Gensui (Imperial Japanese Navy)

Kaigun-gensui (海軍元帥, Marshal of the Navy), formal rank designations: Gensui-kaigun-taishō (元帥海軍大将, Marshal-admiral) was the highest rank in the Imperial Japanese Navy.^[1] The term gensui was used for both the navy and the Imperial Japanese Army, and was a largely honorific title awarded for extremely meritorious service to the Emperor. In the Meiji period, the title was awarded to five generals and three admirals. In the Taishō period it was awarded to six generals and six admirals, and in the Shōwa period it was awarded to six generals and four admirals. It was similar to Admiral of the Fleet in the Royal Navy and Fleet admiral in the United States Navy.

Kaigun-gensui 海軍元帥
Gensui Badge
Country	Japanese Empire
Service branch	Imperial Japanese Navy
Formation	20 January 1898
Abolished	1945
Next higher rank	Dai-gensui
Next lower rank	Admiral
Equivalent ranks	Gensui (Army)

List of Kaigun-gensui

Note that several were promoted the same year they died; these were posthumous promotions.

Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Appointed	Retired	Origin	Ref.
	Marquess Saigō Tsugumichi (1843–1902)	20 January 1898	1898	Kagoshima
	Count Itō Sukeyuki (1843–1914)	31 January 1906	16 January 1914 †
	Viscount Inoue Yoshika (1845–1929)	31 October 1911	22 March 1929 †
[2]	Marquess Tōgō Heihachirō (1847–1934)	21 April 1913	30 May 1934 †
	Prince Arisugawa Takehito (1862–1913)	7 July 1913	10 July 1913 †	Imperial Family
	Baron Ijūin Gorō (1852–1921)	26 May 1917	13 January 1921 †	Kagoshima
	Prince Higashifushimi Yorihito (1867–1922)	27 June 1922 (posthumous)		Imperial Family
	Baron Shimamura Hayao (1858–1923)	8 January 1923 (posthumous)		Kōchi
	Baron Katō Tomosaburō (1861–1923)	23 August 1923	24 August 1923 †	Hiroshima
	Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu (1876–1946)	27 May 1932	1945	Imperial Family
	Yamamoto Isoroku (1884–1943)	18 April 1943 (posthumous)		Nagaoka
[3]	Nagano Osami (1880–1947)	21 June 1943	1945	Kōchi
	Koga Mineichi (1885–1944)	31 March 1944 (posthumous)		Arita

See also

• Gensui (Imperial Japanese Army)
• Imperial Japanese Navy
• Grand admiral