Kodama Gentarō

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

Read Next

The United States Supreme Court building, Washington, D.C.

14 Questions About Government in the United States Answered

A human Inuit skull in a stone chambered cairn in Ilulissat in Greenland. These ancient graves are pre christian and are at least 2000

14 Tough Questions Answered

5 Paintings You Need to See in Japan

Battle of the Alamo from "Texas: An Epitome of Texas History from the Filibustering and Revolutionary Eras to the Independence of the Republic, 1897. Texas Revolution, Texas revolt, Texas independence, Texas history.

6 Wars of Independence

Iraqi Army Soldiers from the 9th Mechanized Division learning to operate and maintain M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks at Besmaya Combat Training Center, Baghdad, Iraq, 2011. Military training. Iraq war. U.S. Army

8 Deadliest Wars of the 21st Century

Discover

Coriander leaves, fresh green cilantro on wooden background, herbs

Why Does Cilantro Taste Like Soap to Some People?

The impeachment trial of Pres. Andrew Johnson, illustration from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, March 28, 1868.

What If the President Is Impeached?

Entrants falling and tumbling over while chasing the cheese at the 2016 'Cheese Rolling' held at Cooper's Hill, in the Cotswolds, Brockworth England

7 of the World’s Most Dangerous Festivals

Nativity Scene, Adoration of the Magi, Church of the Birth of the Virgin Mary, Montenegro

Why Is Christmas in December?

What's the Difference Between a Solstice and an Equinox?

Facsimile of one of William Henry Ireland's forgeries, a primitive self-portrait of William Shakespeare(tinted engraving). Published for Samuel Ireland, Norfolk Street, Strand, December 1, 1795. (W.H. Ireland, forgery)

The Time a Law Clerk Successfully Forged a New Shakespeare Play to Impress His Dad

The Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863. (Civil War, Pennsylvania)

9 Worst Generals in History

Kodama Gentarō

Japanese statesman

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Quick Facts

Born:: March 16, 1852, Tokuyama, Japan

Died:: July 23, 1906, Tokyo (aged 54)

See all related content

Kodama Gentarō (born March 16, 1852, Tokuyama, Japan—died July 23, 1906, Tokyo) was a Japanese army general and statesman of the Meiji period.

Kodama, born into the samurai class, fought in several battles before enrolling in the Ōsaka Heigakuryō (military training school). He was commissioned in 1881, and, as bureau chief of the General Staff, he upgraded and modernized the army military system. While serving as president of the Army War College, Kodama toured Europe in 1891 to observe Western methods of military training. In 1892 he became vice-minister of war, and in 1898 he was appointed governor-general of Taiwan.

In the fourth cabinet of Itō Hirobumi (1900–01) Kodama served as minister of war. Under Prime Minister Katsura Tarō he retained that position, also serving concurrently as minister of interior and minister of education. During the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05) he was chief of staff for the Japanese forces in Manchuria, and in the following year he became chief of the General Staff.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.