Shiba Gorō

Shiba Gorō
File:Shiba goro 2.jpg Shiba Gorō
Born	June 21, 1860 Aizuwakamatsu, Mutsu Province, Japan
Died	Tokyo, Japan
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Rank	General
Commands held	IJA 12th Division, Taiwan Army of Japan
Awards	Order of the Golden Kite (2nd class) Order of the Sacred Treasure (1st class) Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (United Kingdom)

In this Japanese name, the family name is Shiba.

Shiba Gorō (柴 五郎, 21 June 1860 – 13 December 1945) was a samurai and later a general in the Imperial Japanese Army.

Biography

Early life

Born as the 5th son of Aizu domain samurai Shiba Satazō, Shiba Gorō witnessed the events of the Boshin War as a child, and survived the domain's destruction. He joined the new Meiji government and after working for a short time for the Aomori prefecture government, he attended the Imperial Japanese Army Academy. In his same class were a number of men who later rose to considerable prominence, including Uehara Yusaku, Akiyama Yoshifuru, and Hongo Fusataro. He was appointed a second lieutenant in the artillery in 1879, and first lieutenant in 1884.

Military career

After serving with the Osaka Armory, Shiba was later assigned to the Imperial Guards unit. In 1895, he served in the First Sino-Japanese War.

As a colonel in 1900, Shiba was military attaché at the Japanese legation during the Boxer Rebellion. He served with distinction during that campaign, including the siege of Beijing, and was awarded with decorations by many of the western nations in the Eight-Nation Alliance participating in the combat. His name was also mentioned in The Times.

He subsequently served in an artillery regiment in the Russo-Japanese War, and was awarded the Order of the Golden Kite (2nd class), for bravery in battle. He was later sent as military attaché to Great Britain.

Later, after becoming a general, Shiba returned to Japan to take command of the newly formed IJA 12th Division and was also awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure (1st class). He was chosen to accompany Prince Higashifushimi Yorihito on an official visit to England in 1918. After his return to Japan, he was briefly placed in charge of the Taiwan Army before retirement.

Death

Following the surrender of Japan in August 1945, Shiba attempted suicide. He died of his wounds four months later.

Literary career

Shiba is also the author of his memoirs "Remembering Aizu" (Boshin Junnan Kaikoroku, "A Record of the Sacrifices of the Boshin War" in Japanese). The book portrays his childhood years and family life, as well as an insider's view of the Meiji Restoration in Japan. This view includes a description of the difficulties faced by the Aizu daimyo Matsudaira Katamori and the rest of the domain's population, wrapping up with Shiba's return to Aizu in the 1870s. He also wrote an account of the siege of Beijing, titled Pekin rōjō (北京篭城).

His brother, Shiba Shirō, under the pen name Tokai Sanshi, was also famous during the mid-Meiji period, as the author of "Chance Encounters with Beautiful Women" (Kajin no Kigu), a fictionalized account of his time as a student at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Honors

• Royal Victorian Order, Honorary Commander, 1907.

See also

• Claude MacDonald

External links

• Website with data on former Aizu retainer families, including the Shiba