Wikipedia:Today's featured article/January 28, 2006

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's renouncement of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes in its post-World War II Constitution of Japan. The origins of the Imperial Japanese Navy trace back to early interactions with states on the Asian continent at the beginning of the medieval period, and reached a peak of activity during the [16th century|16th]] and 17th centuries at a time of cultural exchange with European powers during the Age of Discovery. After two centuries of stagnation during the country's ensuing seclusion policy under the shoguns of the Edo period, Japan's navy was comparatively backward when the country was forced open to trade by American intervention in 1854. This eventually led to the Meiji Restoration, a period of frantic modernization and industrialization accompanied by the re-ascendance of the emperor. The navy's history of successes, sometimes against much more powerful foes as in the 1895 Sino-Japanese war and the 1905 Russo-Japanese War, ended with almost complete annihilation in 1945 against the United States Navy, and official dissolution at the end of the conflict. (more...)