was a soldier in the early

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 ...

, noted for his heroic death in combat during the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

.Kowner, '' Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War'', p. 366.

Biography

Tachibana was born as the second son to a village headman in

Nagasaki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan, mainly located on the island of Kyūshū, although it also includes a number of islands off Kyūshū's northwest coast - including Tsushima and Iki. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,246,4 ...

. On 21 July 1887 he graduated from the 9th class of the predecessor of 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 ...

and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the IJA 5th Infantry Regiment, stationed in

Aomori Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori (city), Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is border ...

. From December 1888 he was assigned to the 4th Regiment of the Imperial Guards, rising to the post of platoon leader on 15 January 1889. He was assigned as an aide-de-camp to the

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

on 24 January 1891 and was promoted to lieutenant on 14 April 1892 and captain on 9 July 1895. From 13 November 1895 he was assigned to the

Imperial General Headquarters The was part of the Supreme War Council (Japan), Supreme War Council and was established in 1893 to coordinate efforts between the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy during wartime. In terms of function, it was approximately equi ...

. In March 1896 Tachibana became a company commander of the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the Taiwan Garrison, but in September he was transferred back to the 4th Regiment of the Imperial Guard, and in November he was appointed a company commander in the 36th Infantry Regiment. From 1897 he was an instructor at the Toyama Military Academy. In April 1902, Tachibana was promoted to major and became commandant of the Nagoya Cadet Corps . He authored a number of military manuals, including , , . After the start of the

in February 1904, Tachibana was initially assigned to the staff of the

Japanese Second Army The was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army. It was raised and demobilized on four occasions. History The Japanese 2nd Army was initially raised during the First Sino-Japanese War from September 27, 1894, to May 14, 1895, under the command o ...

, but a few months later received a combat posting to command the 1st Battalion of the IJA 34th Infantry Regiment. Twenty days later, on 31 August 1904 at the

Battle of Liaoyang The () was a major land battle of the Russo-Japanese War, on the outskirts of the city of Liaoyang in present-day Liaoning Province, China. The city was of great strategic importance as the major Russian military center for southern Manchuria ...

, while Japanese forces were on the offensive against a fortified height, Tachibana refused to follow orders to take cover in trenches because of the intense Russian fire, but announced his intent to charge the Russian position. He was immediately killed by Russian bullets the moment he left the safety of the trench.

Posthumous glorification

Although Tachibana’s rash and impetuous action led to his death without accomplishing anything notable on the battlefield , wartime propaganda immediately seized on his story. He was posthumously promoted to lieutenant colonel, and was awarded the highest decorations possible for that rank: 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 * ...

, 4th class and 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 ...

, 4th class. His 34th Infantry Regiment was renamed the “Tachibana Regiment”. Bronze monuments to Tachibana were erected in his home town and several cities in Japan, and the bay near his home was officially renamed “Tachibana Bay”. He was popularized in at least five songs, and his biography became a textbook role model in schools. In 1928, under

State Shinto was Empire of Japan, Imperial Japan's ideological use of the Japanese folk religion and traditions of Shinto. The state exercised control of shrine finances and training regimes for Kannushi, priests to strongly encourage Shinto practices that ...

, he was deified, becoming (along with Takeo Hirose and Nogi Maresuke) one of the ''gunshin'', and his birthplace converted into a

Shinto shrine A Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxiii is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, , the deities of the Shinto religion. The Also called the . is where a shrine's patron is or are enshrined.Iwanami Japanese dic ...

, the Tachibana Jinja. The shrine still exists, and contains a museum with some of his personal effects.

References

* *

External links

National Diet Library biography

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tachibana, Shuta 1865 births 1904 deaths Military personnel from Nagasaki Prefecture Deaths by firearm in China Japanese Army officers Japanese military personnel killed in the Russo-Japanese War