Japanese ship names follow different conventions from those typical in the West. Merchant ship names often contain the word ''maru'' at the end (meaning ''circle''), while warships are never named after people, but rather after objects such as mountains, islands, weather phenomena, or animals.

Merchant ships

The word is often attached to Japanese ship names. The first ship known to follow this practice was the ''Nippon Maru'', flagship of ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

's 16th century fleet. Several theories purport to explain this practice: *The most common is that ships were thought of as floating

castles A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

, and the word referred to the defensive "circles" or ''maru'' that protected the castle. *The suffix ''-maru'' is often applied to words representing something beloved, and sailors applied this suffix to their ships. *The term ''maru'' is used in divination and represents perfection or completeness, or the ship as "a small world of its own". *The myth of '' Hakudo Maru'', a celestial being that came to earth and taught humans how to build ships. It is said that the name ''maru'' is attached to a ship to secure celestial protection for itself as it travels. *For the past few centuries, only non-warships bore the ''-maru'' ending. Its use was intended as a good hope naming convention that would allow a ship to leave port, travel the world, and return safely to home port: hence the complete circle or "round trip" arriving back at its origin unhurt. *"

Hinomaru The national flag of Japan is a rectangular white banner bearing a crimson-red circle at its center. This flag is officially called the , but is more commonly known in Japan as the . It embodies the country's sobriquet: the Land of the Rising S ...

", or "sun-disc", is a name often applied to the national flag of Japan. Today many commercial and private ships are still named using this convention.

Warships

Early conventions

When the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

was formed, the Ministry of the Navy submitted potential ship names to the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

for approval. During the early years ships were often donated by the

Shogunate , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

Japanese clans This is a list of Japanese clans. The old clans (''Gōzoku'') mentioned in the Nihon Shoki and Kojiki lost their political power before the Heian Period, during which new aristocracies and families, '' Kuge'', emerged in their place. After the H ...

and the original clan names were kept. In 1891 the procedure was changed due to changes in the government structure. Two ship names were submitted by the Minister of the Navy to the

Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main cha ...

who then presented the choices to the Emperor. The Emperor could either pick one of the suggested names or one of his own devising. Ships captured during the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the po ...

kept their original names but with

Japanese pronunciation The phonology of Japanese features about 15 consonant phonemes, the cross-linguistically typical five-vowel system of , and a relatively simple phonotactic distribution of phonemes allowing few consonant clusters. It is traditionally described ...

. For example, the Chinese battleship ''Chen Yuan'' became ''Chin'en'' in Japanese service. In 1876 the Minister of the Navy was given the authority to choose the names of

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of se ...

s without imperial approval. In 1902 the authority to name

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s was delegated to the Minister of the Navy as well. In 1895 a proposal was made by the Minister of the Navy in an attempt to establish some standard. He proposed that battleships and cruisers be named for provinces or shrines dedicated to protecting Japan, that names of other warships be selected from the names for Japan or provinces. Ships captured during the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

were renamed with Japanese names. Some of these vessels were given names related to where they were captured or some other aspect of the war, such as the month of capture. Some Russian ships were given Japanese names that were phonetically similar to their original Russian names (example: ''Angara'' became ''Anegawa''). In 1921 the Minister of the Navy was given authority to name all ships except

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...

s, and

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

s. In any event the Navy had to report the new name to the Emperor immediately.

Establishment of ship naming conventions 1905

On 23 April 1905, Naval Minister Gonbee Yamamoto reported to the throne about a new ship naming standard. It was decided on 1 August 1905. *

Battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

, or alternate

names of Japan The word ''Japan'' is an exonym, and is used (in one form or another) by many languages. The Japanese names for Japan are Nippon () and Nihon (). They are both written in Japanese using the kanji . During the third-century CE Three Kingdoms perio ...

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

class

(and over 7,500 tons displacement): mountains * Second class cruiser (and over 3,500 tons displacement — less than 7,500 tons displacement): put the initial ''Ni'' (に) * Third class cruiser (less than 3,500 tons displacement): put the initial ''Ha'' (は) *Other ship names: They were named voluntarily by Naval Minister. However, second class and third class cruisers ended up with river names because it became complicated. It passed through some changes afterwards, the broad categories of names are given here, with examples, however, if the name is the succession to a ship's name, it is excluded from following contents. *

Aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

s — special names (Many of them are an inheritance from the warship name in the

Bakumatsu was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji government ...

and the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

).Shizuo Fukui (1996), p. 45. In fact, names related to flying animals, actual or mythological, were used. **Fleet aircraft carrier; put the initial ''Ryū'' (龍, dragon), ''Tsuru (Kaku)'' (鶴, crane) or ''Ōtori (Hō)'' (鳳, phoenix) before/after her name *** ''Hōshō'' (鳳翔) Flying phoenix *** ''Ryūjō'' (龍驤) Dragon horse *** ''Hiryū'' (飛龍) Flying dragon *** ''Sōryū'' (蒼龍) Blue (or green) dragon *** ''Shōkaku'' (翔鶴) Flying crane *** ''Zuikaku'' (瑞鶴) Auspicious crane *** ''Taihō'' (大鳳) Great phoenix **Converted warship; put the initial ''Ōtori (Hō)'' (鳳, phoenix) after her name *** ''Zuihō'' (瑞鳳) Fortunate phoenix *** ''Chitose'' (千歳) and ''Chiyoda'' (千代田) did not change their name by a vote by the crews. **Converted merchant ship; put the initial ''Taka (Yō)'' (鷹, falcon/hawk) after her name *** (隼鷹) Peregrine falcon **And after 4 June 1943 — added provinces and mountains *** ''Amagi'' (天城)

Mount Amagi is a range of volcanic mountains in central Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, forming the border between Izu City and Higashi-Izu Town. It is also referred to as the . The Amagi mountains have several peaks, the tallest of which a ...

*** ''Katsuragi'' (葛城)

Mount Yamato-Katsuragi or simply Mount Katsuragi is a mountain in the Kongō Range straddling the prefectural border between Chihayaakasaka, Osaka and Gose, Nara in Japan. The peak elevation is . The mountain is located along the Gose Line of the Kintetsu Railway. The ...

on prefectural boundary

Nara prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the northwest, Wakayama P ...

—

Osaka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture ...

*Battleships, including those converted into aircraft carriers —

and alternate names for Japan. ** ''Nagato'' (長門)

Nagato province , often called , was a province of Japan. It was at the extreme western end of Honshū, in the area that is today Yamaguchi Prefecture. Nagato bordered on Iwami and Suō Provinces. History Although the ancient capital of the province was Shimono ...

** ''Yamato'' (大和)

Yamato Province was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005). "Yamato" in . It was also called . Yamato consists of two characters, 大 "great", and 和 " Wa". At first, the ...

(also an alternate name for Japan and its people) ** ''Kaga'' (加賀)

Kaga Province was a province of Japan in the area that is today the south and western portion of Ishikawa Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Kaga bordered on Echizen, Etchū, Hida, and Noto Provinces. It was part of Hokurikudō Circuit. Its abbr ...

** ''Fusō'' (扶桑)

Fusang Fusang () refers to various entities, most frequently a mythical tree or location east of China, described in ancient Chinese literature. In the ''Classic of Mountains and Seas'' and several contemporary texts, the term refers to a mythological ...

(another name of Japan) *

Battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...

s and heavy cruisers, including those converted into aircraft carriers — mountains ** ''Kongō'' (金剛)

Mount Kongō is a mountain in the Kawachi region of Osaka Prefecture, Kansai, Japan. It is near Mount Yamato Katsuragi. The mountain has lent its name to a series of naval ships and ship classes: the Imperial Japanese Navy's 1877 ironclad ''Kongō''; ...

, a mountain in

Osaka prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture ...

** ''Kirishima'' (霧島)

Mount Kirishima are a 1700 meter high active volcano group in Kagoshima Prefecture and Miyazaki Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan. Numerous eruptions have been recorded since 742. Very strong eruptions happened in 788, 1716 and 1717. Augite-hypersthene andesite is t ...

, a volcano in

Kagoshima prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,599,779 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 9,187 km2 (3,547 sq mi). Kagoshima Prefecture borders Kumamoto P ...

** ''Akagi'' (赤城)

Mount Akagi is a mountain in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. The broad, low dominantly andesitic stratovolcano rises above the northern end of the Kanto Plain. It contains an elliptical, 3 x 4 km summit caldera with post-caldera lava domes arranged along a N ...

, a volcano in the

Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Slight ...

** ''Chōkai'' (鳥海)

Mount Chōkai is an active volcano located on the southern border of Akita and Yamagata in the Tōhoku region of Japan, and is tall. Because of its (roughly) symmetrical shape and massive size, it is also variously known as , or depending on the location ...

, a volcano in the

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains a ...

Light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

s, including those converted into heavy cruisers — river names ** ''Tone'' (利根)

Tone River The is a river in the Kantō region of Japan. It is in length (the second longest in Japan after the Shinano) and has a drainage area of (the largest in Japan). It is nicknamed Bandō Tarō (); ''Bandō'' is an obsolete alias of the Kantō ...

, a river in the

** (筑摩)

Chikuma River The , known as the in its upper reaches, is the longest and widest river in Japan and the third largest by basin area (behind the Tone River and Ishikari River). It is located in northeastern Honshu, rising in the Japanese Alps and flowing g ...

, a river in

Nagano prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...

** ''Suzuya'' (鈴谷)

Suzuya River ''Suzuya'' may refer to one of two cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy, named for the Susuya River in Karafuto: * , the former captured by Japan during the Russo-Japanese War; scrapped in 1913 * , a ; sunk by American-carrier-based aircraft ...

, a river in

Karafuto prefecture Karafuto Prefecture ( ja, 樺太庁, ''Karafuto-chō''; russian: Префектура Карафуто, Prefektura Karafuto), commonly known as South Sakhalin, was a prefecture of Japan located in Sakhalin from 1907 to 1949. Karafuto became ter ...

(now

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...

) ** ''Yūbari'' (夕張)

Yūbari River is a river in Hokkaidō, Japan. It is the namesake of Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the E ...

, a river in

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

* Training cruisers (post-1940) —

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The '' honden''Also called (本殿, meani ...

s ** ''Katori'' (香取)

Katori Shrine The is a Shintō shrine in the city of Katori in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Shimōsa Province, and is the head shrine of the approximately 400 Katori shrines around the country (located primarily in the Kantō re ...

Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s **Until 27 August 1912 — weather, wind, tide, current, wave, moon, season, other natural phenomenon, plants **And after 28 August 1912 ***First class destroyers (and over 1,000 tons displacement) — weather, wind, tide, current, wave, moon, season, other natural phenomenon **** (雷) Thunder **** ''Yukikaze'' (雪風) Snowy wind **** ''Michishio'' (満潮) High tide **** ''Oyashio'' (親潮)

Oyashio Current , also known as Oya Siwo, Okhotsk or the Kurile current, is a cold subarctic ocean current that flows south and circulates counterclockwise in the western North Pacific Ocean. The waters of the Oyashio Current originate in the Arctic Ocean an ...

**** ''Sazanami'' (漣) Ripples on the water surface **** (高波) High wave **** ''Mikazuki'' (三日月) Crescent moon **** (夕雲) Evening cloud **** ''Mutsuki'' (睦月) January in lunar calendar **** (若葉) Young leaves **** (夕暮) Twilight **** (響) Echo ***Second class destroyers (and over 600 tons displacement — less than 1,000 tons displacement) — plants **** ''Nara'' (楢)

Oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

**** ''Momi'' (樅)

Abies firma ''Abies firma'', the momi fir, is a species of fir native to central and southern Japan, growing at low to moderate altitudes of 50–1600 m. ''Abies firma'' is a medium-sized to large evergreen coniferous tree growing to tall and in trunk d ...

**** ''Sanae'' (早苗) Rice sprouts **Between 12 October 1921 — 31 July 1928 under the

Eight-eight fleet The was a Japanese naval strategy formulated for the development of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the first quarter of the 20th century, which stipulated that the navy should include eight first-class battleships and eight armoured cruisers or b ...

programme ***First class destroyers ( ''Kamikaze'' class, ''Mutsuki'' class and ''Fubuki'' class) — Odd numbers from 1 to 27, consecutive numbers and after 28 **** Destroyer No. 1 (第1駆逐艦), renamed ''Kamikaze'' on 1 August 1928 **** Destroyer No. 46 (第46号駆逐艦), renamed ''Shikinami'' on 6 August 1928 ***Second class destroyers ( ''Wakatake'' class) — Even numbers from '2' to '26' **** Destroyer No. 18 (第18駆逐艦), renamed ''Karukaya'' on 1 August 1928 **And after 4 June 1943 *** Type 'A' destroyers — rain, tide ****''Akisame'' (秋雨) Autumn rain ****''Takashio'' (高潮) High tide *** Type 'B' destroyers — wind, moon, cloud, season ****''Yamazuki'' (山月) Moon over a mountain ****''Yukigumo'' (雪雲) Snow cloud ****''Hae'' (南風) South wind of dialect word in

Okinawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city o ...

, standard Japanese is ''Minamikaze'' ****''Hayaharu'' (早春) Early spring *** Type 'D' destroyers — plants **** ''Matsu'' (松) Pine tree **** (梨)

Pyrus pyrifolia ''Pyrus pyrifolia'' is a species of pear tree native to East Asia. The tree's edible fruit is known by many names, including: Asian pear, Japanese pear, Chinese pear, Korean pear, Taiwanese pear, apple pear, zodiac pear, three-halves pear, pa ...

****''Wakakusa'' (若草) Spring grass *

Torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of se ...

s **Until 15 January 1924 ***First class torpedo boats (and over 120 tons displacement) — birds **** ''Hayabusa'' (隼) Peregrine falcon ***Second class and third class torpedo boats (less than 120 tons displacement) — consecutive number from '1' **** ''Torpedo boat No. 21'' (第21号水雷艇) **And after 30 May 1931 — birds *** ''Chidori'' (千鳥) Plover *** ''Kiji'' (雉) Pheasant *

Submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

s **Until 31 October 1924 — consecutive number from '1' *** ''Submarine No. 1'' (第1潜水艦) *** ''Submarine No. 44'' (第44号潜水艦) **And after 1 November 1924 ***First class submarines (and over 1,000 tons displacement) — 'I' (伊) and consecutive number from '1', 'I' is first letter in the

Iroha The is a Japanese poem. Originally the poem was attributed to the founder of the Shingon Esoteric sect of Buddhism in Japan, Kūkai, but more modern research has found the date of composition to be later in the Heian period (794–1179). The f ...

**** ''I-1'' (伊号第1潜水艦)　''I-Gō Dai-1 sensuikan'' **** ''I-51'' (伊号第51潜水艦) ''I-Gō Dai-51 sensuikan'' ***Second class submarines (and over 500 tons displacement — less than 1,000 tons displacement) — 'Ro' (呂) and consecutive number from '1', 'Ro' is second letter in the Iroha **** ''Ro-1'' (呂号第1潜水艦) ''Ro-Gō Dai-1 sensuikan'' **** ''Ro-51'' (呂号第51潜水艦) ''Ro-Gō Dai-51 sensuikan'' ***Third class submarines (less than 500 tons displacement) — 'Ha' (波) and consecutive number from '1', 'Ha' is third letter in the Iroha, third class submarines were unified to second class submarines on 30 May 1931 **** ''Ha-1'' (波号第1潜水艦) ''Ha-Gō Dai-1 sensuikan'' **** ''Ha-9'' (波号第9潜水艦) ''Ha-Gō Dai-9 sensuikan'' *

Gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

s — places of scenic beauty and historic interest ** ''Ataka'' (安宅) ''Ataka-no-Seki'' is a barrier station in

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

** ''Suma'' (須磨) '' Suma-no-Ura'' is beauty spot in

Hyōgo Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and has a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, an ...

* Coast defence ship/Escort ships **Until 30 June 1942 — Island *** ''Shimushu'' (占守)

Shumshu russian: Шумшу ja, 占守島 , image_name = Shumshu.jpg , image_caption = A Landsat 7 image of Shumshu Island. The northern tip of Paramushir Island is at left. The First Kuril Strait lies across the upper portion of the image. , image_size ...

is one of the

Kuril Islands The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands (; rus, Кури́льские острова́, r=Kuril'skiye ostrova, p=kʊˈrʲilʲskʲɪjə ɐstrɐˈva; Japanese: or ) are a volcanic archipelago currently administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the ...

**And after 1 July 1942 ***Type 'A' and Type 'B' Escort ships — Island **** ''Etorofu'' (択捉)

Iturup , other_names = russian: Итуру́п; ja, 択捉島 , location = Sea of Okhotsk , coordinates = , archipelago = Kuril Islands , total_islands = , major_islands = , area_km2 = 3139 , length_km = 200 , width_km = 27 , coastline = , highest_moun ...

**** ''Okinawa'' (沖縄)

Okinawa Island is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands of Japan in the Kyushu region. It is the smallest and least populated of the five main islands of Japan. The island is approximately long, an average wide, and has an ...

*** Type 'C' escort ships — Odd numbers from '1' *** Type 'D' escort ships — Even numbers from '2' *

Submarine tender A submarine tender is a type of depot ship that supplies and supports submarines. Development Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally do not have the ability to carry large amounts of food, fuel, torpedoes, and ...

s — whales ** ''Jingei'' (迅鯨) Swift whale *

Seaplane tender A seaplane tender is a boat or ship that supports the operation of seaplanes. Some of these vessels, known as seaplane carriers, could not only carry seaplanes but also provided all the facilities needed for their operation; these ships are rega ...

s — abstract noun, idiomatic word, notable achievement vessels in past war ** ''Chitose'' (千歳) Long life ** ''Mizuho'' (瑞穂) another name of Japan, ''The Land of Vigorous Rice Plants'' by literal translation ** ''Nisshin'' (日進) succession to ship name ''Nisshin'' ** ''Akitsushima'' (秋津州) succession to ship name ''Akitsushima'' *

Minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing controll ...

s **as warship (fitted imperial seal on bow) — Island, islands, ancient battlefield *** ''Itsukushima'' (厳島) ancient battlefield of the

Battle of Miyajima The 1555 was the only battle to be fought on the sacred island of Miyajima; the entire island is considered to be a Shinto shrine, and no birth or death is allowed on the island. Extensive purification rituals took place after the battle, to cle ...

(Itsukushima Kassen) *** ''Okinoshima'' (沖島) Okinoshima, and battlefield of the

Battle of Tsushima The Battle of Tsushima (Japanese:対馬沖海戦, Tsushimaoki''-Kaisen'', russian: Цусимское сражение, ''Tsusimskoye srazheniye''), also known as the Battle of Tsushima Strait and the Naval Battle of Sea of Japan (Japanese: 日 ...

*** ''Yaeyama'' (八重山)

Yaeyama Islands The Yaeyama Islands (八重山列島 ''Yaeyama-rettō'', also 八重山諸島 ''Yaeyama-shotō'', Yaeyama: ''Yaima'', Yonaguni: ''Daama'', Okinawan: ''Yeema'', Northern Ryukyuan: ''Yapema'') are an archipelago in the southwest of Okinawa ...

**as mine boat and cable layer — cape, point, island, islet *** ''Sokuten'' (測天) Sokuten Island is one of the island of the

Penghu The Penghu (, Hokkien POJ: ''Phîⁿ-ô͘'' or ''Phêⁿ-ô͘'' ) or Pescadores Islands are an archipelago of 90 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait, located approximately west from the main island of Taiwan, covering an area ...

*** ''Shirakami'' (白神)

Cape Shirakami is a cape located on the southernmost tip of the Oshima Peninsula in Matsumae, Hokkaidō, Japan. It is the southernmost point of Hokkaidō. See also

*Extreme points of Japan Landforms of Hokkaido Headlands of Japan, Shirakami Matsumae, Ho ...

**as auxiliary minelayer — numbered name *** ''Auxiliary minelayer No. 1'' (第1号敷設特務艇) *

Netlayer A net laying ship, also known as a net layer, net tender, gate ship or boom defence vessel was a type of naval auxiliary ship. A net layer's primary function was to lay and maintain steel anti-torpedo or anti-submarine nets. Nets could be laid ...

s **as warship (fitted imperial seal on bow) ***Until 3 June 1943 — put the initial Taka (鷹, hawk) after her name **** ''Shirataka'' (白鷹) White hawk ***And after 4 June 1943 — birds **** ''Asadori'' (朝鳥) Birds in morning **as net laying boat — birds *** ''Tsubame'' (燕)

Barn swallow The barn swallow (''Hirundo rustica'') is the most widespread species of swallow in the world. In fact, it appears to have the largest natural distribution of any of the world's passerines, ranging over 251 million square kilometres globally. ...

Auxiliary ship An auxiliary ship is a naval ship designed to support combatant ships and other naval operations. Auxiliary ships are not primary combatant vessels, though they may have some limited combat capacity, usually for purposes of self-defense. Auxil ...

s **Collier, oiler, icebreaker, freighter, repair ship, self-propelled target ship, munition ship — cape, point, strait, channel, bay, port *** ''Wakamiya'' (若宮) Cape Wakamiya; her first classification was transport ship. Cape Wakamiya (Wakamiya-zaki) is in Wakamiya Island,

Oki Islands The is an archipelago in the Sea of Japan, the islands of which are administratively part of Oki District, Shimane Prefecture, Japan. The islands have a total area of . Only four of the around 180 islands are permanently inhabited. Much of the ...

*** ''Akashi'' (明石)

Akashi Strait The is a strait between the Japanese islands of Honshu and Awaji. The strait connects Seto Inland Sea and Osaka Bay. The width of the Akashi Strait is approximately 4 kilometers, and maximum depth is about 110 meters. The fastest tidal current ...

is water between the

Akashi Akashi may refer to: People *Akashi (surname) Places *Akashi, Hyōgo *Akashi Station, a Japanese railroad station on the Sanyō Main Line *Akashi Strait *Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, crossing the former *Akashi Castle *Akashi Domain * Akashi, the name ...

and Awaji Island *** ''Nojima'' (野島) Cape Nojima in

Bōsō Peninsula The is a peninsula that encompasses the entirety of Chiba Prefecture on Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It is part of the Greater Tokyo Area. It forms the eastern edge of Tokyo Bay, separating it from the Pacific Ocean. The peninsula covers ...

*** ''Hayasui'' (速吸) Hayasui-no-Seto is former name of the

Hōyo Strait The is the strait at the narrowest part of the Bungo Channel in Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the wes ...

*** ''Ōtomari'' (大泊) Port of Ōtomari in southern

Sakhalin Island Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...

**Minesweeper, landing ship, patrol boat, motor torpedo boat, submarine chaser — numbered name *** Minesweeper No. 1 (第1号掃海艇) *** Landing ship No. 1 (第1号輸送艦) *** Patrol boat No. 1 (第1号哨戒艇) *** Motor torpedo boat No. 1 (第1号魚雷艇) *** ''Submarine chaser No. 1'' (第1号駆潜艇) *

Miscellaneous ship {{Short pages monitor