Yui Mitsue

Yui Mitsue (由比 光衛, 27 November 1860 – 18 September 1925) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during the First Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War.

Yui Mitsue 由比 光衛
Yui Mitsue
Native name	由比 光衛
Born	(1860-11-27)November 27, 1860 Kōchi, Tosa Province, Japan
Died	September 18, 1925(1925-09-18) (aged 64) Tokyo, Japan
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service	1882-1923
Rank	General
Battles/wars	First Sino-Japanese War Boxer Rebellion Russo-Japanese War World War I Siberian Intervention

In this Japanese name, the family name is Yui.

Lieut.-General Mitsue Yui and General Kikuzo Otani, the leaders of the Japanese Forces in Siberia

Biography

Yui was born in Tosa Domain (present day Kōchi Prefecture) in what is now part of the city of Kōchi, where is father was a samurai in the service of the Yamauchi clan. He graduated from the 5th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1882 and 7th class of the Army Staff College in 1891 and was assigned to staff positions within the Imperial General Headquarters upon graduation.

After serving as a staff officer in the IJA Second Army during the First Sino-Japanese War, he was sent as a military attaché to the United Kingdom from 1895-1899, and returned to serve on the staff of the IJA 5th Division during the Boxer Rebellion. Yui developed a reputation as a competent officer, and as a colonel at the start of the Russo-Japanese War, served as Vice Chief of Staff under General Yasukata Oku of the Japanese Second Army. Towards the end of the war, he distinguished himself at the Battle of Mukden as Chief of Staff of the IJA 8th Division.

After promotion to major general in 1907, Yui continued to serve under General Oku as chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff's Operations Section, until his promotion to lieutenant general and promotion to commandant of the Army Staff College in 1914, remaining in this post through most of Japan's involvement during World War I. He was subsequently named commander of the IJA 15th Division and the Guards Division before becoming Chief of Staff of the Siberian Expeditionary Army in 1918. In April 1919. he dispatched Major General Yasutaro Takayanagi on a secret mission to survey Outer Mongolia as part of Japan's plans to encourage Mongolian separatism and to eventually detach that region from Chinese hegemony.[1]

In November 1919, Yui become a full general and was in command of the Japanese garrison at Tsingtao from 1919 until 1922. Resigning from active duty in 1923, he was promoted to the honorific title of Junior Second Court Rank[2]. He entered the reserves and died two years later in 1925. His grave is at the Sōmei Cemetery in Tokyo.

Decorations

• 1895 – Order of the Sacred Treasure, 6th class [3]
• 1901 – Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class [4]
• 1901 – Order of the Golden Kite, 4th class [5]
• 1914 - Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class [6]
• 1919 – Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure [7]
• 1920 – Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun[8]
• 1920 – Order of the Golden Kite, 2nd class[9]

References

• Fukagawa, Hideki (1981). (陸海軍将官人事総覧 (陸軍篇)) Army and Navy General Personnel Directory (Army). Tokyo: Fuyo Shobo. ISBN 4829500026.
• Dupuy, Trevor N. (1992). Encyclopedia of Military Biography. I B Tauris & Co Ltd. ISBN 1-85043-569-3.
• Hata, Ikuhiko (2005). (日本陸海軍総合事典) Japanese Army and Navy General Encyclopedia. Tokyo: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 4130301357.

Footnotes

1. Boyd, James (2011). Japanese-Mongolian Relations, 1873-1945: Faith, Race and Strategy. Global Oriental. p. 91. ISBN 1906876193.
2. 『官報』第3215号「叙任及辞令」April 21, 1923
3. 『官報』第3578号「叙任及辞令」June 5, 1895
4. 『官報』第5487号「叙任及辞令」October 15, 1901
5. 『官報』第5487号「叙任及辞令」October 15, 1901
6. 『官報』第700号「叙任及辞令」December 1, 1914
7. 『官報』第2197号「叙任及辞令」November 29, 1919
8. 『官報』第2612号「叙任及辞令」April 19, 1921
9. 『官報』第2612号「叙任及辞令」April 19, 1921