Lieutenant-General Yamaji leading the attack on Port Arthur

Viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicia ...

, was a

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 the ...

in the early

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 ...

Biography

Early career

Yamaji was born in

Tosa Domain The was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, controlling all of Tosa Province in what is now Kōchi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Kōchi Castle, and was ruled throughout its history by ...

(present day

Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 757,914 (1 December 2011) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and ...

) in what is now part of the city of Kōchi, where his father was an upper-ranked

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 ...

in the service of the Yamauchi clan. At the age of 13, he lost sight in one of his eyes, but notwithstanding his disability, he was appointed a company commander of the '' Jinshotai'', a Tosa-Domain shock force, during the Boshin War of 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 ...

, participating in the Battle of Toba–Fushimi, and in subsequent campaigns in northern Japan against the pro-Tokugawa

Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei The was a Japanese military-political coalition established and disestablished over the course of several months in early to mid-1868 during the Boshin War. Its flag was either a white interwoven five-pointed star on a black field, or a black i ...

. During the course of the conflict, he was promoted to company commander, and awarded a stipend of 150 '' koku''. After the war, Yamaji went to

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

, and was appointed by the

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...

as a lieutenant colonel in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army. During the ''

Seikanron The ''Seikanron'' ( ja, 征韓論; ko, 정한론; ) was a major political debate in Japan during 1873 regarding a punitive expedition against Korea. The ''Seikanron'' split the Meiji government and the restoration coalition that had been establ ...

'' debate, he supported his fellow Tosa clansmen

Itagaki Taisuke Count was a Japanese politician. He was a leader of the "Freedom and People's Rights Movement" and founded Japan's first political party, the Liberal Party. Biography Early life Itagaki Taisuke was born into a middle-ranking ''samurai'' ...

and

Gotō Shōjirō Count was a Japanese samurai and politician during the Bakumatsu and early Meiji period of Japanese history.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Gotō Shōjirō" in He was a leader of which would evolve into a political party. Early life ...

, at one point resigning his commission and returning to Tosa to participate in the

Freedom and People's Rights Movement The (abbreviated as ) or Popular Rights Movement was a Japanese political and social movement for democracy in the 1880s. It pursued the formation of an elected legislature, revision of the Unequal Treaties with the United States and European c ...

, but eventually he had a falling out with Itagaki and returned to military service, receiving a position with the Guards Division. During 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 ...

Yamaji commanded the IJA 4th Infantry Regiment from March to October 1877, served as chief of staff of the IJA 3rd Infantry Brigade and subsequently commanded the IJA 3rd Infantry Regiment and IJA 12th Infantry Regiment.

As general

Yamaji was promoted to the rank of

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 ...

in February 1881, and commander of the Kumamoto Garrison. He subsequently served as commander of the Osaka Garrison, IJA 2nd Infantry Brigade, Kumamoto Garrison (second term), and was promoted to

in December 1886. In May 1887, he was elevated to the title of baron (''danshaku'') in 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 system by Emperor Meiji. In May 1888, with the reorganization of the Imperial Japanese Army into divisions per the advice of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

military advisor Military advisors, or combat advisors, advise on military matters. Some are soldiers sent to foreign countries to aid such countries with their military training, organization, and other various military tasks. The Foreign powers or organizations ...

Jakob Meckel Klemens Wilhelm Jacob Meckel (28 March 1842 – 5 July 1905) was a general in the Prussian army and foreign advisor to the government of Meiji period Japan. Biography Meckel was born in Cologne, Rhine Province, Prussia and joined the Prussia ...

, Yamaji was made commander of the new

IJA 6th Division The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the . Actions The 6th Division was formed in Kumamoto City on 12 May 1888, as one of the new divisions to be created after the reorganization of the Imperial Japanese ...

, and later of the

IJA 1st Division The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the . The 1st Division was formed in Tokyo in January 1871 as the , one of six regional commands created in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army. The Tokyo Garrison h ...

. During the

, he saw combat at the

Battle of Jinzhou Battle of Chinchow () was a battle between the People's Liberation Army and the National Revolutionary Army during the Liaoshen Campaign in the Chinese Civil War. The battle was a turning point in the campaign, which eventually led to capture o ...

and later at the

Battle of Lushunkou A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and forc ...

. After the fall of Lushunkou, soldiers under his command were accused of the Port Arthur massacre by yellow journalist

James Creelman James Creelman (November 12, 1859 – February 12, 1915) was a Canadian-American writer famous for securing a 1908 interview for ''Pearson's Magazine'' with Mexican president Porfirio Díaz, in which the strongman said that he would not run ...

in a widely circulated account with blemished Japan's previous good reputation for its conduct in the war. Yamaji is reported to have brought two camels back from Lushunkou as spoils of war. He presented one to the crown prince (the future

Emperor Taishō was the 123rd Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession, and the second ruler of the Empire of Japan from 30 July 1912 until his death in 1926. The Emperor's personal name was . According to Japanese custom, while reigni ...

) and the other to

Ueno Zoo The is a zoo, managed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and located in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is Japan's oldest zoo, opened on March 20, 1882. It is served by Ueno Station, Keisei Ueno Station and Nezu Station, with convenient access fr ...

in Tokyo. In August 1895, Yamaji's title was elevated to

viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicia ...

(''shishaku''). After the war, he was appointed as commander of the Western Japanese Training District. He died in 1897 in what is now part of the city of Hōfu, Yamaguchi. He was posthumous awarded the honorific title of Junior Second Court Rank His grave was recorded as being located in Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo; however, on August 11, 1971, the ''Kochi Newspaper'' reported that Yamaji's gravestone had been found abandoned by a man taking a walk at the corner of the three-way intersection along the Koshū Kaidō (

Japan National Route 20 is a national highway connecting Tokyo and Shiojiri, Nagano prefecture in Japan. Originating at Nihonbashi in Chūō, Tokyo, it passes through Shinjuku and four other wards, and then seven cities, including Hachiōji in Tokyo. It follows a ...

), near the National Observatory and

Chōfu Airport is an airport located northwest of Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan, west of central Tokyo. It is administered by the Bureau of Port and Harbor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The airport's main commercial activity is New Central Airservice commute ...

, on what is now the grounds of

Ajinomoto Stadium , also known as Tokyo Stadium in AFC Champions League, is a multi-purpose stadium in Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan. The stadium was founded at Kantō Mura, the redevelopment area formerly used by United States Forces Japan, in March 2001. It was the fi ...

. A movement to purchase the monument by the citizens of Kōchi failed to raise the needed funds, and the monument is now used as an ornamental stone bridge in the

Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desi ...

of the head office of the Seikadō company in Tokyo. It is not known how the gravestone came to be abandoned, and the location of Yamaji's grave is now unknown.

Decorations

* 1887 –

Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class 1325号 * 1895 – JPN Kyokujitsu-sho 1Class BAR

Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun * 1895 – JPN Kinshi-kunsho 3Class BAR

Order of the Golden Kite, 3rd class『官報』第3644号「叙任及辞令」August 21, 1895

References

* * *

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yamaji, Motoharu 1841 births 1897 deaths People from Kōchi, Kōchi People from Tosa Domain Boshin War Kazoku People of Meiji-period Japan People of the Boshin War Japanese military personnel of the First Sino-Japanese War Japanese generals Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun Recipients of the Order of the Golden Kite