Flag of the Japanese Navy (I&B4) by @Thorvald (El Thorvaldo)

SVG remake of JohannaK's original raster, uploaded to the defunct IOT Wiki in 2019.

The Japanese navy in Iron and Blood 4 was the largest beneficiary of the alternate history evasion of sakoku. The Red Seal Fleet was upgraded with Western techniques, and modernized warships facilitated the invasion of Taiwan in 1662; transoceanic voyages established permanent trading bases in the Americas, and an extensive Pacific maritime atlas was compiled in the late 17th Century.

The legacy of the early regency council left military levies to individual clans, and the Shimazu emerged as Japan's principal naval host, aided by its vassalization of the Ryūkyū Islands in the early 1600s. Its transport ships supported the conquest of Kitaezo and subsequent invasion of Karafuto; however, Shimazu participation in the 1798–1802 rebellion left it disgraced, and in the wake of the revolt against Toyotomi Yoshifune in the 1850s, the semi-feudal administrative framework was restructured and military control consolidated.

By 1931, the Navy was the most prestigious branch of the armed forces, but funding diversions to R&D undercut maintenance and forced a reduction in the standing fleet. Its crown jewel was one of the world's first functional aircraft carriers, Fujisan, although it was rumoured to have launched early for posturing and remained incomplete.

Download submitted to DeviantArt October 2022; Alternative download available via Patreon.