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Japanese ship naming conventions are different from and not well known in
the West. For example, Japanese warships have never been named after people.
Prior to World War II Japanese ship naming conventions underwent several
changes before being basically settled.
Maru
Westerners are familiar with the word Maru being attached to Japanese
ship names. There are several theories associated with this word being
attached to ship names. The most common is that ships were thought of as
floating castles and the word maru refered to the defensive "circles" or
maru that protected the castle.
Another explanation is that the suffix maru is often applied to words
representing something that is beloved and that sailors applied this suffix
to their ships.
A third explanation is that the term "maru" is used in divination and
represents perfection or completeness, or the ship as a small world of its
own.
The final explanation is a legend of the "Hakudo Maru"" which was the
name of 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 it as it travels.
Still today commercial and private ships are named with this convention.
Early Conventions
When the Imperial Japanese Navy was formed the Minister of the Navy
submitted potential ship names to the Emperor for approval. During the early
years ships were often donated by the Shogunate or Japanese clans and the
orginal 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 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 Sino-Japanese War kept their original names but
with Japanese pronunciation.
In 1867 the Minister of the Navy was given the authority to choose the
names of torpedo boats without emperial approval. In 1902 the authority to
name destroyers 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 could not retain their old
names since Russia and Japan did not share a common alphabet. 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 battleships, battlecruisers, and cruisers. In any event the Navy had
to report the new name to the Emperor immediately.
World War II
During World War II a fairly complete system was put in place for the
naming of ships. The broad categories of names given are:
- Aircraft carriers (pre-1943) - Mythical animals/birds
- Aircraft carriers (post-1943) - Country/mountain names
- Battleships - Country/province names
- Battlecruisers and Heavy cruisers - Mountain names
- Light cruisers - River names
- Training cruisers (post-1940) - Shinto shrine names
- Heavy and light destroyer Destroyers - Meteorological names
- Light destroyers - Plant names or Meteorological names
- Torpedo boats - Bird names
- Submarines - Numbers
- Submarine tenders - Whale names
- Escorts - (post-1940) - Island names
- Destroyer Type A (post-1943) - Water (rain, tides, currents) or plant
names
- Destroyer Type B (post-1943) - Moon, wind, clouds, seasons
Post-World War II Names
Prior to the end of World War II Japanese ship names were rendered in
Chinese ideographs, after the end of the war this tradition was abandoned to
separate the perception of the self-defense forces from the old navy.
Since the war, the self-defense forces have reused the names of many of
the World War II ships but have not assigned them in any systematic way.
Translated Names of Some Major Warships
The English translations of the Japanese warships provide some very
beautiful and unique names. However the literal translation of the
characters does not necessarily represent how the name is perceived to the
Japanese. Just as English speakers do not think of a woman and a garden when
they think of Ann Arbor.
- Akagi - "Red Castle" a volcano in the Kanto region
- Kirishima - "Misty Island", a volcano
- Hiei - "The Cold", a monastery near Kyoto
- Hiryu - "Dragon Flying In Heaven"
- Junyo - "Wandering Falcon"
- Kinugasa - "Silk Parasol", a mountain
- Yukaze - "Evening Wind"
- Hatakaze - "Flag-flying Wind"
- Shiranui - "Phosphorescent Foam"
- Saiyen - "Help from a Distance"
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