Baron was a general in the

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

Biography

Inoue was born as a younger son to the Moriwaki family in

Iwakuni Domain The was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in Suō Province (the south of present-day Yamaguchi Prefecture). List of lords *Kikkawa family The was a prominent samurai clan of Japan's Sengoku period. The most famous member of th ...

(present day

Yamaguchi prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). Y ...

), and was later adopted into the Inoue clan. As a young

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

, he joined the clan’s Seigitai militia and fought in 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 ...

during 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 ...

against the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

.Kowner, '' Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War'', p. 160 He joined the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army in May 1871, serving as a battalion commander, and from September 1874 on the staff of the Imperial Guards. After graduating from the predecessor of the

Imperial Japanese Army Academy The was the principal officer's training school for the Imperial Japanese Army. The programme consisted of a junior course for graduates of local army cadet schools and for those who had completed four years of middle school, and a senior course f ...

in September 1875, he was assigned to the Hiroshima Garrison’s 12th Infantry Regiment as a battalion commander and was promoted to major in July 1876. In 1877, Inoue fought in 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 b ...

Kowner, '' Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War'', p. 370 and was subsequently served on the staff of the Kumamoto Garrison, Nagoya Garrison and was promoted to lieutenant colonel and commander of the IJA 1st Infantry Regiment in May 1885. In November 1888 he was promoted to colonel. From September 1889, Inoue served as

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

of the

IJA 3rd Division The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the . History The 3rd Division was formed in Nagoya in January 1871 as the , one of six regional commands created in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army. The Nagoya ...

. From February 1894 he was sent for six months to Europe, returning in October 1894 to assume the post of chief-of-staff of the

Japanese Second Army The was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army. It was raised and demobilized on four occasions. History The Japanese 2nd Army was initially raised during the First Sino-Japanese War from September 27, 1894, to May 14, 1895, under the command o ...

during the

. After his promotion to major general in May 1895, Inoue was given command of the. He subsequent was commander of the IJA 3rd Division in 1898 and promoted to lieutenant general in March 1899 and commander of the newly formed IJA 12th Division. In November 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. Inoue continued to command the IJA 12th Division from the start of the

, participating in almost every major combat from the

Battle of the Yalu The Battle of the Yalu River (; ja, 黄海海戦, translit=Kōkai-kaisen; ) was the largest naval engagement of the First Sino-Japanese War, and took place on 17 September 1894, the day after the Japanese victory at the land Battle of Pyongy ...

through the final Battle of Mukden. After the end of the war, in July 1906, he was transferred to command the IJA 4th Division and 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 ...

and 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 the ...

, 2nd class. He was also 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'') in September 1907. In August 1908, he was promoted to general. On his death in December of the same year, he was posthumously awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon.

References

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Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inoue, Hikaru 1851 births 1908 deaths Samurai Japanese generals People from Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Military personnel from Yamaguchi Prefecture People of the Boshin War Japanese military personnel of the First Sino-Japanese War Japanese military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Kazoku Recipients of the Order of the Golden Kite Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun