Ijuin Kanehiro (伊集院兼寛)
Kanehiro IJUIN (January 27, 1838 - April 20, 1898) was a samurai, a feudal retainer of the Satsuma clan, a military officer, and a government official in Japan. He came from the Satsuma Domain. He was commonly known as Naoemon. His posthumous name was Kanehiro. In the Meiji period, he worked as the Junior Assistant Minister of the Navy, a councilor of Genroin (the Chamber of Elders), and a member of the House of Peers. He was a Viscount.
Suga IJUIN, his older sister, married Takamori SAIGO in 1852. She divorced him in 1854.
Career
The Restoration period at the end of the Edo period
Kanehiro IJUIN was born in 1838, as the legitimate son of Kaneyoshi IJUIN, a feudal retainer of the Satsuma clan. During the Restoration period at the end of the Edo period, he had a strong relationship with Saigo brothers (Takamori SAIGO and Tsugumichi SAIGO) and Toshimichi OKUBO, and came to the fore as one of the most active warriors in the Satsuma Domain.
He was involved in a conspiracy to overthrow the bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun), as a comrade of Shinshichi ARIMA in the Teradaya Commotion in 1862, but returned to allegiance upon the decree of the lord of the domain. He received a penitence.
He joined the Conspiracy of Hamaguri-gomon Gate as a scout in 1863. He was granted a monetary reward by the lord of the domain. In the Anglo-Satsuma War of the same year, he joined the do-or-die squad.
In the Boshin War, he was assigned to an officer in charge of strategies at Tosando Sotokufu (the Tosando Viceroy Headquarters), and he fought battles at various places.
After the Meiji period
In 1871, he entered the Ministry of Finance. He strove to develop the accounting system in the early Meiji period.
In 1873, he joined the Ministry of the Navy. He was promoted to the Junior Assistant Minister of the Navy in the following year. He handled the administrative jobs concerning the Taiwan expedition. In the Seinan War in 1877, he conducted the espionage activities in the Shikoku region.
In 1878, he assumed the position of a councilor of Genroin (the Chamber of Elders). He was conferred the title of viscount in 1887 and joined the peerage. Upon the establishment of the Imperial Diet in 1890, he became a member of the House of Peers. He held the post until 1897. On April 16, 1898, he was conferred the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure. He passed away on April 20, four days after the award.