French military mission to Japan ( 1872 – 80 ) The 1872 – 1880 French Military Mission to Japan was the second French military mission to that country . It followed the first French Military Mission to Japan ( 1867 - 1868 ) , which had ended with the Boshin War and the establishment of the rule of Emperor Meiji . Background . The formation of a second military mission to Japan was rather a surprise , as the first French Military Mission had sided with the Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu against the ruling government of Emperor Meiji during the Boshin war . Furthermore , France had lost some of its military prestige , due to its defeat during the Franco - Prussian war . Nevertheless , France still retained some attractiveness for Japan . This was expressed by the Japanese foreign minister Iwakura Tomomi during his visit ( the Iwakura mission ) to France in 1873 : The Mission . The mission arrived in Japan in May 1872 , headed by Lieutenant Colonel Charles Antoine Marquerie ( 1824 – 1894 ) . He was later replaced by Colonel Charles Claude Munier . The mission was composed of nine officers , 14 non - commissioned officers , a music chief ( Gustave Désiré Dragon ) , a veterinarian , and two craftsmen . A famous member of the mission was Louis Kreitmann ( 1851 – 1914 ) , an army engineer and captain ( " Capitaine du Génie " ) . Louis Kreitmann would later become director of the prestigious École Polytechnique . Kreitmann took about 500 photographs , which are now held at the Institut des Hautes Études Japonaises ( Collège de France ) , Paris . The members of the mission were hired with three - year contracts , with monthly salaries from 150 to 400 yen ( for comparison , at the time the salary of the Japanese Prime Minister was 500 yen , and a newly graduated school teacher would receive 5 yen monthly ) . Activities . The task of the mission was to help reorganize the Imperial Japanese Army , and establish the first draft law , enacted in January 1873 . The law established military service for all males , for a duration of three years , with an additional four years in the reserve . The French mission was essentially active at the Ueno Military School for non - commissioned officers . Between 1872 to 1880 , various schools and military establishments were set up under the direction of the mission , including : Between 1874 and the end of their term , the mission was in charge of building Japan ' s coastal defenses . The mission occurred at the time of a tense internal situation in Japan , with the revolt of Saigo Takamori in the Satsuma rebellion , and contributed significantly to the modernization of Imperial forces before the conflict . Some members of the mission also endeavoured to learn Japanese martial arts : Villaret and Kiehl were members of the dojo of Sakakibara Kenkichi , a master of Jikishin Kage Ryu , a form of swordsmanship ( Kenjutsu ) , making them some of the first western students of Japanese martial arts . Legacy . A third French Military Mission to Japan ( 1884 - 1889 ) would take place with five men , but Japan also involved Germany for military advice from 1886 to 1889 . Around that time however , France gained considerable influence over the Imperial Japanese Navy , with the despatch of the engineer Louis - Émile Bertin , who directed the design and construction of Japan ' s first large - scale modern Navy from 1886 .