page_title: France–Japan relations (19th century)
section_title: Formation of the Imperial Japanese Navy
hierarchical_section_title: France–Japan relations (19th century) / Collaboration during the Meiji period (1868–) / Formation of the Imperial Japanese Navy
context_page_description: The development of France-Japan relations in the 19th century coincided with Japan's opening to the Western world, following two centuries of seclusion under the "Sakoku" system and France's expansionist policy in Asia. The two countries became very important partners from the second half of the 19th century in the military, economic, legal and artistic fields. The Bakufu modernized its army through the assistance of French military missions, and Japan later relied on France for several aspects of its modernization, particularly the development of a shipbuilding industry during the early years of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and the development of a Legal code. France also derived part of its modern artistic inspiration from Japanese art, essentially through Japonism and its influence on Impressionism, and almost completely relied on Japan for its prosperous silk industry
context_section_description: The French Navy leading engineer Émile Bertin was invited to Japan for four years (from 1886 to 1890) to reinforce the Imperial Japanese Navy, and direct the construction of the arsenals of Kure and Sasebo. For the first time, with French assistance, the Japanese were able to build a full fleet, some of it built in Japan, some of it in France and a few other European nations. The three cruisers designed by Emile Bertin (Matsushima, Itsukushima, and Hashidate) were equipped with 12.6in (32 cm) Canet guns, an extremely powerful weapon for the time. These efforts contributed to the Japanese victory in the First Sino-Japanese war.
  This period also allowed Japan "to embrace the revolutionary new technologies embodied in torpedoes, torpedo-boats and mines, of which the French at the time were probably the world's best exponents".
caption: The Bertin-designed French-built Matsushima, flagship of the Japanese Navy up to the Sino-Japanese conflict
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