Nogi Maresuke
Senior Second Rank | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
乃木 希典 | |||||
Governor General of Taiwan | |||||
In office 14 October 1896 – 26 February 1898 | |||||
Monarch | Meiji | ||||
Preceded by | Katsura Tarō | ||||
Succeeded by | Kodama Gentarō | ||||
Personal details | |||||
Born | Edo, Japan | December 25, 1849||||
Died | September 13, 1912 Tokyo, Japan | (aged 62)||||
Awards |
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Nickname(s) | Kiten Count Nogi | ||||
Military service | |||||
Allegiance | General | ||||
Battles/wars | |||||
Japanese name | |||||
Kanji | 乃木 希典 | ||||
Hiragana | のぎ まれすけ | ||||
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He was a national hero in Imperial Japan as a model of feudal loyalty and self-sacrifice, ultimately to the point of suicide. In the Satsuma Rebellion, he lost a banner of the emperor in battle, for which he tried to atone with suicidal bravery in order to recapture it, until ordered to stop. In the Russo-Japanese War, he captured Port Arthur but he felt that he had lost too many of his soldiers, so requested permission to commit suicide, which the emperor refused. These two events, as well as his desire not to outlive his master, motivated his suicide on the day of the funeral of the Emperor Meiji. His example brought attention to the concept of bushido and the controversial samurai practice of junshi (following the lord in death).[1]
Early life
Nogi Nakito was born on December 25, 1849, at the
Early military career
In November 1869, by the order of the
In 1871, Nogi was commissioned as a
On August 27, 1876, Nogi married Shizuko, the fourth daughter of
He was posted to Nagoya during the early Meiji era. The warehouse in the Sannomaru enceinte of Nagoya Castle was probably constructed in 1880 (Meiji 13) as an army ammunition depot. It was named later after him.[5]
Promoted major general on May 21, 1885, in 1887 Nogi went to Germany with Kawakami Soroku to study European military strategy and tactics.[6]
In 1894, during the
Political career
After the war, he was elevated to danshaku (baron); and he was conferred with the Order of the Golden Kite, 1st class.[8]
Nogi was appointed as the third Japanese Governor-General of Taiwan from October 14, 1896, to February 1898. When moving to Taiwan, he moved his entire family, and during their time in Taiwan, his mother contracted malaria and died. This led Nogi to take measures to improve on the health care infrastructure of the island.
However, unlike many of his contemporaries as officers, Nogi expressed no interest in pursuing politics.[citation needed]
Russo-Japanese War
In 1904, Nogi was recalled to active service on the occasion of the
The attack against Port Arthur quickly turned into the lengthy Siege of Port Arthur, an engagement lasting from August 1, 1904, to January 2, 1905, costing the Japanese massive losses. Due to the mounting casualties and failure of Nogi to overcome Port Arthur's defenses, there was mounting pressure within the Japanese government and military to relieve him of command. However, in an unprecedented action, Emperor Meiji spoke out during the Supreme War Council (Japan) meeting, defending Nogi and demanding that he be kept in command.[citation needed]
After the fall of Port Arthur, Nogi was regarded as a national hero. He led his Third Army against the Russian forces at the final Battle of Mukden, ending the land combat phase of operations of the war.[10]
British historian Richard Storry noted that Nogi imposed the best of the Japanese samurai tradition on the men under his command such that "...the conduct of the Japanese during the Russo-Japanese War towards both prisoners and Chinese civilians won the respect, and indeed admiration, of the world".[11]
Both of Nogi's sons, who were army lieutenants during the war, were killed in action. Though Nogi's elder son Katsunori (August 28, 1879 – May 27, 1904) had been a sickly child, he had managed to enter the imperial military academy on his third try. He was hit in the abdomen at the Battle of Nanshan and died of blood loss while undergoing surgery at a field hospital. His second son Yasunori (December 16, 1881 – November 30, 1904), a second lieutenant at Port Arthur, fell on a rocky slope, striking his head and dying instantly. Yasunori received a posthumous promotion to lieutenant, and was buried by his father in the Aoyama cemetery.
At the end of the war, Nogi made a report directly to Emperor Meiji during a Gozen Kaigi. When explaining battles of the Siege of Port Arthur in detail, he broke down and wept, apologizing for the 56,000 lives lost in that campaign and asking to be allowed to kill himself in atonement. Emperor Meiji told him that suicide was unacceptable, as all responsibility for the war was due to imperial orders, and that Nogi must remain alive, at least as long as he himself lived.[12]
Postwar career
After the war, Nogi was elevated to the title of count and awarded the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers, Grand Cordon, 1917.[8]
As head of the
Nogi spent most of his personal fortune on hospitals for wounded soldiers and on memorial monuments erected around the country in commemoration of those killed during the Russo-Japanese War. He also successfully petitioned the Japanese government to erect a Russian-style memorial monument in Port Arthur to the Russian dead of that campaign.[citation needed]
Scouting
Nogi is significant to Scouting in Japan, as in 1911, he went to England in attendance on Prince Higashifushimi Yorihito for the coronation of King George V. The General, as the "Defender of Port Arthur" was introduced to General Robert Baden-Powell, the "Defender of Mafeking", by Lord Kitchener, whose expression "Once a Scout, always a Scout" remains to this day.
Suicide
Nogi and his wife Shizuko committed suicide by All four members of the Nogi family are buried at Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo. Under State Shinto, Nogi was revered as a kami and Nogi Shrine, a Shinto shrine in his honor, still exists on the site of his house in Nogizaka, Tokyo. His memory is also honored in other locations such as the Nogi Shrine in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, where the mausoleum of Emperor Meiji was established.[16]
Legacy
Nogi's seppuku immediately created a sensation and a controversy. Some writers claimed that it reflected Nogi's disgust with the profligacy and decline in moral values of late Meiji Japan. Others pointed to Nogi's own suicide note, calling it an act of atonement for mistakes in his military career. In either case, Nogi's suicide marked the end of an era, and it had a profound impact on contemporary writers, such as Mori Ōgai, Kuroiwa Ruikō and Natsume Sōseki. For the public, Nogi became a symbol of loyalty and sacrifice.
The epic historical novel Saka no Ue no Kumo portrays Nogi as floundering at the Siege of Port Arthur and having to be relieved by Kodama Gentarō. Several books have been released in recent years rehabilitating Nogi's image and showing he was a competent leader.
The Nogi Warehouse in the Sannomaru enceinte of Nagoya Castle was named after him.[17]
Man of letters
Nogi is also noted in Japan as a man of letters. His Kanshi poems (poems in the Chinese language) were especially popular among the Japanese during his time. Three of his Kanshi poems are famous.[18]
Right after the Battle of Nanshan of 1904, in which he lost his eldest son, he wrote:
金州城外の作 | Written Outside the Walls of Jinzhou
|
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山川草木轉荒涼 十里風腥新戰場 |
Mountains and rivers, trees and grass, have become cold and desolate. For ten li, the foul odor of blood drifts on the wind over new battlefields. |
After the battle of Hill 203 of 1904–05, in which he lost his second son, he wrote:
爾靈山 | Nireisan |
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爾靈山嶮豈難攀 男子功名期克艱 |
Nireisan was indeed difficult to climb, But it was overcome by the deeds of young men. |
After the end of the Russo-Japanese War, he wrote:
凱旋 | Triumphant Return |
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皇師百萬征強虜 野戰攻城屍作山 愧我何顔看父老 凱歌今日幾人還 |
The Emperor's army, a million strong, set out to punish the powerful savages of the north. On the battlefield, in the midst of the sieges, the bodies of the dead piled up like mountains. |
Honors
Peerages
- 1895: Baron (August 20)
- 1907: Count (September 21)
Decorations
- 1897: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure (June 26; Second Class: April 29, 1894)
- 1906: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Golden Kite (April 1)[8] (Third Class: August 20, 1895)
- 1906: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers (April 1).[8] (Second Class: August 20, 1895; Third Class: April 7, 1885)
- 1905: Pour le Mérite (January 10)
- 1907: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour (April 16)
- 1909: Chilean Gold Medal of Merit (April 28)
- 1911: Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania (October 25)
- 1911: Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO)
- 1911: Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, Military Division (UK) (GCB) (January 1).[19]
Court order of precedence
- 1871: Senior seventh rank (December)
- 1873: Sixth rank (June 25)
- 1879: Senior sixth rank (December 20)
- 1880: Fifth rank (June 8)
- 1885: Senior fifth rank (July 25)
- 1893: Senior fourth rank (April 11)
- 1896: Third rank (December 21)
- 1904: Senior third rank (June 6)
- 1909: Second rank (July 10)
- 1916: Senior second rank (posthumous)
Portrayals
Maresuke was portrayed by Tatsuya Nakadai in the 1980 Japanese war drama film The Battle of Port Arthur (sometimes referred as 203 Kochi).[20] Directed by Toshio Masuda the film depicted the Siege of Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War and starred Nakadai as General Maresuke, Tetsurō Tamba as General Kodama Gentarō, and Toshirō Mifune as Emperor Meiji.
In the NHK television adaptation of Ryōtarō Shiba's epic Saka no Ue no Kumo, which aired from 2009 to 2011, Nogi was portrayed by actor Akira Emoto.
In the manga and NHK television adaptation of Monster, General Nogi is mentioned by the Turkish elder and community leader, Mr. Deniz, convincing the others to trust Dr. Kenzo Tenma and a local prostitute when they attempt to convince the leaders of Frankfurt's Turkish Quarter to be wary of an imminent arson attack by neo-Nazis, led by The Baby.
Notes
- ^ Benesch, Oleg. (2014). Inventing the Way of the Samurai, p. 153.
- ^ OCLC 61402590.
- OCLC 744210173.
- ^ a b Bix, Herbert. (2000). Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, p. 42.
- ^ "乃木倉庫 文化遺産オンライン".
- ^ National Diet Library: "Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures," Nogi Maresuke.
- ISBN 978-1598847574.
- ^ a b c d "Nogi, Maresuke," Encyclopædia Britannica (12th ed.), Vol. XXX, p. 1139.
- ^ Connaughton, Richard. (1988). Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear, p. 101.
- ^ Jukes, Geoffrey. (2002). The Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905, p. 66.
- ^ Storry, Richard. (1960). A History of Modern Japan, p. 217.
- ^ Keene, Donald. (2005). Emperor of Japan, Meiji and his World, pp. 712–713.
- ^ Bix, Herbert. (2000). Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, pp. 36-37, 43.
- ^ Noss, John Boyer. (1980). Man's Religions, p. 319.
- ^ Lyell, Thomas. (1948). Case History of Japan, p. 142.
- ^ Nogi Jinja Archived October 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Kyoto.
- ^ "乃木倉庫 文化遺産オンライン".
- ^ Gen. Nogi's Relics at Nogi Shrine Archived February 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine (in Japanese)
- ^ London Gazette: Issue No. 28567, p. 1 (29 December 1911).
- Internet Movie Database
References
- OCLC 247018161
- Benesch, Oleg (2014). Inventing the Way of the Samurai: Nationalism, Internationalism, and Bushido in Modern Japan. Oxford: OCLC 1294862850
- OCLC 59228496
- Ching, Leo T.S. (2001). Becoming Japanese: Colonial Taiwan and the Politics of Identity Formation.. Berkeley: OCLC 45230397
- Connaughton, Richard. (1988). The War of the Rising Sun and the Tumbling Bear: a Military History of the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-05.. London: OCLC 17983804
- Dupuy, Trevor N., Curt Johnson and David L Bongard. (1992). Encyclopedia of Military Biography. London: I. B. Tauris & Co. OCLC 59974268
- Jukes, Geoffrey. (2002). The Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905. Oxford: OCLC 50101247
- OCLC 46731178
- Lyell, Thomas Reginald Guise. (1948). A Case History of Japan. London: Sheed & Ward. OCLC 1600274
- Noss, John Boyer. (1949). Man's Religions. New York: OCLC 422198957
- Storry, Richard. (1960). A History of Modern Japan. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books. OCLC 824090
- Wolferen, Karel van. (1990). The Enigma of Japanese Power: People and Politics in a Stateless Nation. New York: OCLC 21196393
External links
- Portrait of Nogi
- Nogi Shrine in Nogizaka, Tokyo. There is another in Shimonoseki and several others throughout Japan.
- Newspaper clippings about Nogi Maresuke in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW