Our community
Over thirty members, across Japan
The Royal Naval Association Japan Branch is a community of more than thirty members who share a common bond through naval service and maritime heritage. Our membership draws from distinguished backgrounds: retired officers of the Japanese Navy, historians, authors, teachers, scholars, ambassadors and defence attachés, alongside former Royal Navy personnel and Commonwealth navy veterans.
All are united by the enduring values of service, friendship and mutual support that define the RNA worldwide. Living across Japan, our members bring together a wealth of knowledge about the country itself — its culture and history as well as practical local insight — which we share with visiting crews and with each other. That collective expertise, spanning decades of life and work in Japan, strengthens our identity and helps us welcome and support Royal Navy vessels during their port visits.
Activities and connections
An active calendar, and good company
Through the year we maintain an active calendar centred on our annual AGM, complemented by social events and ship visits that bring the community together. These gatherings are for fellowship among our own members, and for strengthening the relationships we hold with partner organisations.
Our connections with the Royal British Legion keep us linked to the wider British veteran community in Japan, while our partnership with Suikokai, the Japanese retired naval officers' association, continues the spirit of naval cooperation that has characterised British–Japanese relations for over a century.
When Royal Navy vessels visit Japanese ports, our members often serve as hosts — a vital link between visiting crews and the local community, and a continuation of the traditions of naval hospitality.
Our mission
Nobody with a naval story need go it alone
As a chartered branch of the Royal Naval Association, we uphold the organisation's mission of providing companionship, comradeship and unity to everyone with a naval story. Whether you are a career naval officer, served briefly in the fleet, or simply share our interest in naval heritage and values, we offer support through life's challenges and its celebrations.
The branch serves as both a social network and a support system, so that no one with naval connections in Japan need face life's journey alone.