Tsuboi Kōzō

Baron Tsuboi Kōzō
Japanese Admiral Baron Tsuboi Kōzō
Born	March 7, 1843 Chōshū domain Japan
Died	February 1, 1898(1898-02-01) (aged 54) Tokyo, Japan
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Navy
Years of service	1871 - 1898
Rank	Vice Admiral
Battles/wars	Boshin War First Sino-Japanese War oBattle of Pungdo oBattle of the Yalu

Baron Tsuboi Kōzō (坪井 航三^?, 7 March 1843 – 1 February 1898) was an admiral of the early modern Imperial Japanese Navy, known primarily for his role in the First Sino-Japanese War.

Tsuboi Kōzō was born as Hara Kōzō, the second son of a doctor in what is now part of Hōfu, Yamaguchi, and was adopted into the Tsuboi family as a child. As a Chōshū Domain samurai he took part in the defense of the city during the bombardment of Shimonoseki by European warships from September 5–8, 1864. Witnessing firsthand the firepower and devastation caused by a relatively few western warships, Tsuboi became convinced Japan must also obtain this weaponry to survive. He enlisted in the Chōshū domain navy later that year and served aboard the Kigai-maru while studying the English language and navigation at the Chōshū Naval School.

Serving on five Chōshū domain ships between 1866 and 1868, Tsuboi assisted in transporting imperial soldiers on the Inland Sea during the Boshin War of the Meiji Restoration against the Tokugawa shogunate, and was later officially commissioned a lieutenant in the newly established Imperial Japanese Navy in 1870, and assigned to the screw sloop Hōshō. He became executive officer of the ironclad warship Kōtetsu in 1871. That same year he received training on board the flagship USS Colorado of the American Asiatic Squadron and was sponsored by Admiral John Rodgers to attend Columbia University from April 1872 until July 1874.