Viscount was a Japanese general in the Imperial Japanese Army and a government minister during the Meiji period. He was instrumental in establishing the modern Imperial Japanese military. Early life Kodama was born on March 16, 1852, in Tokuyama, Tsuno, Suō Province, the first son of the samurai Kodama Hankurō. His father was a mid-ranking samurai with a 100 koku landholding. At the time, the Kodama family had two daughters, Hisako and then Nobuko, and since Kodama was the first male member of the family, his birth was greatly appreciated by the whole family. When Kodama was born, his father, Hankurō, was at the house of his friend Shimada Mitsune, a scholar of Chinese poetry, who lived across the street and was enjoying poetry with four or five other people. When a family member hurriedly arrived to announce the birth of a son, Hankurō was overjoyed and rushed straight home to raise a toast. Military career Kodama began his military career by fighting in the Boshin War for the Meiji Restoration against the forces of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1868. He was appointed a non-commissioned officer on 2 June 1870, advanced to sergeant major on 10 December, and promoted to warrant officer on 15 April 1871. He was commissioned a second lieutenant on 6 August and promoted to lieutenant on 21 September. He was promoted to captain on 25 July 1872 and to major on 19 October 1874. As a soldier in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army, he saw combat during the suppression of the Satsuma Rebellion. He later enrolled in the Osaka Heigakuryo (大阪兵学寮) Military Training School). Successive and rapid promotions followed: lieutenant-colonel on 30 April 1880, colonel on 6 February 1883, and major-general on 24 August 1889. Kodama was appointed head of the Army Staff College, where he worked with German Major Jakob Meckel to reorganize the modern Japanese military after the Prussian military. Kodama went on to study military science as a military attaché to Germany. After his return to Japan, he was appointed Vice-minister of War in 1892. After his service in the Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), Kodama became Governor-General of Taiwan. During his tenure, he did much to improve on the infrastructure of Taiwan and to alleviate the living conditions of the inhabitants. He was promoted to lieutenant general on 14 October 1896. Having proved himself an excellent administrator, Kodama spent the following decade serving as