Baron was a Japanese general who commanded the 12th Division of the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

during the Siberian Intervention.

Biography

Ōi was a native of

Chōshū Domain The , also known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871.Deal, William E. (2005) ''Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan,'' p. 81 The Chōshū Domain was based ...

(present-day

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). ...

) and entered the

Imperial Japanese Army Academy The was the principal officer's training school for the Imperial Japanese Army. The programme consisted of a junior course for graduates of local army cadet schools and for those who had completed four years of middle school, and a senior course f ...

in 1881 and graduated from the Army War College in April 1887. he served in the

Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office The , also called the Army General Staff, was one of the two principal agencies charged with overseeing the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). Role The was created in April 1872, along with the Navy Ministry, to replace the Ministry of Military Af ...

from December 1889. In February 1890 he was sent to Germany for studies, and was attached to the Prussian Army's 113th Infantry Regiment. He was promoted to captain in December 1893, and returned to Japan in February 1895, where he was assigned to the staff of the IJA 2nd Army; however from May to December of that year he was assigned as an advisor to the

Government-General of Taiwan The Government-General of Taiwan (Government of Taiwan, Taiwan Government, Government of Formosa, Japanese: , Kyūjitai: , Hepburn: ''Taiwan Sōtokufu''; ; Tâi-lô: Tâi-uân Tsóng-tok-hú; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ=Thòi-vân Chúng-tuk-fú) was the ...

. He subsequently served as an instructor at the Army Academy and in a number of staff roles, including a diplomatic mission to Germany in May 1902. He was promoted to colonel in March 1905 and major general in January 1909 and was given command of the IJA 19th Infantry Brigade. In March 1911, he became commander of the 2nd Guards Regiment and in November 1912 was commandant of the Army War College. He was promoted to lieutenant general in May 1914 and was made commander of the

IJA 8th Division The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. It was formed 1 October 1898 in Hirosaki, Aomori, as one of the six new reserve divisions created after the First Sino-Japanese War and was annihilated in the Philippines during the ...

. In July 1918, he was transferred to the

IJA 12th Division The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its tsūshōgō code name was the , and its military symbol was 12D. The 12th Division was one of six new infantry divisions raised by the Imperial Japanese Army after the First Sino ...

, which was dispatched to

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

the following month. In August 1919, Ōi became the commanding officer of the Vladivostok Expeditionary Force and in November of this same year was promoted to full general. In October 1919, he was awarded with the Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Sacred Treasures The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest tw ...

. Ōi, as commander of the Japanese Trans-Baikal Expeditionary Force, signed a treaty with the

Far Eastern Republic The Far Eastern Republic ( rus, Дальневосточная Республика, Dal'nevostochnaya Respublika, p=dəlʲnʲɪvɐˈstotɕnəjə rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə, links=yes; ), sometimes called the Chita Republic (, ), was a nominally indep ...

in May 1920, which set the stage for the withdrawal of Japanese forces from Siberia. He returned to Japan in July 1920 and a seat on the

Supreme War Council The Supreme War Council was a central command based in Versailles that coordinated the military strategy of the principal Allies of World War I: Britain, France, Italy, the United States, and Japan. It was founded in 1917 after the Russian Revolu ...

. In November 1920, he was awarded with the Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Golden Kite Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * ...

and the Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...

. Ōi was ennobled with the ''

kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. It was formed by merging the feudal lords (''Daimyo, daimyō'') and court nobles (''kuge'') into one system modelled after the British peerage. Distin ...

'' peerage title of ''danshaku'' (baron) in April 1921, and entered the reserves in March 1923. From March 1924, he served as a member of the House of Peers in the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

. He retired from the military in April 1933 and from politics in February 1940. Despite this, he was still

purged In history, religion and political science, a purge is a position removal or execution of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, another, their team leaders, or society as a whole. A group undertaking such an ...

by the American occupation forces after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and returned to his native Yamaguchi Prefecture. He died in July 1951 and his grave is at

Tama Cemetery in Tokyo is the largest municipal cemetery in Japan. It is split between the cities of Fuchū, Tokyo, Fuchu and Koganei, Tokyo, Koganei within the Tokyo Metropolis. First established in April 1923 as , it was redesignated Tama Cemetery in 1935. ...

in Tokyo.

Decorations

* 1896 –

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese Order (distinction), order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six c ...

, 6th class * 1896 – JPN Kinshi-kunsho 5Class BAR

, 5th class * 1914 –

, 2nd class * 1919 – Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure * 1920 – JPN Kyokujitsu-sho 1Class BAR

Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun * 1920 – JPN Kinshi-kunsho 1Class BAR

Order of the Golden Kite, 1st class『官報』第2612号「叙任及辞令」19 April 1921

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oi, Shigemoto 1863 births 1951 deaths Japanese generals Japanese military personnel of the Russian Civil War Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Military personnel from Yamaguchi Prefecture Kazoku Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1st class Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun Recipients of the Order of the Golden Kite, 1st class