Kohei Kiguchi

He was an army private who died in the Sino-Japanese War. He was born on August 8, 1872, as the only son of a farmer in Nariwa Village, Kawakami County, Okayama Prefecture (now Takahashi City). He dropped out of elementary school and worked in a mine, and in 1892 (Meiji 25), he enlisted as a private in the 12th Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment in Hiroshima. He became a bugler and served in the Sino-Japanese War, and was killed in action in the opening battle of Seonghwan on July 29, 1894. He was 22 years old. He became famous when his story of "valor and loyalty" was introduced in a national moral education textbook with the words "I didn't even speak of the bugle by mouth." However, the bugler in this "heartwarming tale" was initially reported to be Shiraga Genjiro, who was from the same prefecture, and the truth is unknown.

[Ryuichi Narita]

"The End of the Trumpeters" by Hiroshi Nishikawa (1984, Aoki Shoten)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

日清(にっしん)戦争で戦死した陸軍兵卒。明治5年8月8日、岡山県川上郡成羽(なりわ)村（現、高梁(たかはし)市）に農家のひとり息子として誕生。小学校を中退、鉱山で働き、1892年（明治25）広島の歩兵第二一連隊第三大隊第一二中隊に二等卒として入営。ラッパ手となり日清戦争に従軍、1894年7月29日緒戦の成歓の戦闘で戦死した。22歳。国定修身教科書で「シンデモラッパヲクチカラハナシマセンデシタ」と「義勇忠義」が紹介され著名となる。しかし「美談」のラッパ手は当初、同県出身の白神源次郎(しらがげんじろう)と報道されており、事実は不明である。

［成田龍一］

『西川宏著『ラッパ手の最後』（1984・青木書店）』

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