Japan

As an island nation, the Imperial Japanese Navy^[1] (IJN) was consistently the forefront of Japan's military, characterized by advanced development of naval technology, quality shipbuilding and superb seamanship. Japan also readily looked to and accepted foreign input after the opening of their borders, from the rapid assimilation of foreign technology, to the frequent military exchanges^[2] with French, British and United States navies, with plenty of naval students being sent to their naval academies and many ships (such as the Kongō) initially being purchased or built in their dockyards while Japan perfected her own shipbuilding capabilities. At the onset of World War II^[3], the IJN was among the few navies who had properly adopted naval aviation and the only navy with fully developed torpedo assets, achieving stunning victories and technological innovations — sweeping successes in the Russo-Japanese and First Sino-Japanese Wars, the Battle of Tsushima, the sinkings of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, the world's first purpose-built aircraft^[4] carrier, the deadly Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedo — and laying down classes of cruisers^[5] and destroyers^[6] that, despite being much older than their adversaries, remained among the most powerful of their class of any nation during the War.

However, several mistakes and oversights during the war resulted in their near-annihilation by the United States Navy. Design flaws — typically the results of cramming as much weaponry as possible into a limited displacement — caused certain ships to be top-heavy and unstable. While concentrating air assets into a single, cohesive force was as effective as it was revolutionary, their carriers were inadequately protected from counterattacks due to lack of radar, faulty design and configuration of anti-aircraft guns, as well as ineffective fire control systems. The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii of 7 December 1941 was a tactical victory but a strategic error, bringing into the war a nation that — while initially under-prepared and as yet unwilling to go to war — had near-limitless resources and unmatched production capabilities. Compounding the error, little to none of the support facilities based in Pearl Harbor — naval repair yards, fuel depots, logistics infrastructure — were attacked, allowing the United States to quickly recover and strike back with a vengeance from their primary naval base in the Pacific. In contrast, Japan did not have the capabilities to replace their losses as quickly, were incredibly dependent on imports — indeed, reducing that dependency was actually one of the major reasons for Japan's expansionist desires — and their unprotected shipping lines due to under-investment in anti-submarine and anti-aircraft warfare allowed the United States Navy to slowly starve Japan into submission.

Japanese ships tend to have great variations in design; each class encountered is likely to have noticeably different handling characteristics from the previous tier, a result of the IJN constantly experimenting with or influenced by different designs and doctrines. They boast consistently superior torpedoes, accurate and long-range guns with high alpha damage, and outstanding concealment and mobility; however, they suffer from inferior survivability and anti-aircraft defenses. Their play style is very similar to the "decisive battle" doctrine that dominated IJN tactics: strike fast and strike hard with precision at targets of importance and/or opportunity, but every hit taken in exchange will be painfully felt.

Destroyers

Gameplay

Japanese destroyers rely on remaining unspotted and depend heavily on making good use of their torpedoes; the tech tree splits at Tier IV after Isokaze, with one line focusing on torpedoes and the other on gunnery.

Fubuki, Tier V destroyer

The torpedo-centric line, starting with Mutsuki, tends to have weak, slow-turning main battery guns that are generally not worth firing unless they happen to be pointing in the enemy's direction. Even then, it is frequently better to hold fire to maintain concealment. Concealment issues are exacerbated with the Smoke Generator

on Japanese destroyers having fewer charges and shorter durations, giving captains less flexibility to get out of sticky situations. Fortunately, from Tier VIII, their concealment values are above average; Legendary Tier's Shimakaze has the best concealment value at her tier. Their torpedoes are unmatched at every tier, having the highest damage and longest ranges of any vessel that can equip torpedoes. This allows them to snipe enemy warships while well out of visual range. Starting with Yūgumo at Tier VIII, their guns begin to be more effective and captains get to choose from three types of torpedoes: high-speed (up to an incredible 76 knots) but shorter range and mediocre detection range; very long range but low speed ("low" being something of a misnomer, given that they still move at more than 60 knots) and bad detection range; and an in-between option that has average speed coupled with better detection (though still more easily spotted than other nation's) and range. This allows for variable play styles and keeps opponents guessing. However, while these torpedoes have a long range and are fast, they also have the worst detectability out of all the nations.

Akizuki, Tier VII destroyer

The gunnery-focused line (which begins with Minekaze) does not mean that they become pseudo-American destroyers, but many of the quirks of the torpedo-focused destroyers are addressed to a certain degree, increasing the all-round capabilities of the ships while still keeping the distinctive characteristics of Japanese destroyers. However, all these improvements are implemented in an arduously gradual process — captains will only start seeing real differences once they reach Shiratsuyu and Akizuki at Tiers VI and VII, respectively. Their turret-turning speeds are improved, their guns fire faster and further (shell damage and velocities are largely the same) and they have better anti-aircraft suites. Amazingly, until Tier VII their concealment values are better than that of the torpedo-focused line, and both lines have access to the same models of torpedoes. What's more, the gunnery-focused line gets a better version of the Torpedo Reload Booster

consumable! As an added bonus, Kitakaze mounts the Japanese 100mm guns with increased HE shell penetration allowing them to penetrate 30mm armor plating naturally. When paired with the Evil Sparks commander skill, these guns can penetrate up to 45mm of armor, allowing them to penetrate the bow armor and plating of most high-tier battleships and cruisers.

Cruisers

Myōkō, Tier VI cruiser

Gameplay

Japanese cruisers tend to have fewer guns housed in slow-turning turrets, coupled with excellent maneuverability and concealment values, and virtually all of them are equipped with a complement of torpedoes that are on par with their destroyer cousins - at the higher tiers, these torpedo tubes will often be located aft of the vessel hampering firing arcs. As such, do not be fooled if a Japanese cruiser starts turning away mid-fight; they may have very likely just launched a spread of torpedoes in your direction. From Tier IV's Furutaka onwards, they are equipped with accurate, powerful guns that, while lacking in rate of fire, have reasonable shell arcs and velocity and are able to reliably penetrate or set their enemies on fire; their High Explosive shells have some of the highest chances among all cruisers in World of Warships: Legends to set targets on fire. Their anti-aircraft suites are sufficient for self-defense, but captains will be hard-pressed to protect their teammates.

Battleships

Yamato, Legendary Tier battleship

Gameplay

Japanese battleships^[7] were somewhat restricted by the Washington Naval Treaty, forcing them to resort to unusual — but often innovative — designs in outfitting their battleships. This resulted in battleships that have widely varying characteristics: the fast and agile Kongō; and the well-balanced Nagato; culminating in the crown of their battleship tree, the formidable Yamato. Japanese battleships often have the highest caliber guns with the longest ranges of their tier, allowing them to rain destruction upon their enemies with impunity. Many of them have good speeds and agility that belies their size and class, but their armor protection frequently lags behind their counterparts of other nations - it tends to be more evenly spread out around the entire ship, so while their citadels may not be as well-protected, at least until Yamato, they have few obvious weak spots. Like their cruiser cousins, their anti-aircraft firepower is sufficient for self-defense, but captains will want cruiser support to ward off more concentrated aerial assaults.

Aircraft Carriers

Shōkaku, Tier VII aircraft carrier

Gameplay

Japanese aircraft carriers have good maneuverability and concealment values, allowing them to re-position and evade enemies exceptionally well. IJN carriers have HE bombers and the torpedo squadrons carry the best air-borne torpedoes in the game which allow players to drop their load at safer distances from anti-air. Japanese carriers also have planes with the lowest health pools resulting in lower survivability when engaging ships with high anti-air capabilities. Poor or reckless endangerment of their squadrons will end up in the carrier running out of aircraft and thus being of limited use to the team. Hakuryū — or G15 Taiho Mod. 2 in official designation — currently represents the pinnacle of what IJN carriers might have achieved, as it can theoretically destroy even the toughest battleships with sheer squadron numbers alone.