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Togo Heihachiro (東郷 平八郎 Togo Heihachiro, 1846 - 1934) was a Japanese admiral and one of Japan's greatest naval heroes.
Togo was born on 22 December 1847 in the Kachiyacho district of city of Kagoshima in Satsuma province (modern-day Kagoshima prefecture). His father was a samurai serving under the house of Shimazu, and he had three brothers.
Kachiyacho was one of Kagoshima's a samurai housing districts, in which were born many other influencial figures of the Meiji period, such as Saigo Takamori and Okubo Toshimichi. They rose to prominent positions under the Meiji Emperor partly because Satsuma had been a decisive military and political factor in the Boshin war against the Bakufu and the restoration of Imperial power.
Officers of Haruhi , in August 1869. Third-class officer Togo is dressed in white, top right.
Togo's first combat experience was at the age of 17 during the Anglo-Satsuma war (August 1863), in which Kagoshima was bombarded by the British Royal NavyThe Royal Navy is the navy of the United Kingdom. It operates a number of aircraft carriers, destroyers, frigates, fifteen nuclear submarines, and various other ships, as well as aircraft and Britain's amphibious forces, the Royal Marines. The Royal Navy to punish the SatsumaThis article is about the province. For alternative meanings of the word Satsuma see Satsuma (disambig Satsuma (; -no Kuni) was an old province of Japan that is now the western half of Kagoshima prefecture on the island of Kyushu. Its abbreviation is Sass daimyoThe daimyo were the most powerful feudal rulers from the 12th century to the 19th century in Japan. After the Meiji restoration in 1869 the daimyo merged with the kuge to form a single aristocratic group, the kazoku. The term daimyo literally means "great for the murder of Charles Richardson on the TokaidoTokaido (literally, East Sea Route) is the name of several things: National Route 1, which links Tokyo and Osaka; The Tokaido Main Line, which links Tokyo and Kobe; One of the Edo Five Routes, which linked Edo (now Tokyo) and Kyoto along the shore (see be highway the previous year, and the refusal to pay an indemnity in compensation.
The following year, Satsuma established a navy, in which which Togo and two of his brothers enrolled. In January 1868 during the Boshin war, Togo was affected to a paddle-wheel steam warship, Haruhi , which participated to the Naval Battle of Awa , near Osaka, against the navy of the Bakufu, the first Japanese naval battle between two modern fleets.
As the conflict spread to northern Japan, Togo participated as a third-class officer abroard Haruhi to the last battles against the remnants of the Bakufu forces, the Naval Battle of Miyako and the Naval Battle of HakodateNaval Battle of Hakodate, May 1869. Foreground: the Imperial Japanese Navy's Haruhi and Kotetsu. Battle of Hakodate Conflict Boshin War Date May 4- May 10, 1869 Place Hakodate Bay ResultImperial forces victory Combatants Empire of Japan Ezo Republic Comma (1869).