Background
Masanori Onodera was born in Edo (now Tokyo, Japan).
Masanori Onodera was born in Edo (now Tokyo, Japan).
Learned artillery and strategy in youth and became an infantry instructor.
After participating in the Fushimi Battle against Imperial forces in Kyoto, he fled to northern Japan together with other Shogunate military leaders including Takeaki Enomoto. After they were defeated at Wakamatsu (Fukushima Prefecture), he was set free by special consideration.
He went to the United States where he studied paper manufacturing. Returning to Japan (1875), he started the Oji Paper Manufacturing Companywith Eiichi Shibusawa.