Military Wiki
Viscount
Kawakami Sōroku
Kawakami Soroku
Official photo of Viscount Kawakami Sōroku
Native name 川上 操六
Born (1848-11-11)November 11, 1848
Died May 11, 1899(1899-05-11) (aged 50)
Place of birth Kagoshima, Satsuma domain, Japan
Place of death Tokyo, Japan
Allegiance Empire of Japan
Service/branch Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service 1871 -1899
Rank General
Battles/wars
Awards
Grave of Soroku Kawakami, in the Aoyama Cemetery

Grave of Kawakami Soroku

Viscount Kawakami Sōroku (川上 操六?, 11 November 1848 – 11 May 1899), was a general and one of the chief military strategists in the Imperial Japanese Army during the First Sino-Japanese War.

Biography[]

Born in Satsuma Domain to a samurai-class family, Kawakami fought on the Imperial side for the Meiji Restoration against the forces for the Tokugawa Shogunate starting with the Battle of Toba-Fushimi. He distinguished himself by his defense of the besieged Kumamoto Castle in the Boshin War.[1]

Afterwards, he came to Tokyo to assist with the founding of the new Imperial Japanese Army. He rose rapidly through the ranks, and helped quell the Satsuma Rebellion.

In 1884, he accompanied Ōyama Iwao to study military science in various countries of Europe, especially Prussia.[2] After returning home, he became a major general and vice-chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff. In 1887, he returned to Europe again to study military science further in Germany. In 1890, he became a lieutenant general.

During the First Sino-Japanese War, Kawakami served as senior military staff officer on the Imperial General Headquarters, and was known as a brilliant strategist. After the successful conclusion of that war, he was awarded with the Order of the Rising Sun (1st class), and elevated to the nobility with the title of shishaku (viscount) under the kazoku peerage system. 

Kawakami was posthumously awarded the Order of the Golden Kite (2nd class), Order of the Rising Sun (1st class with Paulownia Blossoms, Grand Cordon) and the Grand Order of the Chrysanthemum. His grave is at Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo.

References[]

External links[]

Notes[]

  1. Dupuy, Encyclopedia of Military Biography
  2. Harries, Soldiers of the Sun
All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Kawakami Soroku and the edit history here.