The Kobe Naval Training Center Opens and Closes

Katsu Kaishū promoted a naval center at Kobe, where an existing careening basin had been built with the merchant Amiya Kihei’s private funds. Shogun Iemochi visited the site in 1863, and Kaishū received an appointment to advance naval construction and coastal defense there. The project used a working waterfront already developed for ship maintenance.

The center opened in 1864 with teaching grounds, repair facilities and training ships, including Kankō Maru and Kokuryū Maru. Maritime instruction brought together young men from different warrior backgrounds. Ships and shore facilities allowed practical training alongside lessons; recruitment also created contacts across domain boundaries.

The political setting curtailed the institution. After the Kinmon conflict in Kyoto, Kaishū was dismissed in 1864, and the center closed the following year. A commemorative inscription associated with the project was buried after closure and later recovered. Its short operation developed naval training and relationships but failed to establish a continuing academy under stable shogunal support.