Gensui (Imperial Japanese Navy)

Kaigun-gensui (海軍元帥, Marshal of the Navy), formal rank designations: Gensui-kaigun-taishō (元帥海軍大将, Marshal-admiral) was the highest rank in the Imperial Japanese Navy. The term gensui was used for both the navy and the Imperial Japanese Army, and was a largely honorific title awarded for extremely meritorious service to the Emperor. In the Meiji period, the title was awarded to five generals and three admirals. In the Taishō period it was awarded to six generals and six admirals, and in the Shōwa period it was awarded to six generals and four admirals. It was similar to Admiral of the Fleet in the Royal Navy and Fleet admiral in the United States Navy.

Kaigun-gensui
海軍元帥
Gensui Badge
Country Japanese Empire
Service branch Imperial Japanese Navy
Formation20 January 1898
Abolished1945
Next higher rankDai-gensui
Next lower rankAdmiral
Equivalent ranksGensui (Army)

List of Kaigun-gensui

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Note that several were promoted the same year they died; these were posthumous promotions.

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Appointed Retired Origin Ref.
  Marquess
Saigō Tsugumichi
(1843–1902)
20 January 1898 1898 Kagoshima
  Count
Itō Sukeyuki
(1843–1914)
31 January 1906 16 January 1914 †
  Viscount
Inoue Yoshika
(1845–1929)
31 October 1911 22 March 1929 †
  Marquess
Tōgō Heihachirō
(1847–1934)
21 April 1913 30 May 1934 †
  Prince
Arisugawa Takehito
(1862–1913)
7 July 1913 10 July 1913 † Imperial Family
  Baron
Ijūin Gorō
(1852–1921)
26 May 1917 13 January 1921 † Kagoshima
  Prince
Higashifushimi Yorihito
(1867–1922)
27 June 1922
(posthumous)
Imperial Family
  Baron
Shimamura Hayao
(1858–1923)
8 January 1923
(posthumous)
Kōchi
  Baron
Katō Tomosaburō
(1861–1923)
23 August 1923 24 August 1923 † Hiroshima
  Prince
Fushimi Hiroyasu
(1876–1946)
27 May 1932 1945 Imperial Family
  Yamamoto Isoroku
(1884–1943)
18 April 1943
(posthumous)
Nagaoka
  Nagano Osami
(1880–1947)
21 June 1943 1945 Kōchi
  Koga Mineichi
(1885–1944)
31 March 1944
(posthumous)
Arita

See also

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References

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