Kaiyomaru（開陽丸)――Bakufu’s battleship constructed in the Netherlands
To protect Japan and deter Western powers, the bakufu planned to establish a modern navy with powerful
battleships. In 1855, the bakufu started to buy second-hand foreign ships, and requested the Netherlands
to assist naval training. The Dutch agreed, and created a naval academy in Nagasaki, offered one ship fortraining and dispatched naval trainers from the Netherlands. 150 Japanese students entered the academy
as the first class in 1855. By 1862, the bakufu’s navy had several old battleships purchased from abroad,but it needed a latest capital ship to compete with modern foreign fleets.
In 1862, the bakufu approached US Consul General Townsend Harris for the possibility of building a newbattleship, but Harris declined as the US was in the midst of Civil War. The bakufu turned to the Netherlands
again, which accepted the order and also agreed to train 15 Japanese students to operate the ship. The
bakufu’s order was to “build one battleship under 3,000 tons with latest design and technology of the Dutch
Navy driven by steam engine and equipped with 20 or more cannons.” A Rotterdam firm designed the shipin 1863 and Cornelis Gips & Zonen in Dordrecht undertook construction. Japanese students arrived in theNetherlands also in 1863. Dutch officers who had taught in Nagasaki took care of them. The battleshipwas to become the largest and most powerful one built by the Dutch Navy, and Dutch people and media
were greatly interested in its construction. The ship was named, launched, rigged, mounted with cannonsand guns, test-operated, and handed over to Japan in October 1866.
Kaiyomaru made its way to Japan guided by a Dutch officer andnavigated by nine Japanese naval students through the Atlantic andIndian Ocean, and reached Yokohama in March 1867. The maiden
voyage took five months. In Japan, payment was made, Enomoto
Takeaki, one of the naval students who studied in the Netherlands, wasappointed as the captain, and new crew were selected and trained.
But the arrival of Kaiyomaru was too late to improve the bakufu’s position. The ship was originally built todeter foreign powers, but it was actually used to fight domestic enemies and only for a short time. By thetime the ship was deployed, in 1867, the last Tokugawa shogun (Yoshinobu) already decided to return
power to the emperor, and final battles between the bakufu and the anti-bakufu forces began. Kaiyomaru,
along with other bakufu ships, were moved to Osaka Bay to increase the bargaining power of Yoshinobu
and exert pressure on his enemies gathered around Kyoto, and also engaged in small sea battles. But thebakufu’s joint army lost the crucial land battle at Toba & Fushimi (near Kyoto), and Yoshinobu ordered
Kaiyomaru to carry him back to Edo, leaving Captain Enomoto stranded in Osaka.
Tokugawa Yoshinobu submitted to the new Meiji government,
but the remaining bakufu forces led by Enomoto retreated toNorthern Japan, continued fighting and occupied the southern
tip of Hokkaido. But Kaiyomaru was stranded and sunk in astorm and could not participate in the Battle of Hakodate, thelast battle between the bakufu and the new government, which
completely ended the rule of the Tokugawa family.

Enomoto Takeaki

Tokugawa Yoshinobu(1836-1908)(1837-1913)