Rear Admiral SHIRANE Tsutomu,

The Superintendent, First Service School

Welcome to our Home Page! I am Rear Admiral SHIRANE, Superintendent of the First Service School of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF). I was assigned to this post on Dec 22 2021.

This island, Etajima, is considered a Mecca of naval education in the JMSDF. In addition to the First Service School, the Officer Candidate School is on the same campus.The schools which are on a beautiful campus with many evergreen trees amidst white sand face Etajima inlet and are surrounded by Mt.Furutaka,Mt.Tsukumo,and other hills.

The school has a long history and a great tradition of education which we are very proud of. Since the I mperial Naval Academy was transferred from Tukiji in Tokyo to Etajima in 1888, thousands of naval officers have graduated from this school. Now, as the largest educational facility in the present day JMSDF, we provide various training courses for commissioned and noncommissioned officers. Accordingly, we still use a number of historical buildings and facilities; some of them are more than hundred years old.

There are four Service Schools in the JMSDF: the 1st Service School is here in Etajima, the 2nd Service School is in Yokosuka, the 3rd Service School is in Chiba and the 4th Service School is in Maizuru. Each school provides different type of specialized training and instruction. Examples of the subjects that the First Service School provides for commissioned and noncommissioned officers are gunnery, torpedoes, sonar, minesweeping and, communications

I hope that you will understand the spirit of the Imperial Naval Academy and our idea of national defense through your visit. In short, please enjoy the beautiful landscape of Etajima full of naval history and tradition.

Superintendent`s Profile