Great Britain from 1907 to 1910 and upon his return to Japan was promoted to captain on December 1, 1910. He commanded the cruiser Takachiho (1910), and later the Asahi and the battlecruiser Ibuki. Promoted to rear admiral on August 31, 1913, he rose to vice admiral on December 1, 1916 and to full admiral on December 1, 1922. He was a member of the Supreme War Council from 1920 onward. He was a strong supporter of the Fleet Faction within the Navy, pushing for cancellation of the Washington Naval Agreement and the building of a more powerful navy. Prince Hiroyasu succeeded his father as the twenty-third head of the house of Fushimi in 1923. He was appointed commander of the Sasebo Naval District in 1924. Admiral Prince Fushimi became the chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff on February 2, 1932, replacing Admiral Abo Kiyokazu, and held the post to April 9, 1941. Prince Fushimi received the largely honorary rank of marshal admiral on May 27, 1932, and the Collar of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum in 1934. While he was Chief of Staff of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service used strategic bombing against Chinese cities including Shanghai and Chongqing. The bombing of Nanjing and Guangzhou, which began on September 22–23, 1937, resulted in widespread international condemnation of Japan and a resolution against Japan by the Far Eastern Advisory Committee of the League of Nations. As Chief of Staff, he supported the "southward advance" into northern French Indochina and the Dutch East Indies, but expressed reservations about the Tripartite Pact during the September 19, 1940, Imperial Conference. Hiroyasu Fushimi was awarded the Order of the Golden Kite, 1st class, in 1942. He remained a member of the Supreme War Council throughout the Pacific War, but officially retired from the active list in 1945. After the war, Fushimi was the honorary president of the Imperial Life Boat Association, the Japan Seamen's Relief Association, the Cancer Research Society, the Naval Club, the Japan-German Society, and the Scientific and Chemical Research Institute. Like all members of the Imperial family involved in the conduct of the war, Prince Fushimi was exonerated from criminal prosecutions before the Tokyo tribunal by Douglas MacArthur. He died in Tokyo shortly after the end of World War II on August 16, 1946. Honours He received the following orders and decorations: Gallery