RETIREMENTS, PENSIONS, ETC.
As already stated, the retiring age (nominally) of a sub-lieutenant is 42. Other officers are retired pro rata up to 65 years of age for vice-admirals.
Officers of good conduct are promoted on retirement as a rule. Pensions vary from a minimum of £20 to £76 per annum upward in each case. In the admirals’ ranks, the minimum ranges from £105 to £150 per annum. There is no exact maximum.
Intentionally or otherwise, there is one excellent thing that obtains in the Japanese Navy. By the system of selection of captains to be admirals the “duffer officer” has little chance of blocking the way of better men. He, however, as a rule is ready to recognise his own shortcomings, and it is not at all uncommon for such officers to exhibit their patriotism by retiring to make room for those who are likely to do better than they. It is only in the Japanese Navy that this happens: and it is in very marked contrast to certain other navies.
JAPANESE FLAGS.
XVII
FLAGS
Till comparatively quite recent times the Japanese naval ensign was the same as the present jack and mercantile flag. The first battleships flew this white flag with the red ball, and the now well-known Japanese naval ensign only dates from the Itsukushima. It is very rarely correctly represented. The accompanying [illustration] shows it as it actually is; usually the sun is put in the centre instead of in its proper place.
Admirals’ flags are remarkable in that they follow the Russian system of marking by bands at the edges, instead of the almost universal balls or stars which other nations employ.
The other flags illustrated do not call for comment to any extent, as they follow existing custom in all navies.
The device on the Imperial Standard is the national chrysanthemum. It is the personal flag of the Emperor. This badge, by the way, is found upon the device on the caps of all officers.