was an

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and served as Navy Minister in the early 1920s.

Biography

Murakami was born in Saga Prefecture as the eldest son to a samurai of Saga Domain. He moved to Ibaraki prefecture when his father was appointed an official under the new Meiji government and initially intended to study medicine. He graduated from the 11th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, ranked 2nd out of 26 cadets. He served on a number of ships in the early Imperial Japanese Navy, including the

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

s , , , and the cruiser . Promoted to lieutenant in 1889, he was a specialist in torpedo warfare and was assigned as chief torpedo officer on the cruiser in 1893 on its year-long voyage to the United Kingdom. After the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, Murakami was sent as a naval attaché to France from June 1897 to May 1900. During his time in France, he was promoted to lieutenant commander, and then to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

. On his return, he served in a number of staff positions before he was appointed

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, o ...

to the in 1902. In July 1903, he received his first command, the cruiser . He was promoted to captain the same year and continued as captain of ''Chiyoda'' in the early stages of the Russo-Japanese War. On 12 January 1905, he became captain of the cruiser . Murakami was promoted to

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

on 28 August 1908 and vice admiral on 1 December 1912, from which time he was director of the Kure Naval Arsenal, followed by Naval Shipbuilding Command. It was largely at his insistence that the new

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...

was equipped with 14 inch guns instead of 12 inch guns as originally planned. However, Murakami's plans for further modernization of the Imperial Japanese Navy and introduction of new technologies were brought to a halt by the

Siemens scandal of January 1914 involved collusion between several high-ranking members of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the British company Vickers, and the German industrial conglomerate of Siemens AG. It was one of several spectacular political scandals of la ...

. During World War I, from December 1915 to April 1917, Murakami was commander in chief of the IJN 3rd Fleet, and played an active role in the Battle of Tsingtao and the occupation of German colonies in the South Pacific. From 1917 to 1918, he was in charge of the Naval Training Bureau, and became a full

on 2 July 1918. From December 1919 to July 1922, he was commander in chief of the Kure Naval District. He subsequently served on the

Supreme War Council The Supreme War Council was a central command based in Versailles that coordinated the military strategy of the principal Allies of World War I: Britain, France, Italy, the US and Japan. It was founded in 1917 after the Russian revolution and w ...

. From 7 January 1924 to 11 June 1924, Murakami served as Naval Minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister

Keigo Kiyoura Count was a Japanese politician. He was the Prime Minister of Japan in 1924, during the period which historians have called the " Taishō Democracy". Early life Kiyoura was born Ōkubo Fujaku in Kamoto, Higo Province (part of present-day ...

. He went into the reserves in 1924, and died in 1927.

References

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External links

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murakami, Kakuichi 1862 births 1927 deaths Imperial Japanese Navy admirals People from Saga Prefecture Japanese military personnel of the First Sino-Japanese War Japanese military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Japanese military personnel of World War I Ministers of the Imperial Japanese Navy People of Meiji-period Japan