Yoshifuru Akiyama
| Akiyama Yoshifuru | |
|---|---|
Akiyama Yoshifuru
|
|
| Born |
February 9, 1859 Matsuyama, Iyo Province, Japan |
| Died | November 4, 1930 (aged 71) Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan |
| Allegiance | Empire of Japan |
| Service/branch |
 Imperial Japanese Army
|
| Years of service | 1877-1923 |
| Rank | General |
| Commands held | IJA 1st Division, IJA 5th Division |
| Battles/wars | First Sino-Japanese War, Boxer Rebellion, Russo-Japanese War |
| Awards | Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure Order of the Golden Kite, 2nd Class Grand Officer |
Akiyama Yoshifuru (秋山 好古?, February 9, 1859 – November 4, 1930) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, and is considered the father of modern Japanese cavalry. He was Vice Admiral Akiyama Saneyuki's older brother.
Born as the third son to a poor samurai in the Matsuyama Domain, Iyo Province (modern Ehime Prefecture), Akiyama's family was so poor in his childhood that he was forced to work as a fire stoker and janitor in a local public bathhouse for a pittance each day.
Akiyama entered the Rikugun shikan gakkō (the forerunner of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy) in 1877. He went on to attend the Army Staff College, and was sent as a military attaché to France to study cavalry tactics and techniques. He was the only Japanese officer sent to study at the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr at a time when the rest of the Japanese Army had turned to the Imperial German Army as its model and was being taught by instructors from Germany.
Akiyama had very pale skin and large eyes (for a person of Japanese descent in that era). He was often mistaken for a European student by many foreign instructors such as Jakob Meckel while at the Japanese Army Academy, and developed a reputation as a “ladies' man,” much to the envy of his colleagues during his stay in France, whereas he himself disliked his attractive looks. He was an impartial man who had a bowl of rice with slices of pickles for his meal. However, he spent his money on sake and had a reputation as a heavy drinker.
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