Imperial Japanese Navy
Following the opening of Japan to international trade by Commodore Perry in 1854, advisors to the court of the Meiji Emperor instituted massive reforms to industrialize and militarize Japan from 1868 in order to prevent it from being overwhelmed by the powers.
Although Japan lacked many of the resources of the European powers of the time, by the beginning of the 20th century Japan had created a navy that bested the navies of both China and Russia, and by 1920 it was the world's third largest navy. To make this navy, Japan relied heavily on teachers from the British Navy (the best at that time) and bought many ships from British shipyards. The last major purchase was in 1913 when a battlecruiser, Kongo, was purchased from the Vickers shipyard. After this point all the ships would be made in Japan and, following the dissolution of bilateral treaty between two countries, the Japanese Navy was on its own.
Following Japan's surrender to the United States at the conclusion of World War II, however, and Japan's subsequent occupation, Japan's entire imperial military was dissolved in the new 1947 constitution which states, "The Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes."
Japan's current navy falls under the umbrella of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF).
See also: List of battleships of the Japanese Navy
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