Kabayama Sukenori

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Count Kabayama Sukenori
9 December 1837 – 8 February 1922
Japanese Admiral Count Kabayama Sukenori
Place of birth	Kagoshima, Satsuma domain Japan
Place of death	Tokyo, Japan
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Years of service	1874–1903
Rank	Fleet Admiral
Commands	Imperial Japanese Navy
Battles/wars	Boshin War First Sino-Japanese War
Awards	Order of the Rising Sun (first class)
Other work	Governor-General of Taiwan Cabinet Minister

Sukenori Kabayama (樺山資紀, Kabayama Sukenori^?) (9 December 1837 - 8 February 1922) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), and later became the first Japanese Governor-General of Taiwan during the island's period as a Japanese colony. He is also sometimes referred to as Kabayama Motonori.

Born in Satsuma domain (modern day Kagoshima Prefecture) to a samurai family, Kabayama fought in the Anglo-Satsuma War and the Boshin War. In 1871, he enlisted in the new Imperial Japanese Army and as accepted as a major due to his previous combat experience. He was one of the defenders of Kumamoto castle during the Satsuma Rebellion against his former countrymen. He was subsequently promoted to colonel, and then the major general and placed in charge of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police.

In 1883, he changed from the army to the navy, becoming taifu (senior vice minister) of Navy with the rank of rear admiral, and was also elevated to the nobility with the title of koshaku viscount. The following year he was promoted to vice admiral. He was Vice Navy Minister in 1886. He visited the United States and Europe from 25 September 1887 to 19 October 1888. He then served in several positions before being appointed Navy Minister under the first Yamagata and Matsukata cabinets from 1890-1892. Although not a politician, he spoke out strongly against representative democracy and civilian influence on the government in a speech "Banyu Enzetsu” made during the second Imperial Diet session. He retired in 1892.

During the First Sino-Japanese War, he was recalled from the reserves and accepted a field command, and was present at the Battle of the Yalu and Battle of Weihaiwei. It states something of his personality to note that he ordered his flagship, the lightly-armed passenger liner Saikyo to charge the Chinese fleet at the Battle of the Yalu River.

He then commanded the Japanese invasion force of Taiwan. On 10 May 1895, he became the first Japanese Governor-General of Taiwan, and was responsible for moving the seat of government to Taipei. He was elevated to hakushaku (Count) on 5 August 1895 and also awarded the Order of the Rising Sun (first class).

Despite his best efforts to stabilize Japan’s rule, his 13 months term as Governor-General of Taiwan were not peaceful. From December 1895 to January 1896, uprisings surfaced in many parts of the island, and he was forced to request reinforcements from home. In the ensuing action, 2800 Taiwanese were killed. Kabayama was succeeded by Lieutenant General Katsura Taro.

Returning to Japan in June 1896, he subsequently served on the Privy Council, as Home Minister under the 2nd Matsukata Cabinet, and Education Minister under the 2nd Yamamoto cabinet. He was promoted to the honorary rank of Fleet Admiral in 1903. He retired again from duty in 1910.

[edit] References

Ching, Leo T.S., Becoming Japanese: Colonial Taiwan and the Politics of Identity Formation. University of California Press (2001). ISBN 0-520-22553-8
Keane, Donald. Emperor Of Japan: Meiji And His World, 1852-1912. Columbia University Press (2005). ISBN 0-231-12341-8
Sims, Richard. French Policy Towards the Bakufu and Meiji Japan 1854-1894. RoutledgeCurzon (1998). ISBN 1-873410-61-1

edit	Japanese Governors-General of Taiwan
Kabayama Sukenori • Katsura Taro • Nogi Maresuke • Kodama Gentarō • Sakuma Samata • Ando Sadami • Akashi Motojiro • Den Kenjiro • Uchida Kakichi • Takio Izawa • Mitsunoshin Kamiyama • Takeji Kawamura • Eizo Ishizuka • Masahiro Ota • Hiroshi Minami • Kenzo Nakagawa • Seizo Kobayashi • Kiyoshi Hasegawa • Rikichi Ando