IJN Zipang: the Madness of Japan’s Ultra-Dreadnought

Apr 06, 2026

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The IJN Zipang was a plan concocted by Lieutenant Commander Hidetaro Kaneda around 1912. It was planned to be a 500,000-tonne battleship, a crazy size for any ship.

For a variety of reasons this ship would never be constructed but amazingly it was not the only ship of this size being thought up at the time. Dreadnoughts (exceptionally large battleships) were being proposed around the world with war looming. However, few were ever built.

Why did the Japanese, 100 years ago, think they would need a ship of such a size? And was it even possible to build it?

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