Akiyama Yoshifuru
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was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, and is considered the father of modern Japanese
cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
. He was older brother to Vice Admiral
Akiyama Saneyuki was a Meiji-period career officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy. He was famous as a planner of Battle of Tsushima in the Russo-Japanese War. The Japanese general Akiyama Yoshifuru was his elder brotherDupuy, Encyclopedia of Military Biography an ...


Biography


Early life

Born as the third son to a poor samurai in the Matsuyama Domain, Iyo Province (modern Ehime Prefecture), Akiyama's family was so poor in his childhood that he was forced to work as a fire stoker and janitor in a local public bathhouse for a pittance each day. Akiyama entered the ''Rikugun Shikan Gakkō'' (the forerunner of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy) in 1877. He went on to attend the Army Staff College, and was sent as a
military attaché A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opport ...
to France to study cavalry tactics and techniques. He was the only Japanese officer sent to study at the
École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr The École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr (ESM, literally the "Special Military School of Saint-Cyr") is a French military academy, and is often referred to as Saint-Cyr (). It is located in Coëtquidan in Guer, Morbihan, Brittany. Its motto is ...
at a time when the rest of the Japanese Army had turned to the
Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...
as its model and was being taught by instructors from Germany. Akiyama had very pale skin and large eyes, and was often mistaken for a European student by many foreign instructors such as Jakob Meckel while at the Japanese Army Academy. During his stay in France, Akiyama developed a reputation as a “ladies' man”, much to the envy of his colleagues. Akiyama himself apparently disliked his attractive looks. He was reputed to be a plain-living person who had a bowl of rice with slices of pickles for his meal. However, he spent his money on '' sake'' and had a reputation as a heavy drinker.


Military career

Akiyama was active in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895 as a cavalry regimental commander in the IJA 1st Division, and served with Japanese expeditionary forces in the subsequent
Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...
with the IJA 5th Division. In the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, he led his troops in the
Battle of Shaho The Battle of Shaho ( ja, 沙河会戦 (''Saka no kaisen''), russian: Сражение на реке Шахе) was the second large-scale land battle of the Russo-Japanese War fought along a front centered at the Shaho River along the Mukden– P ...
,
Battle of Sandepu The Battle of Sandepu (also known as the Battle of Heikoutai) ( ja, 黒溝台会戦 (''Kokkōdai no kaisen''), russian: Сражение при Сандепу) was a major land battle of the Russo-Japanese War. It was fought within a group of vi ...
, and in 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 ...
against the
Cossack The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
cavalry divisions of the
Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...
. In April 1906, he was awarded the Order of the Golden Kite (2nd class). Akiyama became commander of the
IJA 13th Division The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its tsūshōgō code name was the , and its military symbol was 13D. The 13th Division was one of four new infantry divisions raised by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) in the closin ...
in 1913, and after his promotion to full general in 1916, was given command of the Imperial Guards Division. The following year, he was assigned command of the Chōsen Army. In 1920, he became Director General for Military Education. After he retired from active military service in 1923, declining promotion to
Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...
, he returned to his native island of Shikoku and became the principal of the Hokuyō Junior High School (present-day Matsuyama High School). Akiyama died of complications from diabetes at the Army Medical School Hospital in Tokyo in 1930, and his grave is in the city of Matsuyama.


Akiyama as an educator

Even today, Akiyama's brilliance in his education career is still celebrated. Akiyama's educational achievements and practice became universally implemented in Japanese schools after nearly 80 years, and has become widely taught in Japanese high school education as of 2020. His teachings will be inherited as an increasingly important basic element in the new Japanese secondary education after 2022. Akiyama loved children and dreamed of becoming a school teacher. After graduating from the Government Osaka Normal School (currently Osaka University of Education) in July 1876, the 58th Elementary School in Kawachi Kuni, Sakai Prefecture (currently Neyagawa City Minami) he was immediately selected as a teacher who graduated from an early public normal school, and became a member of the elementary school attached to Aichi Prefectural Normal School (currently Nagoya Elementary School attached to Aichi University of Education), and pioneered compulsory education in Japan. He became a promising person in the field of dissemination. (Japan's public normal schools were first established in each university district from 1897 to 1897 as an institution (leading teacher training institution) to develop human resources to create teacher training schools in each prefecture, and all prefectures were established. The graduate was to be invited as a leading teacher. Akiyama was invited to Aichi Prefecture) However, due to low salary, the living expenses and the needed school expenses of his younger brother, Masayuki, he couldn't guarantee financial stability. Immediately after he got his dream job, he had to give up and turn to a professional military officer. Akiyama had a love for education so much, he was even involved in the education for the army and contributed to the development of younger generations such as the head of the Army Cavalry Military School, and finally became the inspectorate general of education among the three Secretaries of the Army. For Akiyama, the position of being a school principal was the happiest he's been involved in a career, far surpassing his time served in the military. Today in Japan, Akiyama is known as an educator with a gentle personality, a leftist who denounces conflict. Akiyama heavily regretted his time serving in the military, and mourned the spirits of his subordinates and the victims during his military era for the rest of his life. Akiyama disliked the totalitarian flow Japan was gradually heading for, and tried his best to hide his military achievements. After assuming the job of a junior high-school principal, students and parents would often ask him to discuss the Russo-Japanese war and show off his military uniform of army general. However, Akiyama regretted his past and vehemently rejected these requests. Akiyama said that "students are not soldiers" and hoped to reduce military training within schools so kids could focus on education. Akiyama was also described as a "super-educator", in other words, his educative skills were considered "too advanced to understand". His teachings were buried until the end of the century. Akiyama had a regular teacher qualification, and at that time, the principal position of the junior high school was considered an honorary position, so Akiyama was an exceptional case. During the Great Kanto Earthquake, conspiracies amongst Japanese people about Korean people arose. Japanese people thought that Korean people caused this great tragedy, and created rumors about the supposed genocide Korean people planned on Japanese people. Because of this, many Koreans were hurt, and some even killed. Akiyama devised a school trip to Korea, which was rare at the time. Akiyama implemented the idea due to being distressed by the massacre of Koreans in the Great Kanto Earthquake, and he wanted his students to understand that these were merely rumors, and foster the understanding and respect of the students for different cultures. Akiyama's education is an important part of Japan's high school education today. Japanese secondary school education is being reformed by removing it's military content, due to the courtesy of Akiyama's teachings. The traditional culture of each secondary school in Japan is inherited by each new high school and continues to this day. These educational policies and practices of Akiyama are still listed in the current principal's office of Ehime Prefectural Matsuyama Kita High School as Akiyama's handwritten "Roughness and Laziness" (to warn each other of their rough and lazy hearts). The school's educational policy is as quoted, "We value independence, enterprising, and respect, cultivate rich humanity and sociality, and aim to enhance education that makes the most of individuality and abilities. Fostering people with an international sense who can contribute to a peaceful international society."


Portrayals in fiction

Akiyama is one of the main characters of ''
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 ...
'' ("Clouds Over the Slope"), a novel by Ryōtarō Shiba, adapted as a
historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...
on the Japanese television network NHK from 2009 to 2011. Akiyama was portrayed by actor Hiroshi Abe. Akiyama inspired the character
Dot Pixis The ''Attack on Titan'' manga and anime series feature an extensive cast of fictional characters created by Hajime Isayama. The story is set in a world where humanity lives in cities surrounded by enormous walls; a defense against the Titans, gig ...
in the manga series ''
Attack on Titan is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. It is set in a world where humanity is forced to live in cities surrounded by three enormous walls that protect them from gigantic man-eating humanoids referred to as ...
''. This caused an Internet
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regarding the general's military actions, specifically, though not exclusively, in Korea. The 2013 controversy included death threats to the manga's creator Hajime Isayama.


Honours

''With translated material from the corresponding Japanese Wikipedia article'' * Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, Paulownia Flowers (1 November 1930, posthumous) * Order of the Rising Sun, 1st class (29 November 1918) * Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1st class (28 November 1913) * Order of the Golden Kite, 2nd class (1 April 1906) *
Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur 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 Napoleon B ...
* Commander of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus * Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd class * Order of Saint Stanislaus, 2nd Class * Order of St. Anna, 2nd class


Order of precedence

*Senior eighth rank (5 June 1880) *Seventh rank (7 April 1883) *Senior seventh rank (188?) *Sixth rank (11 January 1893) *Senior sixth rank (24 March 1896) *Fifth rank (30 October 1897) *Senior fifth rank (20 October 1902) *Fourth rank (11 November 1907) *Senior fourth rank (28 December 1912) *Third rank (31 January 1916) *Senior third rank (10 March 1919) *Second rank (30 April 1923)


Notes


References


Books

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External links


Portrait and biography at National Diet Library
Akiyama Yoshifuru's Japanese Wiki Page Akiyama Yoshifuru's Korean Wiki Page {{DEFAULTSORT:Akiyama, Yoshifuru 1859 births 1930 deaths Deaths from diabetes People from Matsuyama, Ehime Japanese generals Japanese military personnel of the First Sino-Japanese War Japanese military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Japanese military personnel of the Boxer Rebellion People of Meiji-period Japan École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni 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 Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Commanders of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 2nd class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 2nd class