[Kiten; Count]. Japanese general, born in Choshu. He commanded a brigade at the battle of Kinchow (1894) and the subsequent capture of Port Arthur from the Chinese; but the most memorable events of his career were the siege of Port Arthur by the third army corps of Japan under his command in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–5), and the great flanking march made by the same army in the battle of Mukden. After the campaign of 1904–5 he was decorated with the Imperial Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia and the first-class Military Order of the Golden Kite, in recognition of his distinguished services. He and Countess Nogi committed suicide on the 13th of September 1912, when the state funeral of the Emperor Mutsu Hito was taking place, in sign of their devotion to their imperial master.
