and France, been compelled to cede Hong Kong and open Shanghai and other ports for foreign trade. Then, again, the King of Holland sent a letter to the Shogun pointing out the unadvisability of the policy of isolation, and urging the advantages of opening relations of amity and commerce with foreign nations. These circumstances combined had helped more or less to disturb the long-continued slumber of the nation, so that when the Tokugawa Government was confronted with the above-mentioned demand of the American Government, its eyes were opened not only to the importance of foreign intercourse, but also to the necessity of creating a navy.

Impressed as the feudal Government of Tokugawa was with the importance of building up a navy, there was, thanks to its own policy of seclusion, no man in the country who possessed the necessary knowledge and experience for undertaking such a task. The country, it is true, was not altogether destitute of men who knew something about the arts and science of the West. Neither was the condition of things abroad altogether unknown to the Japanese. However, long-established institutions and customs did not permit the carrying out of a sweeping innovation like this all at once. The Tokugawa Government had, therefore, to be contented, as the first step toward the creation of the much-needed navy, with the issue of a proclamation revoking the interdiction then in force as to the construction of ships of large dimensions.

The issue of this proclamation was attended with very encouraging results, for, although the Japanese knew little or nothing about the art of shipbuilding as practised in Europe, the issue of the proclamation in question was followed by the construction in various parts of the country of a new style of vessels modelled upon European schooners. To mention a few instances, the Tokuwaga Government built at Uraga a two-masted sailing vessel of this type, 152 by 50 feet in dimensions. ​The Clan of Satsuma built two or three sailing vessels of the same type, all three-masted, while the Clan of Mito turned out a similar vessel at Ishikawa-jima in Yedo. The instances just mentioned form the first examples of the European style of shipbuilding in Japan.

About this time an event took place which supplied a powerful stimulus and useful assistance to the development of shipbuilding in Japan. In the 1st year of Ansei (1854) the Russian warship Diana had her bottom destroyed by a tidal wave, and was finally sunk at the port of Shimoda, province of Izu. There being no available ship by which the crew of the lost ship, over 500 in number, could go home, they set about building two schooners with the aid of Japanese artisans. These vessels being completed by the spring of the following year, they set sail for Vladivostock. The Japanese carpenters and blacksmiths employed by the Russians on this occasion had a unique opportunity to learn the European method of shipbuilding. They did not throw their opportunity away, for it was by employing them that the Tokugawa Government was afterward able to build a number of sailing vessels similar in style to the schooners constructed by the Russians. The majority of these workmen were subsequently employed under the newly-established Naval Department of the Shogunate; and in course of time they gained so much experience that, when the naval dockyard was established at Yokosuka, they formed the nucleus of its working force.

In the 2nd year of Ansei (1855) the King of the Netherlands presented one of his war-vessels to the Tokugawa Shogun, who renamed it as Kwan-ko Maru, and stationed it at Nagasaki as a training-ship. At the same time there arrived at Nagasaki several naval instructors from Holland in compliance with the request made to the Government of that country by the Tokugawa Government in the previous year. The last-mentioned Government selected a number of young men, and put them on board the Kwan-ko Maru to learn navigation and naval science under the newly-arrived instructors. This was the origin of the Japanese navy.

Having thus come into the possession of some war-vessels, and having opened a course of training in the naval arts and science, the Tokugawa Government naturally desired to open works where instruction might be given in the art of shipbuilding, beside making the ordinary repairs on these ships. It therefore applied to the Netherlands Government for the purchase of the necessary machinery, and also for the engagement of some experts. The experts and the machinery arrived at Nagasaki in the 4th year of Ansei (1857), and, selecting a suitable site at Akuno-ura at that port, the erection of the works ​was at once commenced. The works were completed in the 1st year of Bunkyu (1861). From this small beginning the undertaking, after various changes, finally developed into the present large and prosperous establishment known as the Mitsu Bishi Dockyard and Engine Works.

The Tokugawa Government naval cadets at Nagasaki, besides studying navigation and gunnery, received instruction from the Dutch teachers in the art of shipbuilding. They built under the guidance of these instructors a cutter, which was finished in the 4th year of Ansei (1857).

In the 2nd year of Bunkyu (1862) the Tokugawa Government, with a view to establishing a shipbuilding yard at Nagasaki, opened communications with the Dutch Government for the engagement of engineers and workmen. The latter having arrived at Nagasaki in the 4th year of Bunkyu (1864), the building yard was constructed at Tategami in due course of time. Though preparations were thus made for building men-of-war, actual work was not undertaken, except a few small unarmed steamers, the establishment being ordinarily used only for purposes of repairs. Things continued in this condition until the 4th year of Meiji (1871), when the works at Nagasaki came under the control of the Department of Public Works (since abolished), and, besides the addition of a dry-dock at Tategami, they were extended in various ways. It remained in the hands of the new Government until the 17th year of Meiji (1884), when it was purchased by the Mitsu Bishi firm, under whose management it has since grown to be the most important dockyard in the Far East.

We are, however, anticipating the proper course of our story. Now to return to the latter days of Tokugawa. That Government, considering Nagasaki to be unsuited for the location of the naval shipbuilding headquarters, selected Yokosuka for that purpose in the 1st year of Genji (1864), and at once applied to the French Government for the engagement of some French naval architects. On the arrival of these architects and the machines, also ordered from France, the construction of works was at once commenced in the and year of Kei-o (1866); but before they were finished the Tokugawa Government had to restore all the powers of administration to the Imperial Court. The new Government completed the works at Yokosuka, which have since become the largest naval dockyard in Japan.

It has already been stated that the Goverment dockyard at Nagasaki passed into the possession of a private firm—namely, that of the Mitsu Bishi. Another dockyard, which the new Government established at Kobe in the 7th year ​of Meiji (1874), and which was used for the purpose of repairs, was also transferred to private possession in the 17th year of Meiji (1884), the new owner being the Kawasaki Shipbuilding Company, who has lately commenced to take orders for the construction of ships.

To review the general progress of the shipbuilding industry since the new era of enlightenment was inaugurated by the restoration of political power to the Imperial Court in 1868: The effect of the healthy stimulus supplied by the policy of reform and progress pursued by the new Government was at once apparent in the rapid growth of commerce and navigation. The steamships used in the newly-developed carrying trade were, however, all brought from abroad until about the 10th year of Meiji, when small wooden steamers for use in the Inland Sea began to be built at Osaka, Hyogo, Tokyo, Hakodate, etc. A year earlier—that is to say, in the 9th year of Meiji (1876)—the building of a steamship of 1,500 tons, named Kosuge-Maru, was commenced at Nagasaki. About the same time the Government commenced the construction of war-vessels at Yokosuka. From that time the shipbuilding industry made such a steady progress that all the steamers required for purposes of the rapidly-growing carrying trade in the Inland Sea were supplied by the home dockyards at Osaka, Nagasaki, Kobe, Tokyo, etc. In the 23rd year of Meiji (1890) three steel steamers, of 700 tons gross each, were launched at Nagasaki. About this time steel steamers also began to be constructed at Osaka and Kobe.

The real development of the shipbuilding industry in Japan, however, dates from the termination of the Chino-Japanese War. In 1896 great stimulus was given to the growth of shipping and shipbuilding in Japan by the enactment of the Navigation Encouragement Law and the Shipbuilding Encouragement Law. About this time the Nippon Yusen Kaisha first organized its European line, and decided to build six steamers, of 6,000 tons each. The construction of one of these steamers was undertaken by the Mitsu Bishi Dockyard at Nagasaki, where it was finished in 1898. This was the first steamer of such dimensions ever built in Japan, and since then the abovementioned dockyard has been busily engaged in the construction of large ships.

In January, 1903, the ships building there were eight in number, with an aggregate tonnage of 23,500 tons. As to the other private dockyards, the Kawasaki Dockyard of Kobe was then engaged in the construction of several ships, varying in tonnage from 1,000 to 2,000 tons. The Osaka Ironworks, owned by Mr. Hunter, is chiefly busy with the construction of smaller craft for use on the Inland Sea or on lakes and ​rivers. The Uraga Dockyard commenced work with the construction of five small gunboats to the order of the American authorities in the Philippines. There are, besides, a number of smaller shipbuilders, which need not be mentioned here. Suffice it to say that the shipbuilding industry has of late years attained great development.

In conclusion we may mention some figures relating to Japanese shipbuilding efforts in the past twenty-six years, commencing with the year 1877, when, as already stated, ships of some pretension were first turned out. The number of merchant vessels of 500 tons and upward constructed during that period of time totalled sixty-eight, with the aggregate tonnage of 88,539 tons. With the exception of seven sailing vessels, of which one was fitted with auxiliary steam-engines, all the rest were steamships. Moreover, with a few unimportant exceptions, the above total represents the result of private enterprise. Besides these ships, over 100 vessels of 300 to 500 tons each were also turned out at private dockyards during the same period.

Of the sixty-eight ships mentioned in the preceding paragraph, eighteen (48,078 tons) were built at the Mitsu Bishi Dockyard at Nagasaki, fourteen (13,827 tons) at the Kawasaki Dockyard of Kobe, and eleven (9,186 tons) at the Osaka Ironworks, the rest being distributed between several minor dockyards. It may be interesting to mention here that, of the eighteen ships built at the Mitsu Bishi Dockyard, four are over 6,000 tons each, two being employed on the Nippon Yusen Kaisha’s European line, and two on the same company’s American service.

The following were some of the ships building at the leading dockyards at the end of the year 1902:

​Meanwhile the naval dockyards have not been idle. The number of the cruisers and gunboats finished at these dockyards during the period of twenty-six years from 1876 to 1901 inclusive was twenty-three, with the total tonnage of 35,021 tons. The largest of these warships is the Hashidate, 4,278 tons, constructed at Yokosuka. The total number of torpedo-boats finished by the end of 1902 was twenty-two.

The cruisers and gunboats now building or to be built are eight in number, with a total tonnage of 12,272, while the number of torpedo-boats in course of construction is sixteen.