Oka Ichinosuke

Oka Ichinosuke
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Native name	岡 市之助
Born	(1860-03-28)28 March 1860 Yamaguchi prefecture, Japan
Died	20 July 1916(1916-07-20) (aged 56)
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service	1881 - 1916
Rank	Lieutenant General
Other work	Minister of War

Baron Oka Ichinosuke (岡 市之助, 28 March 1860 – 20 July 1916) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and Minister of War during World War I.

Biography

Oka was born in Hagi in Chōshū domain (present day Yamaguchi Prefecture. He graduated from the 4th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1881, and from the 4th class of the Army Staff College in 1888.

Oka served as Vice Commander of the IJA 8th Infantry Brigade, and subsequently as commander of the IJA 20th Infantry Regiment. During the First Sino-Japanese War, he was Chief of Staff of the IJA 1st Division.

After the war, Oka served in various administrative and staff positions within the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff. At the time of the Russo-Japanese War, he was working in the Military Affairs Department. Oka was promoted to major general in 1905. He subsequently commanded the IJA 27th Infantry Brigade and the IJA 29th Infantry Brigade before being promoted to lieutenant general in February 1912, and commander of the IJA 3rd Division in 1913.

In April 1914, Oka became Minister of War under Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu.

He resigned in March 1916 due to ill health, and was ennobled with the title of baron (danshaku) under the kazoku peerage system just before his death in July of the same year.

References

Books

• Harries, Meirion (1994). Soldiers of the Sun: The Rise and Fall of the Imperial Japanese Army. Random House. ISBN 0-679-75303-6. 

Notes