Ōyama Iwao

Lore & Background

Ōyama Iwao was born in Kagoshima to a samurai family of the Satsuma Domain and was a younger paternal cousin to Saigo Takamori. A protégé of Ōkubo Toshimichi, he worked to overthrow the Tokugawa Shogunate and played a major role in the Meiji Restoration. During the Boshin War, he commanded the Detached First Brigade and was wounded at the Battle of Aizu by an Aizu guerilla force. In 1870, he was sent to France to study at the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr and served as official Japanese military observer to the Franco-Prussian War. He also spent three years in Geneva studying foreign languages, becoming fluent in Russian, and is recorded as the first Japanese customer for Louis Vuitton, having purchased luggage during his stay in France.

Ōyama helped establish the Imperial Japanese Army and served as commander-in-chief of the Japanese Second Army in the First Sino-Japanese War, capturing Port Arthur and Weihaiwei. He was later disparaged by American reporter Trumbull White for failing to restrain his troops during the Port Arthur Massacre. In the Russo-Japanese War, he was Supreme Commander of Japanese armies in Manchuria, directing all major battles including the Battle of Liaoyang, the Battle of Shaho, the Battle of Sandepu, and the final Battle of Mukden. After Japan's victory, Emperor Meiji elevated him to prince in 1907. He also served as War Minister, Chief of the Army General Staff, and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, attending the accession ceremony of Emperor Taishō in 1915.

Reader's Guide

Prince Ōyama Iwao was a central figure in the modernization of Japan's military and its rise as a world power. As one of the founders of the Imperial Japanese Army, he helped transform Japan from a feudal society into a modern state capable of defeating both China and Russia. His command in the Russo-Japanese War marked the first time an Asian power defeated a European empire in modern warfare, reshaping global geopolitics. Ōyama's political role as War Minister and genrō upheld the autocratic power of the oligarchs against democratic encroachments, though he was reserved and tended to shun politics compared to contemporaries like Yamagata Aritomo. His selection of the poem for Japan's national anthem Kimigayo further ties him to Japanese cultural identity. Ōyama's legacy is complex: he is celebrated as a military genius and nation-builder, yet also associated with the Port Arthur Massacre. His death in 1916 at age 75 was marked by a state funeral, reflecting his high status. The town of Oyama, British Columbia, and Oyama Regional Park in Saskatchewan, Canada, are named after him.

Did You Know?

• Ōyama Iwao is the first recorded Japanese customer for Louis Vuitton, having purchased luggage during his stay in France.
• He selected the poem that became Japan's national anthem Kimigayo in 1869.
• His second wife Sutematsu was a survivor of the Battle of Aizu and a Vassar College graduate.
• Ōyama's weight exceeded 210 pounds (95 kg), which may have contributed to his death from diabetes.