Japan: Count Maresuke Nogi, general in the Imperial Japanese Army (1849-1912)
Count Nogi Maresuke, GCB (乃木 希典), also known as Kiten, Count Nogi, (25 December 1849–13 September 1912) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and a governor of Taiwan. He was one of the commanders during the 1894 capture of Port Arthur from China, and the subsequent massacre of thousands of Chinese civilians. He was a prominent figure in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, as commander of the forces which captured Port Arthur from the Russians.
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 (junshi), motivated his suicide on the day of the funeral of the Emperor Meiji. His example revitalized the Japanese tradition of ritual suicide.
Keywords:
Quick links to other images in this gallery:
![Japan: Students at a Terakoya temple school. Ukiyo-e woodblock print by Issunshi Hanasato, c. 1844](http://5a2944b3d53864a5e561-5a04e9c99769aeebe0a368087ca465b7.r79.cf2.rackcdn.com/9736bf00ea91b5311c1eb07bda6d23e9/CPA0017868.jpg)
![Japan: Members of the Iwakura Mission, 1873. The leader of the mission, Iwakura Tomomi, seated in centre](http://5a2944b3d53864a5e561-5a04e9c99769aeebe0a368087ca465b7.r79.cf2.rackcdn.com/9736bf00ea91b5311c1eb07bda6d23e9/CPA0017871.jpg)
![Japan: Count Maresuke Nogi, general in the Imperial Japanese Army (1849-1912)](http://5a2944b3d53864a5e561-5a04e9c99769aeebe0a368087ca465b7.r79.cf2.rackcdn.com/9736bf00ea91b5311c1eb07bda6d23e9/CPA0017872.jpg)
![United Kingdom / Japan: Cover illustration of 'The War Illustrated' (London, November 1914) celebrating the victory of the Anglo-Japanese forces over Germany at Tsingtao - now Qingdao - on 7 November, 1914](http://5a2944b3d53864a5e561-5a04e9c99769aeebe0a368087ca465b7.r79.cf2.rackcdn.com/9736bf00ea91b5311c1eb07bda6d23e9/CPA0017873.jpg)
![Thailand: Wat Chang Kong, Chiang Mai, northern Thailand](http://e2458ae6f428e4e5a67b-21459c97d16be2795b88408e686a33dd.r77.cf2.rackcdn.com/9736bf00ea91b5311c1eb07bda6d23e9/CPA0017874.jpg)
Copyright © 2024, All rights reserved.