Takeo Hirose

Takeo Hirose (Japanese: 広瀬武夫), (May 27, 1868 – March 27, 1904) was an officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy. His selfless sacrifice during the Russo-Japanese War elevated him to the status of a deified national hero.

Born in what is now Taketa, Ōita, his father Shigetake was a judge, while his elder brother Katsuhiko was a rear admiral. He studied at the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in Etajima, graduating in 1889. He served aboard the ironclad warship Fusō during the First Sino-Japanese War and saw action at the Battle of Yalu River on September 17, 1894. From 1897 to 1899 he was sent to study in Russia and stayed on as the resident military attaché in St. Petersburg until 1902. During his time as attaché he went on a tour of Germany, France and Great Britain. He was promoted to lieutenant commander in 1900.

When Japan went to war against Russia in the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, Hirose served aboard the battleship Asahi as torpedo officer. However, during the Battle of Port Arthur he became the commander of the Fukuimaru which was used as a blockship during the second attempt to blockade the harbor. On March 27, while searching for his missing subordinate he was fatally shot.

Because of his heroism, he was posthumously promoted to commander, and deified as a "military god" (軍神 gunshin), and a Shinto shrine was built in his honor in Taketa, Oita. A statue of him was also erected outside the Manseibashi Railway Station.