Kigoshi Yasutsuna

Kigoshi Yasutsuna
General Kigoshi Yasutsuna
Native name	木越 安綱
Born	(1854-04-22)22 April 1854 Ishikawa prefecture, Japan
Died	26 March 1932(1932-03-26) (aged 77)
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service	1880–1917
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands held	IJA 12th Division, IJA 2nd Army, IJA 4th Army, Manchurian Army
Battles/wars	Satsuma Rebellion First Sino-Japanese War Russo-Japanese War
Other work	Minister of War

Kigoshi Yasutsuna (木越 安綱, 22 April 1854 – 26 March 1932) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and Minister of War.

Biography

Kigoshi was born as the eldest son to a samurai family of the Kaga Domain (present day Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture). In 1875, while still a student at the very first class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, he participated in combat during the Satsuma Rebellion. He was sent as a military attaché for training in Prussia from 1883. After his return to Japan, Kigoshi served as Chief of Staff of the IJA 3rd Division in the First Sino-Japanese War.

In 1898, Kigoshi was promoted to major general and was assigned as Chief of Staff of the Taiwan Army of Japan. From 1901 to 1902, he served on the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff and was given a field command again during the Russo-Japanese War, where he commanded of the IJA 23rd Infantry Brigade, which especially distinguished itself during the Battle of Sandepu.

After the war, he served on the staff of the Manchurian Army, and subsequently as commander of the IJA 1st Division, IJA 5th Division and IJA 6th Division. In 1907, he was ennobled with the title of baron (danshaku) under the kazoku peerage system.

Kigoshi was also promoted to lieutenant general in 1907. In January 1913, he became Minister of War under the First Yamamoto Gonnohyōe cabinet.^[1] Under his tenure, the "Military Ministers to be Active-Duty Officers Law" (軍部大臣現役武官制, Gumbu daijin gen'eki bukan sei) was passed, much to the outrage of the Army General Staff, who ensured that Kigoshi would be bypassed for promotion to full general. He entered the reserves in 1914, and retired from military service immediately afterwards. From 1920 until his death in 1932, Kigoshi served as a member of the House of Peers in the Diet of Japan. His grave is at Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo.

References

Books

• Ching, Leo T.S. (2001). Becoming Japanese: Colonial Taiwan and the Politics of Identity Formation. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-22553-8. 
• Jukes, Geoffry (2002). The Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905. Osprey Essential Histories. ISBN 978-1-84176-446-7. 
• Harries, Meirion (1994). Soldiers of the Sun: The Rise and Fall of the Imperial Japanese Army. Random House. ISBN 0-679-75303-6. 

External links

• Wendel, Marcus. "Army Ministers of State". Axis History Factbook. 

Notes