Yamaji Motoharu
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Viscount Yamaji Motoharu |
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|---|---|
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| Native name | 山地 元治 |
| Born |
September 10, 1841 Tosa Domain, Japan |
| Died | October 3, 1897 (aged 56) Hōfu, Yamaguchi, Japan |
| Allegiance | Empire of Japan |
| Service/branch |
 Imperial Japanese Army
|
| Years of service | 1871–1897 |
| Rank | General |
| Commands held | Imperial Japanese Army |
| Battles/wars | |
Viscount Yamaji Motoharu (山地 元治?, 10 September 1841 – 3 October 1897), was a Japanese general in the early Imperial Japanese Army. Soldiers under his command took part in the Port Arthur massacre.
Yamaji was born in Tosa Domain as the eldest son of an upper-ranking samurai in the service of the Yamauchi clan. At the age of 13, he lost sight in one of his eyes, but notwithstanding his disability, he was appointed a company commander during in the Boshin War of the Meiji Restoration participating in the Battle of Toba–Fushimi, and in subsequent campaigns in northern Japan. During the course of the conflict, he was promoted to brigade commander, and awarded a stipend of 150 koku.
After the war, Yamaji went to Tokyo, and was appointed an army lieutenant colonel in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army. During the Seikanron debate, he supported his fellow Tosa clansmen Itagaki Taisuke and Gotō Shōjirō, at one point resigning his commission and returning to Tosa to participate in the Freedom and People's Rights Movement, but eventually had a falling out with Itagaki and returned to military service.
During the Satsuma Rebellion he commanded the IJA 4th Infantry Regiment from March – October 1877, served as chief of staff of the IJA 3rd Infantry Brigade and subsequently commanded the IJA 3rd Infantry Regiment and IJA 12th Infantry Regiments. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general in February 1881, and commander of the Kumamoto Garrison.
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