JDS Izumo

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Sam LaGrone, Japan Commissions Largest Warship Since World War II. USNI News, Mar 25, 2015.
news.usni.org/2015/03/25/japan-commissions-largest-ship-since-world-war-ii

Note:
(a) United States Naval Institute
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Naval_Institute

(b) "The commissioning ceremony JS Izumo (DDH-183) — the first of two for the JMSDF — was held in Yokohama and attended by Defense Minister Gen NAKATANI 中谷 元."
(i) The official name in Japan of war ship is JDS (compared to USS, United States Ship). See JDS
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JDS
(can stand for "Japan Defense Ship, a ship prefix in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force")
(ii) United States ship naming conventions
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_ship_naming_conventions
(destroyer (DD))

This Wiki page does not have DDH, LHA or LHD. For the last two, see (iii)(E).
(iii) Japanese ship-naming conventions
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_ship-naming_conventions
(section 2.3 Post–World War II: "Helicopter destroyers and Helicopter carriers (DDH) — [named after] traditional provinces and mountains")
(A) Apparently The H in DDH represent helicopter.
Japanese try hard to avoid the word "carrier," which convey the implication of an offensive weapon.
(C) US has the most helicopter carriers (9) in the world
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter_carrier
, but calls them LHA and LHD (not DDH). See next.
(D) amphibious assault ship
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphibious_assault_ship
(LHA (landing helicopter assault) and LHD (landing helicopter dock))
(E) Consult
hull classification symbol
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hull_classification_symbol

This Wiki page does not have DDH--but does have LHA and LHD.
(iv) 元 , in the Chinese pronunciation (gen) but not in Japanese pronunciation (moto), is used in 元老 (genrō), Yuan dynasty, Chinese currency (compared with Japanese currency 円, which is pronounced "en" in Japan but English changed it to "yen"), Yuan dynasty

(c) Izumo Province  出雲国
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izumo_Province

Japanese Wiki for the same province does say, under the section heading "「出雲」の名称と由来," "雲が湧き上がる[clouds swells upwards]."  That is all you need to know.

(d) "'The original Izumo, an armored cruiser that participated in the Battle of Tsushima, was purchased with reparations from the first Sino-Japanese War,' wrote USNI News contributor Kyle Mizokami in 2013. 'There is little doubt all parties, particularly the Chinese, are aware of the lineage.'”
(i) Battle of Tsushima
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tsushima
(Japanese: 日本海海戦; May 27–28, 1905; In this battle the Japanese fleet under Admiral TŌGŌ Heihachirō 東郷 平八郎 destroyed two-thirds of the Russian fleet)
(ii) The Japanese surname Mizokami is 溝上.
(iii) Japanese English dictionary
* mizo 溝 【みぞ】 (n): "ditch; drain; gutter; trench"
* Harima 播磨 【はりま】 (p,s [stand for 'place name' and 'surname']) Harima (former name of the SW part of Hyogo prefecture 兵庫県)"

(e) "The second ship in the class — the unnamed DDH-184 — is currently under construction at IHI Marine United shipyard in Yokohama and is planned to enter the JMSDF fleet in 2017."
(i) IHI Corporation
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IHI_Corporation
(formerly known as Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co, Ltd 石川島播磨重工業株式会社 [formed through merger of 石川島 and 播磨]; headquarters  Tokyo)
(ii) Tokyo used to have an island called 石川島 (located at 隅田川 河口), but through landfill is no longer one.
(iii) For Harima, see (c)(iii).

(f) "Izumo will join two 18,300-ton Hyuga-class helicopter carriers already in commission.
(i) JDS Izumo is "the lead ship in the Izumo class of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF)." en.wikipedia.org
(ii) Hyūga-class helicopter destroyer
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyūga-class_helicopter_destroyer
(Japanese: ひゅうが型護衛艦; Displacement: 13,950 tons standard, 19,000 tons full load; section 2 Ships in the class: only two: Hyūga and Ise--named after Hyūga Province 日向国 and 伊勢国, respectively)

Contrast
JDS Izumo: "24,000 tons" in this (USNI) report, but "19,800 t standard, 27,000 t full load" in en.wikipedia.org.

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