Constructors.
The constructor (losin-sokun) enters by competitive examination much as executive and engineers do. After passing he is attached to a dockyard, and then sent abroad, usually to England, to learn more than he can acquire in Japanese dockyards, where only small ships are built as yet. A constructor has equivalent rank with the executive, just like the other non-military branches. All these branches at times use for themselves a military title; thus, taï-i-kikano (lieutenant-engineer) or taï-i-losin-sokun (lieutenant-constructor); but the military branch being, naturally enough, jealous of their titles, the prefix is non-official, and never applied to civil branches by the executive. Of the civil branches, constructors most often get the military title, and in the dockyards are always addressed by the employés as taï-i, houk-cho, or kan-cho, without the word constructor at all. In the British Navy, of course, constructors are almost as entirely civil a profession as Admiralty clerks, and are absolutely unknown to naval officers afloat; but in the Japanese Navy the tie is closer, and every officer knows them.
JAPANESE NAVAL TITLES WITH
ENGLISH EQUIVALENTS
| Note.— | a | is pronounced as | a in father. |
| ai | “ | i in idle. | |
| i | “ | e in feet, | |
| u | “ | ou, or as ue in clue. | |
| ei or e | “ | a in fate. | |
| Example: | taï-i is pronounced “ti-ēē.” | ||
To follow French pronunciation is a tolerably safe guide.
The system under which the Japanese name their deck officers is extremely simple. They are divided into three groups—big, medium, and little. For each of the three grades in these groups there are three similar prefixes—taï-, tchū-,[29] and shŏ-. The affix is the same for all grades in each group, -shō for the big, -sá for the medium, and -i for the lowest.
Thus they get:—
| Prefix. | Affix. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. taï- |  | Big. -shŏ | Medium -sá | Little. -i |
| 2. tchū- | ||||
| 3. shŏ- | ||||
The various ranks, with the corresponding English equivalents, are as follows, working upwards:—
| Sho-i (Ko-hoshei) | = midshipman. |
| Sho-i | = 2nd class sub-lieutenant. |
| Tchu-i | = 1st class sub-lieutenant. |
| Taï-i | = lieutenant. |
| Sho-sá | = lieutenant-commander. |
| Tchu-sá | = commander. |
| Taï-sá | = captain. |
| Sho-sho | = rear-admiral. |
| Tchu-sho | = vice-admiral. |
| Taï-sho | = admiral. |
In addition, there are the following branches of lieutenant-commanders:—
| Ho-jūt-sho | = gunnery lieutenant, |
| Sui-ri-sho | = torpedo lieutenant, |
| Ko-ki-sho | = navigating lieutenant, |
which means principal officer connected with guns, torpedo, or navigation, as the case may be.
As for the other branches:—
| Kika-no | = engineer. |
| Gui-ni | = doctor. |
| Shukei | = paymaster. |
| Zosin | = constructor. |
The affix kwan (pronounced “kuàrn”) denotes junior rank, and is equivalent to our “assistant.” Tdi-kikansh is also “assistant-engineer,” while the chief of any ship is kikan-sho.
The ordinary warrant officer is known as a juin’shi-kwan (“jivēntsh kuàrn”).
XV
ENTRY OF MEN
Bluejackets
By the law of Japan, every male of the age of twenty has to draw lots for the conscription, unless he is already serving. As a matter of fact, however, there are comparatively few conscript sailors in the Imperial Navy, as young Japanese volunteer for service in large numbers.
All candidates undergo a physical examination; and also a literary examination in elementary writing, reading, and arithmetic.
Volunteers are accepted between the ages of seventeen and twenty-one years, and sign on for six years’ service.
Conscripts are compelled to serve four years.
Both classes may volunteer to continue serving up to the following ages, when they are pensioned off:—
| Seamen | 40 | years. |
| Petty officers | 45 | ” |
| Warrant officers | 50 | ” |
| Chief warrant officers | 55 | ” |
Warrant and chief warrant officers in the Japanese Navy never undertake watch-keeping as in the British Navy. In no cases do they mess with the commissioned officers, as in our destroyers, torpedo boats, and torpedo gunboats, but, even in destroyers, have always their own mess.
They are not eligible for promotion to commissioned rank.
XVI
PAY
Pay in the Japanese Navy is, save in one important particular (mess allowance), very much on all-fours as to system with pay in the Russian Navy. There is, in all ranks, the same distinction between shore pay and sea pay, only, unlike the Russian, the Jap is not confined inside his harbours by Nature for two-thirds of the year.
Like Russian pay, too, it varies according to the station and varying living expenses. The distinctly Japanese element—and a very democratic one to boot—is that mess allowance is the same for all ranks: an ordinary seaman, a lieutenant, and a vice-admiral all draw exactly the same sum for messing, and that the modest one of 4s. 7d. and a fraction per week—a pound a month. The idea of the Japanese Government appears to be admirable enough in theory; it has certainly the merit of simplicity.
It must be borne in mind that the cost of living in Japan is about one-third the cost of living in the same style in England, about half the cost of living in Russia, and one-fifth the cost in the United States.
Details of pay for the various ranks are as follows:—