Gentaro Kodama

Japanese: 児玉源太郎 - こだま・げんたろう

Year of death: July 23, 1906 (Meiji 39)
Year of birth: April 14, 1852 (5th year of Kaei, leap year 2, 25th)
An army officer in the Meiji period. The eldest son of Tokuyama Domain (Tokuyama City) samurai Kodama Hankuro and Moto. His childhood name was Yuriwaka. When he was five years old, his father died of an illness, and his eldest sister's husband, Iwanojo (Jirohiko), inherited the family headship and became a father figure. In 1864, his brother-in-law was assassinated by the "Zokuron faction" (the old conservative faction) within the domain, and the Kodama family was temporarily abolished. Later, when the "Seigi faction" (the radical faction) became dominant, the family was revived with Gentaro as the head of the family. His first battle was the Eastern Expedition of 1867, where he served as the commander of half of the Contribution Corps, and fought in Tohoku and Hokkaido. Although he was of a short stature, which was rare for a soldier, he distinguished himself with his natural agility and courage, his quick and accurate judgment, and his leadership skills. He was one of the few people who could achieve success without the backing of the Satsuma and Choshu clans, and his skills in the Saga Rebellion of 1874 (Meiji 7) and the Shinpuren Rebellion of 1876 (Meiji 9) show that he was a soldier of extraordinary ability. The Satsuma Rebellion (1877) broke out soon after he became vice chief of staff of the Kumamoto Garrison Staff Office, and as chief of staff he led the siege of Kumamoto in place of the injured Kabayama Sukenori, and repelled the Satsuma forces with an act that will be remembered for generations to come. After serving as commander of the 2nd Regiment of the Tokyo Garrison, he became Director of the Eastern Bureau of the General Staff in 1885, a relatively late entry into the central government. He subsequently held important central posts such as Director of the 1st Bureau of the General Staff Office, Chief of Staff of the Military Inspection Department, Principal of the Army War College, and Vice Minister of the Army. In the central government, it was common for soldiers to serve on various committees in addition to their line duties, and he played a major role in system reform and the adoption of new weapons, successively serving as a temporary Army System Review Committee member, a Military Telegraph Materials Improvement Committee member, and Chairman of the Logistics Vehicle Review Committee. In Japan, the line is important, but it is normal for improvement plans for organization and equipment to be proposed by committees, and in particular the introduction of a new system with Major Meckel as an advisor was proposed by a committee chaired by Kodama. He served as Governor-General of Taiwan from 1931 to 1939, during which time he served as Minister of War in the 4th Ito Hirobumi cabinet and Minister of the Interior in the 1st Katsura Taro cabinet, and in 1937 he was promoted to General, and during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) he also served as Chief of General Staff under Oyama Iwao, commander-in-chief of the Manchurian Army. It is noteworthy that most of the supporters of the construction of Kodama Shrine in Enoshima (Fujisawa City) were Japanese civilians active in Taiwan, which indicates Kodama's supporters. He needs to be evaluated not only for his military skills, which he showed in the capture of Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War, but also as an administrator. <References> Sugiyama Shigemaru, "The Life of General Kodama"

(Tanaka Hiromi)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：明治39.7.23(1906)
生年：嘉永5.閏2.25(1852.4.14)
明治期の陸軍軍人。徳山藩(徳山市)藩士児玉半九郎とモトの長男。幼名百合若。5歳で父が病死,長姉の夫巌之丞(次郎彦)が家督を相続,父親代わりともなる。元治1(1864)年その義兄が藩内の「俗論派」(旧守派)のために暗殺され,一時児玉家は廃絶,のち「正義派」(急進派)が優勢となるにおよび,源太郎を家長として再興した。初陣は慶応3(1867)年の東征で,献功隊の半隊司を務め,東北,北海道に転戦。軍人には珍しい短躯であったが,天性の機敏と胆力,的確ですばやい判断力と指導力で,頭角を現した。薩長のバックなしでも栄達できた数少ない人物で,明治7(1874)年佐賀の乱,9年神風連の乱で見せた手腕は,並外れた実力をもつ軍人であったことを物語る。熊本鎮台幕僚参謀副長になった直後に西南戦争(1877)が勃発,負傷した樺山資紀に代わり参謀長格で熊本籠城を指揮,後世の語り草となる活躍で薩摩軍を撃退した。東京鎮台第2連隊長を経て18年参謀本部管東局長,比較的遅い中央入りであった。以後参謀本部第1局長,監軍部参謀長,陸軍大学校校長,陸軍次官等中央の要職に就いた。中央ではライン業務のほかに必ず各種委員を兼ねるのが普通で,臨時陸軍制度審査委員,軍事電信材料改良委員,輜重車両審査委員長などを歴任,制度改革や新兵器採用に大きな役割を果たした。日本ではラインを重視するが,組織や装備の改善計画は委員会から提案されるのが普通で,ことにメッケル少佐を顧問とした新制度導入も児玉を座長とする委員会から発案された。31～39年まで台湾総督を務め,この間第4次伊藤博文内閣の陸相,第1次桂太郎内閣の内相などのほか37年大将に進み,日露戦争(1904～05)では,満州軍総司令官大山巌の下で総参謀長を兼務した。江の島(藤沢市)の児玉神社の建立賛助者が大部分台湾で活動した民間の日本人だったことは,児玉の支持層を示すものとして注目されよう。日露戦争の旅順攻略などでみせた軍人としての手腕のみでなく,行政家としても評価する必要がある。<参考文献>杉山茂丸『児玉大将伝』

(田中宏巳)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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