colonel; navy captain
Military rank; in the Imperial Japanese Army it corresponds to colonel, and in the Imperial Japanese Navy to captain. The reading だいさ was used specifically by the Imperial Japanese Navy.
He was promoted to colonel in the army.
In the navy, a captain often serves as the commanding officer of a ship.
He was promoted to colonel in his forties.
The rank of colonel is one level below general officer.
Standard kanji spelling for the rank of colonel or navy captain.
From Chinese-derived terms 大 (great) and 佐 (assistant, help), originally used in ancient Chinese official titles and later adopted for modern military ranks in Japan.