Arichi Shinanojo (有地品之允)
Shinanojo ARICHI (April 14, 1843 - January 17, 1919) was a Japanese naval officer and statesman. He was a Lieutenant General, member of the House of Peers, and Baron. His another name was Nobumasa. Vice Admiral Tokioki NASHIHA was his younger brother, his third son Jugoro ARICHI was Vice Admiral, and his heir Tozaburo ARICHI was Armory Captain and a member of the House of Peers.
Career
He was born as the first son of Toma ARICHI who was a feudal retainer of Choshu Domain and a Bujutsu Shinan-yak (an instructor of a martial art) (1000 koku [180 cubic meters] of rice). In Boshin Civil War, he went to the front of the Ou district as a member of Kanjo-tai.
From 1869 to 1871, he stayed in Europe for an official purpose and made an inspection of the Franco-Prussian War. After he returned to Japan, he became Army Major and the sixth Battalion Chief of Goshimpei (army to convoy the Emperor), and from that year to 1873, he served as Jiju (Chamberlain). In 1873, he was transferred to the navy, and as Lieutenant Commander he worked at the branch section of Admiral Office.
In 1881, he assumed the post of the captain of 'Nisshin.'
In1882, he was promoted to Captain, and successively held the posts of the captain of Patrol boats 'Hiei' and 'Tsukuba.'
In1884, when he was the captain of 'Tsukuba,' the ship went on ocean navigation. In the navigation of the previous year, a lot of crew members presented symptoms of beriberi, and twenty-three of them had died. So, as a result of introducing Western food under the guidance of a naval surgeon Kanehiro TAKAGI, the number of the beriberi sufferers decreased dramatically, and no one had died of beriberi.
In December, 1884, he was appointed as Vice-chief of Military Affairs Division (later Military Order Division), and after assuming the post of First Bureau Chief of the Navy Division of the Staff Headquarters, in 1886, he was promoted to Rear Admiral and Commander of the Yokosuka Naval Port, and until the next year he held the concurrent post of Commandant of Naval Engineering College. In 1887, he became Commandant of the Naval Academy, and introduced Judo (Japanese art of self-defense) into the educational curriculum. From 1889 to 1891, he held the post of Chief of Naval Staff Officer Division, and after serving as Commander-in-Chief of the Readiness Fleet, in 1892, he was promoted to Vice Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of Kure Chinjufu (Kure Naval District) and reached Sino-Japanese War.
In May, 1895, he assumed the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Readiness Fleet again, and held the concurrent post of Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet. In October of the same year, in Taiwan which had come into the possession of Japan, an incident happened in which because a resisting Chinese fled into a British merchant ship 'Thales,' Arichi's subordinate cruiser 'Yaeyama' chased it and made an on-the-spot visitation of it. Because this visitation was carried out on the open sea, the British authority made a protest to Japan, so Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanded that the Navy punish the responsible persons. As a consequence, ARICHI and Captain Tojiro HIRAYAMA, the captain of Yaeyama, were made to transfer to the reserve duty to seek the resolution.
In 1896, he was raised to the peerage of Baron, and for ten years from 1897, he served as a member of the House of Peers, and in 1917, he was appointed as Privy Councilor. In 1899, he assumed the post of the first Administrative Director of Imperial Kaiji Kyokai (present-day Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, Japan Maritime Society), and made an effort to organize Imperial Fleet of Loyalty and Courage with Imperial Prince Takehito ARISUGAWANOMIYA as President. He was buried in the Aoyama-bochi Cemetery.
Literary Works
A discourse 'Discussion about Maritime Affairs and Demand to Educators' by a member Shinanojo ARICHI, "Journal of the Educational Society of Japan" vol. 99, August 15, 1890
April 11, Meiji 24 (1891), Vice Admiral Arichi's Opinions about Naval Defense' ("Assorted Secret Documents 10 Resources about Military Policies" compiled by Hirobumi ITO, pp.196-201)
A discourse 'About the Construction of Fleet of Loyalty and Courage' by Baron Shinanojo ARICHI, In-house magazine of Imperial Kaiji Kyokai "Miscellaneous News about Maritime Affairs" vol. 197, February 10, 1905