Katurou Imahara
Prime Minister of Senria Katurou Imahara 이마하라까뚜로우 | |
|---|---|
 | |
 1st Prime Minister of Senria | |
| In office December 11, 1933 – December 13, 1948 | |
| Deputy | Nobuyuki Youiti Hatirou Nakayama |
| Preceded by | Position created Himself (as Chairman) |
| Succeeded by | Hatirou Nakayama |
| Chairman of the Government of National Preservation | |
| In office July 10, 1927 – December 11, 1933 | |
| Preceded by | Position created Council of the Senrian State |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished Himself (as Prime Minister) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 30, 1883 Nisiyama, Senria |
| Died | April 5, 1954 (70 years) Saeki, Senria |
| Nationality | Senrian |
| Political party |  People's Party |
| Spouse | Keiko Minamoto |
| Children | Kitirou Imahara (adopted) |
| Alma mater | Tokiyori National Military Academy |
| Profession | Soldier, general, politician |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Empire of Senria (1901-1926) Republic of Senria (1926-1954) |
| Branch/service | Imperial Senrian Army (1901-1926) Senrian Republican Army (1926-1954) |
| Rank | Grand marshal |
| Battles/wars | Senrian Revolution Senrian-Xiaodongese War |
Katurou Imahara (Senrian: 이마하라까뚜로우, Imahara Katurou; Gyoumon: 今原勝郎; September 30, 1883 - April 5, 1954) was an influential Senrian military and political leader who served as the leader of Senria between 1927 and 1948. Born into a military family, Imahara graduated from Tokiyori National Military Academy and became an officer in the Imperial Senrian Army in 1901, becoming a general within the body by 1919. He served in the imperial military during most of the Senrian Revolution, but was a member of the First Gang of Six that deposed Emperor Katuhito in early 1926. Imahara was invited to join Senria's interim government by Isao Isiyama, and founded the People's Party to compete with Isiyama's Republicans.
Before the Council of the Senrian State- of which Imahara was a member- could agree upon the structure of a more permanent Senrian government, the Heavenly Xiaodongese Empire launched an invasion of northern Senria in 1927, triggering the Senrian-Xiaodongese War. Imahara was named Chairman of the Government of National Preservation, and tasked with defeating the Xiaodongese invasion force. As chairman, Imahara promoted himself to marshal and undertook a series of programs aimed at rapidly industrializing Senria and modernizing the Senrian Republican Army. These policies are generally credited with Senria's eventual victory in the conflict. After the war, Imahara was elected the first Prime Minister of Senria under suspicious circumstances.
As Prime Minister, Imahara established a dominant-party state, restricting the activities of but not banning opposition parties, controlling the ability of the press to report freely, and largely ignoring the rights to assembly and petition. He also continued the programs of military modernization and industrialization he had begun as chairman, turning Senria into a military and economic powerhouse within the Boreo-Lahudic region of Esquarium. He declined to seek reelection in 1948 as his health weakened, and was succeeded by Hatirou Nakayama. Imahara died of renal failure in 1954.
Within Senria, Imahara is widely admired as the man who led the country through the Senrian-Xiaodongese War and transformed Senria into a modern industrial power. Imahara's military leadership played a critical role in both the Senrian Revolution and Senrian-Xiaodongese War, and he is widely regarded as a talented military commander. Furthermore, his economic policies drastically improved Senria's standard of living, and his social policies increased the rights of women and burakumin. Critics, however, have noted the suspicious circumstances under which he was elected Prime Minister and his violations of human rights while holding the office, and claim that his continuing popularity within Senria is the result of a cult of personality established by Imahara and his successors.
Early life and education
Imahara was born in the town of Nisiyama, in southern Sadaisuu, to Hiroyuki and Satiko Imahara. A member of the sizoku class, Imahara's ancestors had been samurai for several generations; after the abolition of the samurai during the Keiou Restoration, Hiroyuki Imahara became an officer within the Imperial Senrian Army, and it was widely expected of Katurou that he would become an officer as well. Imahara's mother Satiko died in childbirth when he was six years old, and as a result Imahara was largely raised by his father Hiroyuki. Imahara had two younger siblings, Tihiro and Saburou; his only elder sibling, a brother, was stillborn.
Hiroyuki Imahara continually groomed his son for a military career, having him study the conquests of a variety of generals and commanders from Senria and from abroad, and attempting to train him in tactics and strategy, as well as in martial arts. At age 18, Imahara was enrolled in the Tokiyori National Military Academy. Imahara excelled in his classes; a report card from his second-to-last semester at the academy also noted that he "showed exemplary attention and diligence", and was "very well-liked among the other students". He graduated in 1905 as first in his class, becoming an officer in the Imperial Senrian Army.
Career
Before the Revolution
Imahara was initially stationed as part of the standing army garrison in Furosawa. While there, he met Keiko Minamoto, the daughter of a salt merchant. While Imahara's father had arranged a marriage between Imahara and a Tubame Onazawa back in Nisiyama, Onazawa had died of pneumonia in 1903 before the marriage could occur. Imahara asked his father for permission to marry Minamoto in 1906; after visiting Hurosawa to meet Minamoto and her parents, Imahara's father consented and the pair were married in January of 1907.
During the 1909 Concession Riots, provoked by the concession of Sakata to Xiaodong, Imahara was credited with successfully preventing a riot in Hurosawa. Shortly thereafter, Imahara was promoted several ranks and reassigned to a mid-level command position in Keisi by Emperor Hisahito. While in Keisi, Imahara continued to advance up the ranks of the Imperial Senrian Army.
During the Revolution
On April 7, 1918, members of the Senrian Republican Party held several simultaneous marches across Senria calling for the creation of a constitutional monarchy. The largest of these marches was in Keisi, where roughly 3,000 marched. As the marchers approached the Keisi Imperial Palace, however, they were halted by municipal police and by the Imperial Senrian Army. Keisi's police chief, Yosimasa Tiyoda, issued a demand that the protesters disperse; when the protesters refused, the soldiers and policemen opened fire, killing as many as 300 people. Imahara's role in the shootings is unclear; some Republican leaders during this era accused Imahara of giving the order to open fire, while Imahara himself maintained the order to fire was given by Tiyoda and other subordinate officers.
In the wake of the shootings, pro-republican riots broke out across Senria. On April 10, Republican leader Ryuunosuke Miyamoto declared the foundation of a Senrian Republic; Miyamoto and other Republican leaders established an interim government, headed by a collective executive known as the Council of the Senrian State, in the northern city of Ukyou. This triggered the beginning of the Senrian Revolution.
During the early part of the war, Imahara quickly proved himself a skilled commander, scoring major victories for royalist forces in the battles of First Koriyama and Narita. As a result, he was promoted to the rank of general. In 1919, however, Hisahito was assassinated by Akane Takenaka, a member of the Republican Party, and succeeded by his son Katuhito.
Katuhito became infamous among the Senrian officer corps for overruling his generals and for making decisions that were unsound tactically and strategically. This proved frustrating to Imahara and his fellow generals; in 1920, after a direct order from Katuhito caused imperial forces to lose the Second Battle of Koriyama, Imahara bluntly requested "a reassignment away from the front, as it is clear His Imperial Majesty does not trust my capabilities there". Katuhito denied the request, ordering Imahara to "continue his service to the Emperor in fighting the bandits"; by 1923, however, Imahara wrote to his wife that "so many of my orders are countermanded by the emperor that to say I command my troops is to lie".
On December 6, 1925, the magnitude 8.1 Great Sansuu Earthquake devastated Keisi and many surrounding areas. Katuhito finally recalled Imahara from the front, ordering him to assume command of forces tasked with the defense and reconstruction of Keisi. While returning to the city, Imahara received a letter from his wife informing him that she had begun caring for a child who she had found on the property and who had been orphaned by the earthquake. As she and Imahara had been unable to conceive, she requested that they adopt the child. Imahara consented, and the child- named Kitirou- was raised as Imahara's son.
First Gang of Six
In 1924, Imahara was approached by General Sintarou Miyake and Admiral Itigo Nakagawa about the possibility of joining a clandestine group composed of generals and admirals who were dissatisfied with the perceived bungling of the war effort by Katuhito. Imahara, who blamed Katuhito for the poor state of the war and for several losses imperial forces had suffered, accepted the offer. This group- known retroactively as the First Gang of Six- consisted of Imahara, Miyake, Nakagawa, Nobuyuki Youiti, Isoroku Nomura, and Ienobu Miyazawa. Initially, the group was unclear as to its exact aims, but by 1925, the First Gang of Six had dedicated itself to the deposition of Katuhito.
Initially, the group's plan had involved an army under Miyake seizing the mountain passes around Keisi while a navy under Nakagawa enforced a blockade; after Imahara was reassigned to the defense of Keisi, however, the group's plan changed to involve the immediate capture of Katuhito by troops under Imahara. The start of the operation would be signaled by the playing of a Senrian folk song, Humiisi Ume ("Searching for Plums in the Snow", a reference to the plum blossom mon used by the Imperial House), on military radio channels. Troops under Imahara would seize Keisi, while armies under Miyake and Youichi would halt offensives against republican forces and the navies under Nakagawa, Nomura, and Miyazawa would begin to blockade or attack royalist targets.
While Imahara was personally confident the plan could be carried out, he nevertheless prepared an escape route for his wife and adopted son that would allow them to flee to Himura and then to a location abroad.
The plot was carried out on January 17, 1926. Imahara's forces were able to seize the Keisi Imperial Palace, Tokiyori Military Academy, the city hall, railway stations, and the offices of most government ministries; the other members of the First Gang of Six were similarly successful in their areas of the plot. Loyalist armies under Noriyosi Horitome and Tutomu Abe were ultimately unable to stop the plan from being carried out. While attempting to flee the city, Katuhito and his family were captured by troops under Imahara; Imahara forced Katuhito to abdicate the throne and demanded that he and the other members of the Imagawa dynasty enter exile abroad. After Katuhito's abdication, Imahara ordered that news of the abdication be broadcast on all radio frequencies and sent out on all telegraph lines.
Before the Senrian-Xiaodongese War
After the capture and abdication of Katuhito, Isao Isiyama- who had succeeded Ryuunosuke Miyamoto as leader of the Republican Party- proposed a bilateral cession of hostilities between Republican forces and the forces under the First Gang of Six. Imahara consented, formally ending the Senrian Revolution. Isiyama expanded the Council of the Senrian State to eight members, forced two Republican members of the body to resign, and offered Imahara, Miyake, Nakagawa, and Nomura positions on the council. Imahara and his fellow officers accepted, evenly dividing the Council between four members of the Republican Party and four military leaders. Shortly thereafter, Imahara founded the People's Party; the nationalist People's Party quickly became the main opposition to the populist Republican Party.
The Council of the Senrian State quickly became paralyzed on most issues, however, owing to its even division between members of the Republican Party and members of the People's Party. Negotiations on replacing the body- intended as an interim government, to be replaced after the war- stalled entirely and were effectively abandoned. Debates on other issues, such as budgeting, military organization, reconstruction, and industrialization proved similarly acrimonious and contentious.
One of the few successes of the Council, however, was the reclamation of the city of Sakata- given to Xiaodong as a concession in 1909- in 1926. The operation had been proposed by Imahara in May of that year and approved unanimously; while originally scheduled for December, it was moved forward to November after Senrian intelligence forces discovered a Xiaodongese military report which stated that Xiaodong "[did] not consider the Senrian republican regime to be a serious obstacle, much less a threat". Senrian troops, aided by local support and the defection of the Sakata municipal police force, recaptured the city on November 17, 1926. While Imahara had masterminded the plan, Isiyama- as the de facto leader of the Council- took much of the credit, angering Imahara.
On April 3, 1927, the Xiaodongese government- in retaliation for the capture of Sakata- issued a series of demands to the Senrian government. The demands included the effective swearing of fealty to the Xiaodongese regime, the permanent cession of Sakata, and the vetting of Senrian civil and military leadership by the Xiaodongese government. Imahara publicly denounced the demands as "unacceptable in the eyes of any Senrian patriot", and- alongside all seven other members of the Council- voted to reject the demands on April 28. The following day, Isiyama formally rejected Xiaodong's demands as a "wholly uancceptable assault upon the sovereignty of the Senrian people and nation by a backwards regime".
As Chairman
On May 2, 1927, Xiaodongese troops led by General Lu Keqian landed in northern Kitasuu at four landing sites. While Senria had moved troops into Kitasuu after retaking Sakata in 1926 in case of a potential Xiaodongese response, Senrian military commanders- including Imahara- had expected that any Xiaodongese military response would have come sooner after the seizure of Sakata, and in the months in between the recapture of Sakata and Xiaodong's invasion the government had moved troops back to other regions of the country and placed troops on lowered readiness. As a result, Senrian troops in northern Kitasuu were caught off guard and outnumbered by Xiaodongese troops. Xiaodong formally sent a declaration of war two hours later. Xiaodong launched a second wave of amphibious assaults in central and central-southern Kitasuu on June 24.
The divisions within the Council of the Senrian State, coupled with Senria's comparatively small industrial capacity, the destruction of the Senrian navy by Xiaodongese fleets, and the devastation of the Senrian Revolution and Great Sansuu Earthquake, severely hampered Senria's ability to respond adequately to the Xiaodongese invasion. By 1928, Xiaodongese troops controlled most of Kitasuu and some had launched assaults on Sadaisuu and Okasuu as well. With panic spreading among the public, the Senrian government still deeply divided, and the Senrian military struggling to respond to the Xiaodongese invasion as a result, Katurou Imahara proposed the creation of a "government of national preservation", headed by himself as Chairman. Imahara proposed that this government would replace the Council, but would only last so long as Senria was at war with Xiaodong. Once peace was reestablished, he claimed, the powers of the Council would be restored long enough for it to create a permanent Senrian government. While Republican leaders were uneasy about the proposal, the desperate situation of the war and the need for a unified government pushed them into supporting the measure. The council voted unanimously to create the government of national preservation on July 9, and formally announced it to the public the following day.
In his first speech as Chairman, Imahara swore "unwavering devotion to the cause of the Senrian nation" and announced a program of "mass production, mass industrialization, and mass mobilization" aimed at saving Senria's war effort. The plan called for the creation of a state of total war. To this end, the ages at which Senrians could be conscripted were vastly expanded and the age at which young men could willingly join the military or a military academy was lowered to fifteen. Women would enter the workforce to produce equipment and supplies for the war. Meanwhile, the government would use deficit spending to pay for the construction of factories, military facilities, seaports, and infrastructure aimed at aiding the war effort. In the process, many of the cities destroyed during the Senrian Revolution or by the Great Sansuu Earthquake would be reconstructed. In addition to using deficit spending, major landowning families would be requested to use their wealth to alleviate the costs; in return, these landowning families would be given control of constructed factories. This program, commonly known as the "three-point plan", helped to create public confidence in the capability and efficacy of the new government in prosecuting the war effort.
In addition to serving as Chairman, Imahara gave himself control of several Senrian armies fighting in eastern Kitasuu, and spent a significant amount of time travelling between Keisi and the front lines. This frustrated many within the government, including Republican leaders and civil bureaucrats- Isao Isiyama once wrote to a friend that "[Imahara] spends so much time at the front that it is now foolish to claim the Senrian government is based in Keisi"- but helped build the image that Imahara was active in his role as leader, which made Imahara popular among the soldiers under his command and among large areas of the Senrian population.
Xiaodong continued to advance into Senrian territory through early 1928; the front lines began to stagnate, however, during the early spring. The Senrian Republican Army, at Imahara's behest, launched its first offensive in November of that year; Senrian troops under the command of Nakagawa and Miyake successfully forced Xiaodongese troops out of Sadaisuu and Okasuu, and troops under Imahara were able to make significant advances in western Kitasuu. Imahara was present on the front lines during the battles of Isiwata, Yasukata, and Second Sekiguti.
Troops under Imahara were also the first to uncover Xiaodongese-run concentration camps, known as "extermination zones", in Kitasuu, liberating the Sitigahama Extermination Zone on September 21, 1929 and the Hirasawa Extermination Zone on November 30, 1929. A total of 1,319 survivors were rescued from the Sitigahama and Hirasawa camps; more than 100,000, however, had already died in those two camps before their liberation. While Xiaodong's anti-Senrian racial rhetoric was well-known, and the stated Xiaodongese plan for the post-war Senrian archipelago involved the resettling of large areas of Senria with ethnic Xiaodongese, few had realized the industrial scale of Xiaodong's ethnic cleansing operations. Imahara himself, in writing to his wife, had said he "did not believe the Xiaodongese were capable of a murder operation of this scale before the liberation of the death camps at Kaziwara and Hirasawa". Speaking to troops following the liberation of the Hirasawa extermination zone, Imahara declared that the "conflict we are presently engaged in is no longer one of merely preserving our national sovereignty, but one of preserving the very existence of the Senrian nation upon this earth."
In 1930, Xiaodong launched a second offensive. While troops under Imahara's command were defeated at Kitakawa, the Senrian military was able to halt the Xiaodongese advance shortly thereafter. Imahara also ordered that Senrian troops destroy infrastructure as they retreated, most notably the Hirasawa Extermination Zone, which was destroyed by Senrian troops on January 17, 1930 to prevent its future use by Xiaodongese forces.
Meanwhile, Imahara's "three-point plan" began to manifest serious benefits for the Senrian war effort. Construction of new infrastructure and a drastically expanded industrial capacity greatly eased the ability of the Senrian Republican Armed Forces to supply and mobilize troops. The Senrian navy was steadily rebuilt as well, and research and development efforts undertaken by the government of national preservation began to pay off as Senrian military technology steadily improved. In a public speech delivered in Keisi, Imahara boasted that his government "had laid the foundation for the construction of a new Senria".
(stalemate- imahara holds forces to recuperate while allowing guerrillas and tuthina to sap xiaodongese strength)
(imahara refuses to make a push to connect with army of kitasuu during ukyou uprising, instead only sending supplies; this is his biggest f*ckup of the war)
(second senrian offensive- imahara's commands and battles)
(liberation of senria; "unforgivable crime" speech; imahara national hero now)
(planning operation grey viper)
After the War
(treaty of keisi; imahara demands strong penalties for xiaodong)
(council never reconvened; isiyama and imahara agree to new constitution)
(elections; imahara likely uses military to guarantee overwhelming landslide rather than just a clear majority, and becomes pm)
As Prime Minister
(controls on dissent carried over from war on the grounds of security)
(programs to rebuild kitasuu; relocating refugees and orphans to repopulate it)
(planning to turn senria into global industrial power)
(continue to f*** with xiaodong- xiaodul war if that's still on, operation red pheasant)
(switch to navy dominance in 1938- imahara says no foreign enemy should ever set foot on senrian soil again)
(shady keiretu business; kind of enabling them since they're all run by his friends and stuff)
(deputy pm nakagawa, imahara's right-hand man, steps down in spite of imahara's protests; nakayama succeeds him)
(continued push on burakumin and women- "all sectors of senrian society must unite for the future of the nation")
(keiko pushes for women's suffrage and katurou agrees, so it happens)
('46 assassination attempt on imahara; xiaodong's fault but it doesn't work)
(amidst health issues, retires; nakayama named heir)
Later life
(settles down in a large mansion in the town of saeki, lives with keiko and several dogs) <imgur thumb="yes" w="150" comment="Imahara with one of his dogs in 1952.">bVU2a2R.png</imgur> (health issues, mostly; too sick to do much about nakayama going batsh!t)
(did resurface briefly to give his favor to kitamura and the second gang of six, though)
Death
(renal failure; mourning across senria)
Personal life
(with keiko)
(with kitirou)
(with father and with siblings tihiro and saburou)
(any other stuff i suppose)
Imahara was also a polyglot, fluent in Senrian, Literary Tuthinan, Xiaodongese, Namorese, Slovianic, and French.
Legacy
(national hero for senria, basically untouchable, part 1: war hero and political idol)
(national hero, part 2: even the opposition respects him)
(maybe some newspaper did a "100 greatest senrians of all time" and he managed to beat literally everyone else, incl. emperor kousuu)
(criticized by int'l rights activists; cult of personality, dominant-party system, keiretu dealings)
(briefly detail kitirou's life, and any surviving relatives through kit, tihiro, and saburou)
Honors
Senrian honors
- Knight Grand Cross of the Supreme Order of the Jade Dragon
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Crimson Phoenix
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Plum Blossom
- Honor Saber of the Rearing Stag with Golden Tassel
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Diligent Ox
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Tricolor Banner
- Order of the Senrian Revolution, First Class
- Order of the War of Patriotic Resistance, First Class
- Order of the Striking Crane, First Class
- Order of the Roaring Tiger, First Class
- Order of the Empress Genmei, First Class
- Order of Service to the Senrian Nation, First Class