Kuroyamada Akira

Kuroyamada Akira, C. (Shinasthana: 黑山田 景; Japanese: くろやまだ あきら; Nov. 22, 1907 – Jan. 30, 1981) was a Themiclesian businessman, military officer, and writer. He is of Dayashinese heritage from both parents.

Akira's father, Hirono, migrated from Dayashina to Themiclesia in 1899 to find a new market for his small chemicals company, which was failing under competition. In Themiclesia, he turned his attention to making pest-control chemicals, becoming very successful; with sufficient funds, he started a family with a woman of Dayashinese heritage and settled in Kien-k'ang in 1905. Akira was their first child, born in 1907. From birth, Akira was groomed to take over the family's business and educated as a chemist. He attended the Army Academy's National Institute of Chemistry at university and obtained a master's degree in that field in 1932.

His father became prominent amongst Dayashinese businessmen in Themiclesia, which opposed the rise of protectionism and monopolies in Dayashina and their mingling with the military. Like many new-arrivals to middle-class society, he bought a military commission for his son. In 1938, Hirono led the Dayashinese Lobby to ask all migrants to consider sending someone in their households into the military, for which he recommended the Marines, for two reasons: one, as the war did not involve the navy, the Marines were not expected to see combat, and two, because they did not take conscripts, a large influx of Dayashinese recruits would make the force majority-Dayashinese, which would prevent discrimination on cultural or linguistic grounds. Akira traded his commission for one in the Marine Corps, at a slight loss in 1939, in support of his father's efforts. Notably, the officer who took Akira's commission was ′Ap, later the Lord of Srong-sngrjar, prime minister of Themiclesia.

In 1940, the Marines were subject to Dayashinese infiltration to assassinate Emperor Sk′ên′. After the first attempt was foiled, Akira and several other officers voluntarily undertook additional duties to prevent infiltrators from obtaining weapons, with only limited success. The Dayashinese Lobby demanded that Marines officers "must do everything" to weed out the infiltrators, lest public opinion attaint the reputation of the Dayashinese diaspora or doubt their commitment to Themiclesia's cause in war. However, many native officers were reticent to do anything that might expose their incompetence in governing their subordinates. After another foiled assassination attempt in 1941, the Lobby demanded that Dayashinese officers take action against infiltrator.

Akira participated in an informal group known as the Dreamers (夢家, mjengh-kra; Yumehito) that sought to identify infiltrators, with covert assistance from the Foreign Office, and in consequence of the 1941 assassination attempt in Gwrjang-′an Palace, the Dreamers suppressed several armed incidents and identified those responsible. While they did not identify all infiltrators, their successes were critical to the Dayashinese Lobby's ability to prevent deterioration of public opinion on the diaspora. He later recounted in 1968, "I did this to protect myself and my people, from the greater enemy in hearts and minds."

After the war, Akira continued his military career and instead left his business to his cousin. In 1960, he was made Captain-general of Marines. He was the first officer of Dayashinese heritage to achieve this position but also the last one to do so who purchased his initial commissions, rather than trained for it. Despite this, aside from purchasing a promotion to captain in 1937, he has not used this grandfathered right since then. When he intended to retire in 1962, he forewent his claim to the captain's commission he bought in 1937, saying that "nobody needs to be reminded of that."

Having retired from public service, he turned his attention to board games and became a locally-renowned chess and Bêng'-goi player. He published a monograph Cheater's Guide to Board Games and recounted how he believed every single Marines officer was complicit in running a racket against their men. His peers justified this practice "because subtlety and wariness are assets to the soldier." Given adequate competition, he states that cheating is endemic in how marines play games, and "you should not ever announce beforehand what game is to be played, if a marine is to be invited to your table; for if you so do, you shall certainly lose. They are paid to be soldiers, not umpires."

Honours

In 1942, he received the Outstanding Service Medal, which since the 1830s was granted to all Marines officers who finish a third year under commission. In 1960, he was made Counsel for his military service, indicated by his postnominal letter C. This distinction placed him in the highest rank in the honours system after the peerage. When he retired from the military in 1962, he was awarded an honourary colonelcy by his home regiment, the Ninth Kien-k'ang Rifles. The Army Academy made him an honourary lecturer in 1970. He received a private home in Ho out of the Emperor's estate for his "extraordinary effort to protect the sovereign."

See also

• Dayashina
• Themiclesia