Kodama Gentarō

Viscount Kodama Gentarō
Nhi ngọc nguyên thái lang
General Viscount Kodama Gentarō
Minister of the Army Empire of Japan
In office 23 December 1900 – 27 March 1902
Monarch	Meiji
Preceded by	Katsura Tarō
Succeeded by	Terauchi Masatake
Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office
In office 11 April 1906 – 30 July 1906
Preceded by	Ōyama Iwao
Succeeded by	Oku Yasukata
Governor-General of Taiwan Empire of Japan
In office 26 February 1898 – 11 April 1906
Monarch	Meiji
Preceded by	Nogi Maresuke
Succeeded by	Sakuma Samata
Personal details
Born	(1852-03-16)16 March 1852 Tokuyama,Suō Province,Japan
Died	23 July 1906(1906-07-23)(aged 54) Tokyo,Japan
Awards	Order of the Golden Kite(first class) Grand Cordon of theOrder of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers Grand Cordon of theOrder of the Rising Sun Grand Cordon of theOrder of the Sacred Treasure
Military service
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Branch/service	Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service	1868–1906
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Boshin War Saga rebellion Shinpūren Rebellion Satsuma Rebellion First Sino-Japanese War Russo-Japanese War

In thisJapanese name,thesurnameisKodama.

ViscountKodama Gentarō(Nhi ngọc nguyên thái lang,16 March 1852 – 23 July 1906)was aJapanesegeneral in theImperial Japanese Armyand a government minister during theMeiji period.He was instrumental in establishing the modernImperial Japanese military.

Early life

Kodama was born on March 16, 1852, inTokuyama,Tsuno,Suō Province,the first son of thesamuraiKodama Hankurō. His father was a mid-ranking samurai with a 100kokulandholding. At the time, the Kodama family had two daughters, Hisako and then Nobuko, and since Kodama was the first male member of the family, his birth was greatly appreciated by the whole family. When Kodama was born, his father, Hankurō, was at the house of his friend Shimada Mitsune, a scholar ofChinese poetry,who lived across the street and was enjoying poetry with four or five other people. When a family member hurriedly arrived to announce the birth of a son, Hankurō was overjoyed and rushed straight home to raise a toast.

Military career

Kodama began his military career by fighting in theBoshin Warfor theMeiji Restorationagainst the forces of theTokugawa shogunatein 1868. He was appointed a non-commissioned officer on 2 June 1870, advanced to sergeant major on 10 December, and promoted to warrant officer on 15 April 1871. He was commissioned a second lieutenant on 6 August and promoted to lieutenant on 21 September. He was promoted to captain on 25 July 1872 and to major on 19 October 1874.

As a soldier in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army, he saw combat during the suppression of theSatsuma Rebellion.He later enrolled in theOsaka Heigakuryo( đại phản binh học liêu ) Military Training School).Successive and rapid promotions followed: lieutenant-colonel on 30 April 1880, colonel on 6 February 1883, and major-general on 24 August 1889.

Kodama was appointed head of theArmy Staff College,where he worked with German MajorJakob Meckelto reorganize the modern Japanese military after thePrussian military.

Kodama went on to study military science as amilitary attachéto Germany. After his return to Japan, he was appointedVice-minister of Warin 1892.

After his service in theSino-Japanese War(1894–1895), Kodama becameGovernor-General of Taiwan.During his tenure, he did much to improve the infrastructure of Taiwan and to alleviate the living conditions of the inhabitants.He was promoted to lieutenant general on 14 October 1896. Having proved himself an excellent administrator, Kodama spent the following decade serving asMinister of the ArmyunderPrime MinisterItō Hirobumi.Kodama retained the post and took on the concurrent roles ofMinister of Home AffairsandEducationunder the following prime minister,Katsura Tarō.

On 6 June 1904, Kodama was promoted to fullgeneral.However, he was asked byMarshalŌyama Iwaoto beChief of General Staffof theManchurian Armyduring theRusso-Japanese War.That was a demotion for him in terms of rank, but he nevertheless chose to take the position; the sacrifice elicited much public applause. Throughout the Russo-Japanese War, he guided the strategy of the whole campaign, as GeneralKawakami Sōrokuhad done in theFirst Sino-Japanese Warten years earlier.The postwar historianShiba Ryōtarōgives him complete credit for Japan's victory at theSiege of Port Arthur,but there is no historical evidence for that, and Kodama kept quiet about his role in the battle. After the war, he was named Chief of theImperial Japanese Army General Staffbut died soon afterwards.

Kodama was raised in rapid succession to the ranks ofdanshaku(baron) andshishaku(viscount) under thekazokupeerage system, and his death in 1906 of acerebral hemorrhagewas regarded as a national calamity.

Legacy

A bronze monument statue of Kodama Gentaro

Following a petition by Kodama's son,Hideo,the Meiji Emperor elevated Hideo to the title ofhakushaku(count). Kodama later received the ultimate honor of being raised to the ranks ofShintokami.Shrines to his honor still exist at his hometown inShūnan,Yamaguchi Prefecture,and on the site of his summer home onEnoshima,Fujisawa,Kanagawa Prefecture.

Honours

With information from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia

Peerages

• Baron (20 August 1895)
• Viscount (11 April 1906)

Order of precedence

• Senior seventh rank (March 1874)
• Senior sixth rank (28 May 1880)
• Fifth rank (18 April 1883)
• Fourth rank (27 September 1889)
• Senior fourth rank (26 October 1894)
• Third rank (8 March 1898)
• Senior third rank (20 April 1901)
• Second rank (23 April 1906)
• Senior second rank(23 July 1906; posthumous)

Decorations

Japanese

• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure (27 December 1899; Second Class: 26 December 1894)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (27 February 1902; 2nd Class: 20 August 1895; 3rd Class: 7 April 1885; 4th Class: 31 January 1878)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers (1 April 1906)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Golden Kite (1 April 1906; 3rd Class: 20 August 1895)

Foreign

• Russian Empire:1st Class of theOrder of Saint Stanislaus(12 September 1892)
• France:Commander of theLegion d'Honneur(14 October 1895)
• German Empire:
  • Knight 1st Class of theOrder of the Red Eaglein Brilliants with swords (13 July 1906)
  • Kingdom of Bavaria:1st Class of theMilitary Merit Order(12 September 1892)

On film

The actorTetsurō Tambaportrayed Gentarō in the 1980 Japanesewardrama filmThe Battle of Port Arthur(sometimes referred as203 Kochi).Directed byToshio Masudathe film depicted theSiege of Port Arthurduring theRusso-Japanese Warand starred Tamba as General Gentarō,Tatsuya Nakadaias GeneralNogi MaresukeandToshirō MifuneasEmperor Meiji.

References

• Connaughton, Richard (2003).Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear.Cassell.ISBN0-304-36657-9.
• Ching, Leo T.S. (2001).Becoming Japanese: Colonial Taiwan and the Politics of Identity Formation.University of California Press.ISBN0-520-22553-8.
• Dupuy, Trevor N. (1992).Encyclopedia of Military Biography.I B Tauris & Co Ltd.ISBN1-85043-569-3.
• Kowner, Rotem(2006).Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War.Scarecrow.ISBN0-8108-4927-5.
• Harries, Meirion (1994).Soldiers of the Sun: The Rise and Fall of the Imperial Japanese Army.Random House.ISBN0-679-75303-6.
• Mutsu, Gorō (1985). "Kodama Gentarō."Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan.Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.

External links

• National Diet Library."Kodama, Gentaro".Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures.
• "Kodama, Gentaro, Viscount".Encyclopedia Americana.1920.