Imperial Japanese Naval Academy

The Imperial Japanese Naval Academy (海軍兵学校) was a school established to train officers for the Imperial Japanese Navy. It originally located in Nagasaki, moved to Yokohama in 1866, and was relocated to Tsukiji, Tokyo in 1869. It moved to Etajima, Hiroshima in 1888. Students studied for three or four years, and upon graduation were commissioned as midshipmen, attaining the rank of ensign after a period of active duty and an overseas cruise. In 1943, a separate school for naval aviation was opened in Iwakuni, and in 1944, another naval aviation school was established in Maizuru. The Academy was closed in 1945, when the Imperial Japanese Navy was abolished. The site now serves as the location for Officer Candidate School of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.