第四十四期海軍少尉候補生. 練習艦隊遠航記念. [Dai 44-ki Kaigun shoi kohosei.. Renshū Kantai enkō kinen]. [The 44th Naval Cadets' Naval Training Squadron Cruise Commemorative Album].

東京. [Tokyo].: 練習艦隊編纂委員 [Renshu Kantai Henshu Iin].. Taisho 6 [1917]. Map [48.5 x 79cm in rear pocket], black and white photographic illustrations, [99] + 26 + 4pp. Endpapers browned and slightly creased, a little spotting and browning throughout, blue cloth covered boards titled in gilt in Japanese on the upper cover. Traditional silk tied binding, all edges gilt. Cloth slightly marked and rubbed at edges and corners, cloth along joints worn with a little loss in one tiny area but a good firm copy. 22 x 30cm. An album to commemorate the training squadron's main cruise to the West coast of the US which took place in 1917. The year of the cruise appears on the title page. The naval cadets who graduated from the Naval College in Etajima in September 1916 started their sailing training on two war ships, the Tokiwa and the Yakumo, by embarking on a cruise within Japan and later to Qingdao, Port Arthur and Korea. Initially, the squadron was going to sail to the Southern Pacific and India, but it was changed to North America and the Pacific only a week before their departure. This was most likely because of the on-going First World War. The Training Squadron set sail in April 1917 and visited Vancouver, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. At each city, the cadets visited major sites and entertained local dignitaries. A large dinner party was held at Bohemian Club in San Francisco. On the way back, the ships visited Hawaii, Truck Palau and Saipan and reached Yokosuka in August.

This interesting album offers an extensive and detailed photographic record of all the ports visited during the tour with photographic vignettes of each country visited. The Japanese Imperial Navy's training cruises started in 1903, soon after the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. The training cruises had, as their name tells us an important role as training, with an additional and important role in public relations at each port they called at.

The large folding map plots the route of the tour, with each port visited marked with a date. There are photographs of the crew as well as details of their lives on board. This album appears to have been published as a memento of the Japanese Naval Training's Squadron's tour for those who took part or for those who were involved in their training. Copies are therefore quite scarce and not held in many libraries. .