Baron was a general in the early Imperial Japanese Army.Kowner, '' Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War'', p. 390.

Biography

Tsuchiya was born as the fourth son to a samurai family named Watari of the

Okazaki Domain was a feudal domain of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period, Japan located in eastern Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Okazaki Castle in what is now the city of Okazaki, Aichi. It was ruled by a number of ...

(present day

Aichi prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectur ...

), and was adopted into the Tsuchiya family as a child. He was sent by the domain to the predecessor of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy when it was still located in Osaka and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army in 1870. He participated in the suppression of the

Saga Rebellion The was an 1874 uprising in Kyūshū against the new Meiji government of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Saga no ran" in . It was led by Etō Shinpei and Shima Yoshitake in their native domain of Hizen. Background Following the 1868 ...

and the Satsuma Rebellion. During the First Sino-Japanese War, Tsuchiya served on the

staff Staff may refer to: Pole * Staff, a weapon used in stick-fighting ** Quarterstaff, a European pole weapon * Staff of office, a pole that indicates a position * Staff (railway signalling), a token authorizing a locomotive driver to use a particula ...

of the

Imperial General Headquarters The was part of the Supreme War Council and was established in 1893 to coordinate efforts between the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy during wartime. In terms of function, it was approximately equivalent to the United States ...

. After the war, he commanded the IJA 27th Infantry Brigade, the IJA 1st Taiwan Reserve Combined Brigade and the 1st Guards Brigade. In 1902, he was promoted to lieutenant general. After the start of the Russo-Japanese War, Tsuchiya was given command of the IJA 11th Infantry Division under General Nogi Maresuke’s Japanese Third Army at the Siege of Port Arthur. His forces took heavy casualties, and Tsuchiya himself was wounded by a gunshot to the head while leading his troops in combat. After a period back in Japan to recover, he returned to Manchuria as commander of the newly formed IJA 14th Infantry Division. In September 1907, Tsuchiya was ennobled 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'') under the '' kazoku'' peerage system. In December 1908, Tsuchiya became commander of the IJA 4th Infantry Division. On 28 August 1910, he was promoted to general, and entered the reserves on the same day. He retired on 1 April 1915, and died after illness in November 1920. He was posthumously promoted to the honorific title of Junior Second Court Rank. His son,

Tsuchiya Mitsukane Tsuchiya (written: 土屋 or 土谷) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese-American singer, actress and model *, better known as Shark Tsuchiya, Japanese professional wrestler *, Japanese manga artist * Haruhik ...

was a vice admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during the First Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War, and was subsequently a member of the

House of Peers (Japan) The was the upper house of the Imperial Diet as mandated under the Constitution of the Empire of Japan (in effect from 11 February 1889 to 3 May 1947). Background In 1869, under the new Meiji government, a Japanese peerage was created by a ...

Decorations

* 1893 –

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 ...

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

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 『官報』第3698号「叙任及辞令」October 19, 1895 * 1895 – JPN Kinshi-kunsho 4Class BAR

Order of the Golden Kite, 4th class * 1902 - JPN Zuiho-sho (WW2) 2Class BAR

Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class * 1906 – JPN Kyokujitsu-sho 1Class BAR

Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun 『官報』号外「叙任及辞令」December 30, 1906 * 1906 – JPN Kinshi-kunsho 2Class BAR

Order of the Golden Kite, 2nd class

Foreign

* 1896 –

RUS Imperial Order of Saint Stanislaus ribbon

Russia - Order of Saint Stanislaus, 2nd class『官報』』第4005号「叙任及辞令」November 2, 1896

References

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Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsuchiya, Mitsuharu 1848 births 1920 deaths Military personnel from Aichi Prefecture Japanese generals Kazoku Japanese military personnel of the First Sino-Japanese War Japanese military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of the Golden Kite, 2nd class