社会志林

Since we have become used to peace, we don’t know true value of it. Happily we Japanese are not faced with the choice between war and peace, however, we do have many issues which threaten our peace. We must make efforts to promote world peace by setting matters amicably. Looking back upon the end of the 19th century, there was a time when Japan was tainted by imperialism of the European Powers. She wanted to wield power for example, by possessing a weaker nation, such as Korea. After the Meiji Restoration, Japan formulated the national policies for building up ‘a rich country with a strong army’ as well as ‘increasing production’ following examples of the Great Powers. The World Powers were bad examples of imperialism to imitate. The word, imperialism, stands (symbolizes) aggresive tendencies to wield power and expand territories as well. Japan was also on the side of imperialism. Japan defeated the Empire of China in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-5) against general expectations. The victory not only enticed her to be a first-class power in the East but also incited her military ambition. The great victory against China, one of the Powers in the World, aroused intense patriotic sentiment among the Japanese. People became patriotic after the Sino-Japanese War. The Samurai (i.e. warrior) class built a peculiar morals (i.e. the Bushido, Japanese Knighthood) learning sinology for 270 years during the Edo period. The Japanese Chivalry consisted of the following: 1) loyalty and patriotism to one’s master or the Emperor 2) thrift, diligence and militarism 3) temperance and good manners. The Bushido ideas based on the teaching of Confucism lasted until mid-thirty of the Meiji (i.e. 1897～1906). Takeo Hirose (1868 ～ 1904) was the type of a man with the Bushido spirit. He was a native of Bungo (i.e. Ōita Prefecture). He was the second son of Shigetake Hirose, former samurai, who was a judge. Takeo was first educated at a private school and primary school. Later he studied at the Kogyokusha, a kind of prep school for the Naval College, in Tokyo. After finishing the school he was admitted to enter the Naval College on his second attempt in 1885. Some years after graduating from the school, he was appointed a naval cadet. In the Sino-Japanese War, he worked for supply bases. In 1897 he was ordered to serve on the Naval General Staff （軍令部） and soon after that he was appointed as naval attaché to the Japanese Legation in St. Petersburg. Russia. During his four and a half years there, he took lessons in Russian and French without remarkable progress. As a naval attaché, his duties were to obtain information on the Russian Navy which was a strict secrecy. He supplied his home office with information that he collected from a newspaper named, ‘Novoye Vremya’ (The New Time) or using literature on the Russian Navy as materials. While in St. Petersburg, he toured the Caspian Sea, and the Black Sea and visited naval establishments in England, France, Germany, and the Baltic States. He was ordered to return home in Jan., 1902. On his way back to Japan, he went to Irkutsk by train and then he crossed Siberia using three sleds and went to Port Arthur（旅順）, in Manchuria, by train, investigating the geographical features along his route. From Port Arthur to Nagasaki, he used a steamer. He was a great traveler. He returned to Tokyo in March, 1903 and was soon ordered to board the battleship, ‘Asahi’, as a divisional officer for torpedoes. The war in Manchuria was becoming imminent. Japan declared war against Russia in Feb., 1904. Prior to the declaration, a Japanese squadron under Rear-Admiral Uryu attacked two Russian vessels, outside the port of Chemulpo （仁川）, The Varyag, a protected cruiser of 6500 tons displacement and the Koreets, a gunboat of 1,213 tons. The Varyag, sustaining heavy fire, went down. The Koreets sank in the sea, after a suicidal explosion.

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