Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, Etajima

The Imperial Japanese Naval Academy trained the Navy's line officers. It traced its origins to a naval training establishment opened at Tsukiji, Tokyo, in 1869 and took the name Naval Academy (Kaigun Heigakko) in 1876. In 1888 it moved from Tsukiji to the island of Etajima in Hiroshima Prefecture, and "Etajima" became virtually synonymous with the school, often mentioned alongside Dartmouth and Annapolis. Seventy-eight classes graduated before its abolition in 1945, a total of about 12,433 officers.

The campus retains several landmark buildings: the red-brick cadet hall of 1893, the granite Grand Lecture Hall completed in 1917, and the Educational Reference Hall (Kyoiku Sankokan) of 1936, which houses naval historical materials. They remain in use by the Maritime Self-Defense Force and largely keep their original appearance.

As the war widened the Navy needed junior officers in great numbers. Annual intake doubled to about 600 in 1939 and reached about 900 in 1941. Branch schools were opened at Iwakuni in 1943, at Ohara and Maizuru in 1944, and at Hario in 1945 to absorb the expansion. The thousands of officers who graduated during the Second World War served in ships and air units across the Pacific, and many were killed. The academy was closed with Japan's defeat in 1945.

After the surrender the grounds were taken over by the Allies and used for a time by the British Commonwealth Occupation Force before being returned to Japan; the Maritime Self-Defense Force moved in from 1956. The site now houses the JMSDF Officer Candidate School and the 1st Service School. Regular guided public tours cover the Grand Lecture Hall, the exterior of the red-brick hall and the Educational Reference Hall. Because this is an active military installation, visitors must follow the published tour times and routes rather than entering freely.