Heihachiro Togo - Togo Heihachiro

Japanese: 東郷平八郎 - とうごう・へいはちろう

Year of death: May 30, 1934
Year of birth: 1848.1.27 (12.22)
A naval officer during the Meiji, Taisho and Showa periods. He was the fourth son of Togo Kichizaemon and his wife Masuko, a samurai of the Satsuma (Kagoshima) clan, and his wife Tetsu, the daughter of Viscount Kaieda Nobuyoshi. He is extremely famous as a triumphant general in the Battle of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War. As a result, there are many biographies of him, but there are many aspects of him that are not known and have been misunderstood for the 29 years from the end of the Russo-Japanese War until his death in 1934. He studied in England for an extended period from 1871 to 1878, but before that he was so talkative that he was even scolded by Okubo Toshimichi. However, he transformed into a taciturn person during his studies, and this remained the case throughout his life. This was probably due to the change he experienced after struggling with different language customs, and it was for this reason that he was unable to make any British friends. After returning to Japan, he was mainly involved in maritime duties, and it is unusual that he only served in the central government twice, as the president of the Naval War College and as Chief of the Naval Staff. During the Sino-French War in 1884, he served with the French Courbet fleet as captain of the Amagi, and when the Hawaiian Coup occurred in 1893, he rushed to protect the residents as captain of the Naniwa, and during the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), he sank the British merchant ship Kowshing, which sparked the war, and when the Boxer Rebellion broke out in China in 1898, he assembled the standing fleet in Tianjin; whenever a historic event occurred, Togo was there. In 1903, he became commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, and led the fleet until the end of the Russo-Japanese War, destroying the Russian Baltic Fleet in the Sea of Japan from May 27 to 28, 1903, and ensuring a decisive victory for Japan. In 1903, he became Chief of the Naval Staff Office, and in 1907, he became a Military Councilor, before retiring from the front lines. In 1913, he was made a marshal, and from 1914 to 1917, he worked hard to educate Emperor Showa as president of the Togu Gakumonsho, adding to his social importance. After the death of the senior Fleet Admiral Yoshikazu Inoue in 1929, he became more active in his words and actions, and in 1930 he became the spiritual symbol of the Fleet faction in the London Naval Treaty issue, and was deeply involved in the movements of the military and the turmoil in the political situation until 1943.

(Tanaka Hiromi)

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

Japanese:

没年：昭和9.5.30(1934)
生年：弘化4.12.22(1848.1.27)
明治大正昭和期の海軍軍人。薩摩(鹿児島)藩士東郷吉左衛門,妻益子の4男,妻は子爵海江田信義の娘テツ。日露戦争における日本海海戦の凱旋将軍として圧倒的名声を誇る。そのため多数の伝記があるが,日露戦争後から死去する昭和9(1934)年までの29年間は知られず,誤解されてきた側面が多い。明治4(1871)年から11年までイギリスに長期留学したが,その前までは非常なおしゃべりで大久保利通に注意されたことさえある。しかし留学中寡黙の人に変身,終生変わるところがなかった。異なる言語習慣に苦しんだ末の変質で,英国人の友人ができなかったのもそのためであろう。帰国後もっぱら海上勤務に従事,中央での勤務が海軍大学校長と軍令部長の2回しかないのも珍しい。明治17年清仏戦争の際には「天城」艦長として仏・クールベ艦隊に従い,26年にハワイ政変が起こると浪速艦長として居留民保護に急行,日清戦争(1894～95)では開戦の口火となったイギリス商船「高陞号」を撃沈し,33年義和団事件が中国に起きると常備艦隊を天津に集結させ,歴史的事件が起きるごとにきまってそこに東郷がいた。36年連合艦隊司令長官となり,日露戦争終結まで艦隊を指揮,38年5月27日から28日にかけて,日本海でロシアのバルチック艦隊を壊滅させ,日本の勝利を決定的なものとした。38年軍令部長,42年軍事参議官となって第一線から退いた。大正2(1913)年元帥に列し,3年から10年まで東宮御学問所総裁として昭和天皇の教育に尽力し,社会的重みを加えた。昭和4年先任元帥井上良馨が没すると言動が活発化し,5年のロンドン軍縮問題で艦隊派の精神的象徴となり,8年まで軍部の動向や政局の混乱に大きなかかわりをもった。<参考文献>佐藤国雄『元帥の晩年』

(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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