Maresuke Nogi
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General Maresuke Nogi, also known as Kiten, Count Nogi, (乃木希典 Nogi Maresuke, 25 December 1849 - 13 September 1912) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, and a prominent figure in the Russo-Japanese War.
Early life
Nogi was born in Tokyo as the son of a samurai from the Chōfu clan on 11 November, 1849, according to the old Japanese lunar calendar, or Christmas day, according to the new one. His childhood name was Mujin, literally "no one", to prevent evil spirits from coming to harm him. On turning 18, he was renamed Nogi Bunzō.Military career
In November 1869, by the order of the Nagato domain's lord, he enlisted in Fushimi Goshin Heisha (lit. the Fushimi Loyal Guard Barrack) to be trained in a French style for the Army. After completing the training, he was reassigned to the Kawatō Barrack in Kyoto as a teacher and then as Toyōra domain's Army trainer in charge of the coastal defense troop. In 1871, he became an Army major and renamed himself Maresuke taking a kanji from the name of his father. In 1875, he became the 14th infantry regiment's attaché, and for his service in the Satsuma Rebellion under Emperor Meiji, against the forces of Saigo Takamori in Kyushu, he became a lieutenant colonel. In a fierce battle at that time, he lost the regiment's banner to the enemy, and he considered this such a grave mistake that he listed as one of the reasons for his later suicide. In October, his father Maretsugu died in Tokyo.
The next year (1876), he was named as the Kumamoto regional troop's staff officer, and commanded the 1st Infantry Regiment. On 27 August, he married Shizuko, the fourth daughter of Satsuma samurai Yuji Sadano, who was then 20 years old. As Nogi was 28 years old, it was a very late marriage for that time, considering that the average age to marry was in the early 20s. On 28 August 1877, their first son Katsunori was born, and Nogi bought his first house at Nizakamachi, Tokyo. In 1878, he became a colonel. The next year, his second son, Yasunori, was born.
In 1887, he went to Germany with Soroku Kawakami to study the art of warfare.
During the Sino-Japanese War, he served as commander of the First Infantry Brigade and occupied Port Arthur.
In 1904, Nogi was promoted to army general. Both sons were killed in action in the Russo-Japanese War. In this war Nogi commanded the 3rd Japanese Army at the vital Siege of Port Arthur, and eventually captured that port after taking massive casualties.
Political career
He served as the third Japanese Governor-General of Taiwan from 14 October 1896 to February 1898.As head of the Peers' School from 1908-1912, he was the mentor of the young Hirohito, and was, perhaps, the most important influence on the life of the future emperor of Japan.
Seppuku
He committed seppuku shortly after the Emperor Meiji's funeral entourage left the palace. The ritual suicide was in accordance with the samurai practice of following one's master to death (junshi). Nogi and his spouse bathed together, and changed into white kimonos, before sharing a cup of sake before the tokonoma. He sliced his own stomach open, then slit his throat. After that, Shizuko stabbed herself in the chest. In his suicide letter, he said that he wished to expiate for his disgrace in Kyushu, and for the thousands of casualties at Port Arthur. All four members of the Nogi family are buried at Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo, but under State Shinto, Nogi was revered as a kami and a Shinto shrine in his honor still exists on the site of his house in Nogizaka, Tokyo.
External links
- [Portrait of Nogi]
- [Nogi Shrine] in Nogizaka, Tokyo. There is another in Shimonoseki and several others throughout Japan.
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