Viscount was a general in the early

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

.Kowner, '' Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War'', p. 273.

Biography

Ōshima was the younger son of a teacher of ''

sōjutsu , meaning "art of the spear", is the Japanese martial art of fighting with a . Origins Although the spear had a profound role in early Japanese mythology, where the islands of Japan themselves were said to be created by salt water dripping fro ...

'' ("art of the spear") of

Akita Domain was a feudal domain in Edo period Japan, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Akita Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Kubota Castle in what is now the city of Akita and was thus also known as the . It was governed for the whole of its hi ...

(present day

Akita Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is approximately 966,000 (as of 1 October 2019) and its ge ...

). From 1868 to 1869 he fought during the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

of the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

on the imperial side, and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the early

. In December 1875, he was deputy chief-of-staff of the Tokyo Garrison. During the

Satsuma Rebellion The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. Its name comes from the Satsuma Domain, which had been influential in the Restoration and beca ...

of 1877, he commanded a battalion. He returned to the Tokyo Garrison after the war, serving in various posts, and was promoted to colonel in April 1887. In April 1889, he was appointed commander of the Guard’s Third Infantry Regiment and in June 1890 was commandant of the

Army Staff College Staff colleges (also command and staff colleges and War colleges) train military officers in the administrative, military staff and policy aspects of their profession. It is usual for such training to occur at several levels in a career. For exa ...

. In 1892, Ōshima was promoted to major general and was assigned command of the IJA 5th Infantry Brigade. In November 1893, he took over command of the IJA 6th Infantry Brigade, which he led in combat during the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the po ...

. After the war, Ōshima served as chief-of-staff of the Taiwan Garrison and in August 1895 was elevated to the ''

kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords () and court nobles (), but were abolished with the 1947 constitution. Kazoku ( 華族) should not be confused with ' ...

'' peerage with the title of

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

(''danshaku''), and was also awarded the

Order of the Golden Kite The was an order of the Empire of Japan, established on 12 February 1890 by Emperor Meiji "in commemoration of Jimmu Tennō, the Romulus of Japan". It was officially abolished 1947 by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) during th ...

, 3rd class. He was promoted to lieutenant general in October 1898, and was assigned command of the newly formed IJA 9th Infantry Division. In 1903, he was awarded the

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest ...

, 1st class. With the start of the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

, Ōshima led the IJA 9th Division at the

Siege of Port Arthur The siege of Port Arthur ( ja, 旅順攻囲戦, ''Ryojun Kōisen''; russian: link=no, Оборона Порт-Артура, ''Oborona Port-Artura'', August 1, 1904 – January 2, 1905) was the longest and most violent land battle of the Russ ...

, under the overall command of General

Nogi Maresuke Count , also known as Kiten, Count Nogi (December 25, 1849September 13, 1912), was a Japanese general in the Imperial Japanese Army and a governor-general of Taiwan. He was one of the commanders during the 1894 capture of Port Arthur from Chin ...

’s Third Army. His forces played a major role in the bloody Battle of 203 Meter Hill, and afterwards fought at the

Battle of Mukden The , one of the largest land battles to be fought before World War I and the last and the most decisive major land battle of the Russo-Japanese War, was fought from 20 February to 10 March 1905 between Japan and Russia near Mukden ...

. In April 1906, he was awarded the

Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight fr ...

, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon and the

, 2nd class and was promoted to general in May. In June, he was assigned command of the Imperial Guards. In September 1907, Ōshima was also elevated from baron to viscount (''shishaku''). In 1908, he was promoted to Inspector-General of Military Training, one of the three most powerful posts in the Imperial Japanese Army. He was subsequently named a military councilor in 1911 and entered the reserves in September 1913 and retired from service in 1918.

Decorations

* 1885 –

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

, 3rd class * 1895 – JPN Kyokujitsu-sho 4Class BAR

, 4th class * 1895 – JPN Kinshi-kunsho 3Class BAR

, 3rd class * 1895 – JPN Zuiho-sho (WW2) 2Class BAR

Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class * 1903 – JPN Zuiho-sho (WW2) 1Class BAR

Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure * 1906 – JPN Kyokujitsu-sho 1Class BAR

Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun * 1906 – JPN Kinshi-kunsho 2Class BAR

Order of the Golden Kite, 2nd class『官報』号外「叙任及辞令」December 30, 1906

References

* * * *

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oshima, Hisanao 1848 births 1920 deaths Military personnel from Akita Prefecture Japanese generals Kazoku Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1st class Recipients of the Order of the Golden Kite, 2nd class People of the Boshin War People of the First Sino-Japanese War Japanese military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War