Akiyama Yoshifuru (秋山 好古, February 9, 1859 – November 4, 1930) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, and was considered the father of modern Japanese cavalry. He was the older brother of Vice Admiral Akiyama Saneyuki.[1]
Akiyama was often mistaken for a European student by many foreign instructors such as Jakob Meckel while at the Japanese Army Academy. He was reputed to be a plain-living person who had a bowl of rice with slices of pickles for his meal. However, he spent his money on sake and was known to be a heavy drinker.
After he retired from active military service in 1923, declining promotion to Field Marshal, he returned to his native island of Shikoku and became the principal of the Hokuyō Junior High School (present-day Matsuyama High School). Akiyama died of complications from diabetes at the Army Medical School Hospital in Tokyo in 1930, and his grave is in the city of Matsuyama.
Portrayals in fiction
Akiyama is one of the main characters of Saka no Ue no Kumo ("Clouds Over the Slope"), a novel by Ryōtarō Shiba, adapted as a historical drama on the Japanese television network NHK from 2009 to 2011. Akiyama was portrayed by actor Hiroshi Abe.
Akiyama inspired the character Dot Pixis in the manga series Attack on Titan. When series author, Hajime Isayama, stated this inspiration he received death threats and criticism regarding the general's actions in the military, primarily regarding Akiyama and his division's involvement in the Port Arthur Massacre.[3]
Honours
With translated material from the corresponding Japanese Wikipedia article
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