Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York ...

, also known as Kiten, Count Nogi (December 25, 1849September 13, 1912), was a Japanese

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

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 Emper ...

and a

governor-general of Taiwan The governor-general of Taiwan ( ja, 臺灣總督, Taiwan Sōtoku) was the head of the Government-General of Taiwan in the Japanese era (including Formosa and the Pescadores) when they were part of the Empire of Japan, from 1895 to 1945. The ...

. He was one of the commanders during the 1894 capture of Port Arthur from China. He was a prominent figure in 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 ...

of 1904–05, as commander of the forces which captured Port Arthur from the Russians. He was a national hero in Imperial Japan as a model of feudal loyalty and self-sacrifice, ultimately to the point of suicide. 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 ...

, he lost a banner of the emperor in battle, for which he tried to atone with suicidal bravery in order to recapture it, until ordered to stop. In the

, he captured Port Arthur but he felt that he had lost too many of his soldiers, so requested permission to commit suicide, which the emperor refused. These two events, as well as his desire not to outlive his master, motivated his suicide on the day of the funeral of the

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

. His example brought attention to the concept of ''

bushido is a moral code concerning samurai attitudes, behavior and lifestyle. There are multiple bushido types which evolved significantly through history. Contemporary forms of bushido are still used in the social and economic organization of Japan. ...

'' and the controversial samurai practice of ''

junshi refers to the medieval Japanese act of vassals committing seppuku (a voluntary suicide) for the death of their lord. Originally it was only performed when the lord was slain in battle or murdered. Background The practice is described by Chines ...

'' (following the lord in death).

Early life

Nogi Nakito was born on December 25, 1849, at the

Chōfu Domain The was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in Nagato Province (modern-day Yamaguchi Prefecture). List of lords *Mōri clan ( Tozama; 60,000->50,000->38,000->47,000->50,000 koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. 1 kok ...

Mansion in

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

(present-day

Roppongi is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popular with locals and foreigners alike. It ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

), the third son of

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 ...

cavalry officer (''umamawari'') Nogi Maretsugu and his wife Hisako. His father served the

, a subsidiary domain of the

Chōshū Domain The , also known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871.Deal, William E. (2005) ''Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan,'' p. 81 The Chōshū Domain was based ...

, and held land worth 80 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. 1 koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about . It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1000 gō. One ''gō'' is the volume of the "rice cup", the plastic measuring cup that is supplied ...

''. His childhood name was Nakito (無人), literally "no one", to prevent evil spirits from coming to harm him. He was briefly known as Bunzō, after which he was renamed Maresuke. As he claimed descent from the

Izumo Izumo (出雲) may refer to: Locations * Izumo Province, an old province of Japan * Izumo, Shimane, a city located in Shimane Prefecture ** Izumo Airport * Izumo-taisha, one of Japan's most ancient and important Shinto shrines Ships * ''Izumo'' ...

Minamoto clan was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility from 1192 to 1333. The practice was most prevalent during th ...

through the

Sasaki clan are a historical Japanese clan. Overview After World War II the clans of Sasaki-rokkaku were combined, the clans were spread out between South Eastern Asian islands and the head of the clan left Japan and eventually moved to the United State ...

, he often used the name Minamoto no Maresuke in his signatures.

Early 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 the French style for the domanial Army. After completing the training, he was reassigned to the Kawatō Barrack in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the c ...

as an instructor, and then as Toyōra domain's Army trainer in charge of coastal defense troops. In 1871, Nogi was commissioned as a

major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

in the fledgling

. Around this time, he renamed himself ''Maresuke'' taking a ''

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...

'' from the name of his father. In 1875, he became the 14th Infantry Regiment's attaché. The next year (1876), Nogi was named as the

Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...

regional troop's Staff Officer, and transferred to command the 1st Infantry Regiment, and for his service in the

, against the forces of

Saigō Takamori was a Japanese samurai and nobleman. He was one of the most influential samurai in Japanese history and one of the three great nobles who led the Meiji Restoration. Living during the late Edo and early Meiji periods, he later led the Sats ...

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

, he was promoted to

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colon ...

on April 22, 1877. In a fierce battle at that time, he lost the 14th Infantry Regiment's regimental banner, which was considered to be the property of the Emperor, to the enemy. Its loss was an extreme disgrace. Nogi considered this such a grave mistake that he listed it as one of the reasons for his later suicide.Bix, Herbert. (2000). ''Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan,'' p. 42. On August 27, 1876, Nogi 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 August 28, 1877, their first son Katsunori was born, and Nogi bought his first house at Niizakamachi,

Akasaka, Tokyo is a residential and commercial district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, located west of the government center in Nagatachō and north of the Roppongi district. Akasaka (including the neighboring area of Aoyama) was a ward of Tokyo City from 1878 ...

. In 1879, his second son Yasunori was born. He was promoted to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

on April 29, 1880. Promoted

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

on May 21, 1885, in 1887 Nogi went to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

with

Kawakami Soroku Viscount , was a general and one of the chief military strategists in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Donghak Peasant Revolution and First Sino-Japanese War. Biography Born in Satsuma Domain to a ''samurai''-class family, Kawakami fought ...

to study European

military strategy Military strategy is a set of ideas implemented by military organizations to pursue desired strategic goals. Derived from the Greek word '' strategos'', the term strategy, when it appeared in use during the 18th century, was seen in its narrow ...

and tactics. In 1894, 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 p ...

, Major-General Nogi commanded the First Infantry Brigade which penetrated the Chinese defenses and successfully occupied Port Arthur in only one day of combat. As such, he was a senior commander during the Port Arthur massacre. The following year, he was promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on th ...

(April 29, 1895) and assigned to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, tasked with the invasion of Taiwan. Nogi remained with the occupation forces in Taiwan until 1898. In 1899, he was recalled to Japan, and placed in command of the newly formed 11th Infantry Brigade, based in Kagawa.

Political career

After the war, he was elevated to ''danshaku'' (

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 kn ...

); and he was conferred with 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 ...

, 1st class. "Nogi, Maresuke,"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (12th ed.), Vol. XXX, p. 1139. Nogi was appointed as the third Japanese

Governor-General of Taiwan The governor-general of Taiwan ( ja, 臺灣總督, Taiwan Sōtoku) was the head of the Government-General of Taiwan in the Japanese era (including Formosa and the Pescadores) when they were part of the Empire of Japan, from 1895 to 1945. The ...

from October 14, 1896, to February 1898. When moving to Taiwan, he moved his entire family, and during their time in Taiwan, his mother contracted

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. ...

and died. This led Nogi to take measures to improve on the health care infrastructure of the island. However, unlike many of his contemporaries as officers, Nogi expressed no interest in pursuing politics.

Russo-Japanese War

In 1904, Nogi was recalled to active service on the occasion of the

, and was promoted to army

in command of the

Japanese Third Army The was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army based in Manchukuo as a garrison force under the overall command of the Kwantung Army during World War II, but its history dates to the Russo-Japanese War. History The Japanese 3rd Army was initiall ...

, with an initial strength of approximately 90,000 men and assigned to the capture of the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

n-held Port Arthur on the southern tip of

Liaodong Peninsula The Liaodong Peninsula (also Liaotung Peninsula, ) is a peninsula in southern Liaoning province in Northeast China, and makes up the southwestern coastal half of the Liaodong region. It is located between the mouths of the Daliao River ...

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...

. Nogi's forces landed shortly after the

Battle of Nanshan The was one of many vicious land battles of the Russo-Japanese War. It took place on 24–26 May 1904 across a two-mile-wide defense line across the narrowest part of the Liáodōng Peninsula, covering the approaches to Port Arthur and on th ...

, in which his eldest son, serving with 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 ...

, was killed. Advancing slowly down the Liaodong Peninsula, Nogi encountered unexpectedly strong resistance, and far more fortifications than he had experienced ten years earlier against the Chinese. The attack against Port Arthur quickly turned into the lengthy

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 ...

, an engagement lasting from August 1, 1904, to January 2, 1905, costing the Japanese massive losses. Due to the mounting casualties and failure of Nogi to overcome Port Arthur's defenses, there was mounting pressure within the Japanese government and military to relieve him of command. However, in an unprecedented action,

spoke out during the

Supreme War Council (Japan) The was established during the development of representative government in Meiji period Japan to further strengthen the authority of the state. Its first leader was Yamagata Aritomo (1838–1922), a Chōshū native who has been credited with the ...

meeting, defending Nogi and demanding that he be kept in command. After the fall of Port Arthur, Nogi was regarded as a national hero. He led his Third Army against the Russian forces at the final

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 ...

, ending the land combat phase of operations of the war. British historian

Richard Storry Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

noted that Nogi imposed the best of the Japanese ''samurai'' tradition on the men under his command such that "...the conduct of the Japanese during the Russo-Japanese War towards both prisoners and Chinese civilians won the respect, and indeed admiration, of the world". Both of Nogi's sons, who were army lieutenants during the war, were killed in action. Though Nogi's elder son Katsunori (August 28, 1879 – May 27, 1904) had been a sickly child, he had managed to enter the imperial military academy on his third try. He was hit in the abdomen at the Battle of Nanshan and died of blood loss while undergoing surgery at a field hospital. His second son Yasunori (December 16, 1881 – November 30, 1904), a second lieutenant at Port Arthur, fell on a rocky slope, striking his head and dying instantly. Yasunori received a posthumous promotion to lieutenant, and was buried by his father in the Aoyama cemetery. At the end of the war, Nogi made a report directly to Emperor Meiji during a ''

Gozen Kaigi In the Empire of Japan, an (literally, a conference before the emperor) was an extraconstitutional conference on foreign matters of grave national importance that was convened by the government in the presence of the Emperor. History and backgr ...

''. When explaining battles of the Siege of Port Arthur in detail, he broke down and wept, apologizing for the 56,000 lives lost in that campaign and asking to be allowed to kill himself in atonement. Emperor Meiji told him that suicide was unacceptable, as all responsibility for the war was due to imperial orders, and that Nogi must remain alive, at least as long as he himself lived.

Postwar career

After the war, Nogi was elevated to the title of

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York ...

and awarded the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers, Grand Cordon, 1917. As head of the Peers' School from 1908 to 1912, he was the mentor of the young

Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

, and was, perhaps, the most important influence on the life of the future emperor of Japan. Nogi spent most of his personal fortune on hospitals for wounded soldiers and on memorial monuments erected around the country in commemoration of those killed during the Russo-Japanese War. He also successfully petitioned the Japanese government to erect a Russian-style memorial monument in Port Arthur to the Russian dead of that campaign.

Scouting

Nogi is significant to

Scouting in Japan The Scout and Guide movement in Japan is served by * Girl Scouts of Japan, member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts * Scout Association of Japan, member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement * Baden-Powell Scouts As ...

, as in 1911, he went to England in attendance on Prince Higashifushimi Yorihito for the coronation of

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

. The General, as the "Defender of Port Arthur" was introduced to General Robert Baden-Powell, the "Defender of Mafeking", by Lord Kitchener, whose expression "Once a Scout, always a Scout" remains to this day.

Suicide

Nogi and his wife Shizuko committed suicide by ''

seppuku , sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honour but was also practised by other Japanese people ...

'' shortly after the

's funeral cortege left the palace. The ritual suicide was in accordance with the ''samurai'' practice of following one's master to death (''

''). In his

suicide letter A suicide note or death note is a message left behind by a person who dies or intends to die by suicide. A study examining Japanese suicide notes estimated that 25–30% of suicides are accompanied by a note. However, incidence rates may depen ...

, he said that he wished to expiate for his disgrace in Kyūshū, and for the thousands of casualties at Port Arthur. He also donated his body to medical science. All four members of the Nogi family are buried at Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo. Under

State Shinto was Imperial Japan's ideological use of the Japanese folk religion and traditions of Shinto. The state exercised control of shrine finances and training regimes for priests to strongly encourage Shinto practices that emphasized the Emperor a ...

, Nogi was revered as a ''

kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...

'' and

Nogi Shrine was established on November 1, 1923English language pamphlet collected from Shrine on 2015-02-18 and dedicated to General Nogi Maresuke (63) and his wife Nogi Shizuko (53) after their death on September 13, 1912. The Tokyo Mayor, Baron Yoshio Sa ...

, a

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The ''honden''Also called (本殿, meanin ...

in his honor, still exists on the site of his house in Nogizaka, Tokyo. His memory is also honored in other locations such as the

in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, where mausoleum of Emperor Meiji is established.

Legacy

Nogi's ''seppuku'' immediately created a sensation and a controversy. Some writers claimed that it reflected Nogi's disgust with the profligacy and decline in moral values of late Meiji Japan. Others pointed to Nogi's own suicide note, calling it an act of atonement for mistakes in his military career. In either case, Nogi's suicide marked the end of an era, and it had a profound impact on contemporary writers, such as

Mori Ōgai Lieutenant-General , known by his pen name , was a Japanese Army Surgeon general officer, translator, novelist, poet and father of famed author Mari Mori. He obtained his medical license at a very young age and introduced translated German la ...

, Kuroiwa Ruikō and

Natsume Sōseki , born , was a Japanese novelist. He is best known around the world for his novels ''Kokoro'', ''Botchan'', ''I Am a Cat'', '' Kusamakura'' and his unfinished work '' Light and Darkness''. He was also a scholar of British literature and writer ...

. For the public, Nogi became a symbol of loyalty and sacrifice. The epic historical novel ''

Saka no Ue no Kumo , or "Clouds Above the Hill" is a Japanese historical novel by Shiba Ryōtarō originally published serially from 1968 to 1972 in eight volumes. A three-year NHK television special drama series based on the novel and also entitled '' Saka no U ...

'' portrays Nogi as floundering at the

and having to be relieved by Kodama Gentarō. Several books have been released in recent years rehabilitating Nogi's image and showing he was a competent leader.

Man of letters

Nogi is also noted in Japan as a man of letters. His Kanshi poems ( poems in the Chinese language) were especially popular among the Japanese during his time. Three of his Kanshi poems are famous. Right after the

of 1904, in which he lost his eldest son, he wrote: After the battle of

203 Hill 203 Hill (in or in Japanese: 二〇三高地, or in Russian Mount Vysokaya ()) is a high ground located in Lushunkou District, Dalian, Liaoning Province, China. In 1904-1905, one of the fiercest battles was fought between the Japanese and Russ ...

of 1904–05, in which he lost his second son, he lamented: After the end of the

, he wrote:

Honors

Peerages

* 1895: Baron (August 20) * 1907: Count (September 21)

Decorations

* 1897: Grand Cordon of 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 tw ...

(June 26; Second Class: April 29, 1894) * 1906: Grand Cordon of the

(April 1) (Third Class: August 20, 1895) * 1906: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers (April 1). (Second Class: August 20, 1895; Third Class: April 7, 1885) * 1905:

Pour le Mérite The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Order of the Red Eag ...

(January 10) * 1907: Grand Cross of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleo ...

(April 16) * 1909: Chilean Gold Medal of Merit (April 28) * 1911: Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania (October 25) * 1911: Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the

Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

(GCVO) * 1911: Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) a ...

, Military Division (UK) (GCB) (January 1).London Gazette:Issue No. 28567, p. 1 (29 December 1911).
/ref>

Court order of precedence

* 1871: Senior seventh rank (December) * 1873: Sixth rank (June 25) * 1879: Senior sixth rank (December 20) * 1880: Fifth rank (June 8) * 1885: Senior fifth rank (July 25) * 1893: Senior fourth rank (April 11) * 1896: Third rank (December 21) * 1904: Senior third rank (June 6) * 1909: Second rank (July 10) * 1916: Senior second rank (posthumous)

Portrayals

Maresuke was portrayed by

Tatsuya Nakadai is a Japanese film actor. He was featured in 11 films directed by Masaki Kobayashi, including '' The Human Condition'' trilogy, wherein he starred as the lead character Kaji, plus ''Harakiri'', '' Samurai Rebellion'' and '' Kwaidan''. Nakadai ...

in the 1980 Japanese

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

'' The Battle of Port Arthur'' (sometimes referred as ''203 Kochi'').''The Battle of Port Arthur'' (''203 Koshi'')
in the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Directed by Toshio Masuda the film depicted the

during the

and starred Nakadai as General Maresuke,

Tetsurō Tamba was a Japanese actor with a career spanning five decades. He is best known in the West for his role in the 1967 James Bond film '' You Only Live Twice'' as Tiger Tanaka. Biography Tamba had a part-time job as an interpreter at Supreme Commander ...

as General Kodama Gentarō, and

Toshirō Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 150 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration (1948–1965) with Akira Kurosawa in such works as ''Rashomon'', ''Seven Samurai'', ''The Hidden Fortress'', ''Throne of Blood'', and ' ...

. In the

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

television adaptation of

Ryōtarō Shiba , also known as , was a Japanese author. He is best known for his novels about historical events in Japan and on the Northeast Asian sub-continent, as well as his historical and cultural essays pertaining to Japan and its relationship to the r ...

's epic ''Saka no Ue no Kumo'', which aired from 2009 to 2011, Nogi was portrayed by actor

Akira Emoto is a Japanese actor. Career In 1999, he won the Japanese Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in '' Dr. Akagi''. He also won the award for best supporting actor at the 7th Hochi Film Award for ''Dotonbori River'' and '' Hearts and F ...

. In the manga and

television adaptation of ''

Monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

'', General Nogi is mentioned by the Turkish elder and community leader, Mr. Deniz, convincing the others to trust Dr. Kenzo Tenma and a local prostitute when they attempt to convince the leaders of Frankfurt's Turkish Quarter to be wary of an imminent arson attack by neo-Nazis, led by The Baby.

Notes

References

Bix Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke (March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was an American jazz cornetist, pianist and composer. Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s, a cornet player noted for an inventive lyrical ap ...

, Herbert P. (2000). ''

Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan ''Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan'' is a book by Herbert P. Bix covering the reign of Emperor Hirohito of Japan from 1926 until his death in 1989. It won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for General N ...

.'' New York:

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...

. ; * Benesch, Oleg (2014). ''Inventing the Way of the Samurai: Nationalism, Internationalism, and Bushido in Modern Japan''. Oxford:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

. ; ; * Buruma, Ian. (2004). ''Inventing Japan: 1853–1964.'' New York: Modern Library. ; * Ching, Leo T.S. (2001). ''Becoming Japanese: Colonial Taiwan and the Politics of Identity Formation.''. Berkeley:

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facul ...

. ; ; * Connaughton, Richard. (1988). ''The War of the Rising Sun and the Tumbling Bear: a Military History of the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-05.''. London:

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...

. ; * Dupuy, Trevor N., Curt Johnson and David L Bongard. (1992). ''Encyclopedia of Military Biography''. London: I. B. Tauris & Co. ; * Jukes, Geoffrey. (2002). ''The Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905''. Oxford:

Osprey Publishing Osprey Publishing is a British, Oxford-based, publishing company specializing in military history. Predominantly an illustrated publisher, many of their books contain full-colour artwork plates, maps and photographs, and the company produces ov ...

. ; * Keene, Donald. ''Emperor Of Japan: Meiji And His World, 1852-1912'' New York:

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fie ...

. ; * Lyell, Thomas Reginald Guise. (1948). ''A Case History of Japan.'' London: Sheed & Ward. * Noss, John Boyer. (1949). ''Man's Religions.'' New York:

MacMillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

. * Storry, Richard. (1960). ''A History of Modern Japan.'' Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books. * Wolferen, Karel van. (1990). ''The Enigma of Japanese Power: People and Politics in a Stateless Nation''. New York:

Vintage Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...

. ;

External links

Portrait of Nogi

Nogi Shrine
in Nogizaka, Tokyo. There is another in

Shimonoseki is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. With a population of 265,684, it is the largest city in Yamaguchi Prefecture and the fifth-largest city in the Chūgoku region. It is located at the southwestern tip of Honshu facing the Tsush ...

and several others throughout Japan. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nogi, Maresuke 1849 births 1912 suicides Governors-General of Taiwan Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Japanese generals Japanese military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Japanese military personnel who committed suicide Joint suicides Kazoku Mōri retainers Scouting pioneers People from Tokyo People of Meiji-period Japan People of the Boshin War Japanese military personnel of the First Sino-Japanese War Recipients of the Order of the Golden Kite Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Scouting in Japan Seppuku from Meiji period to present Suicides by sharp instrument in Japan Imperial Japanese Army officers Emperor Meiji Deified Japanese people 1912 deaths Burials in Japan