Background
He was the second son of Sone Nao (曾根 直), and his patrilineality root was the Kai-Genji clan (甲斐源氏). Nakane was born in Edo (江戸), and was adopted and brought up by the Nakane-House (中根) from childhood.
中根 香亭
He was the second son of Sone Nao (曾根 直), and his patrilineality root was the Kai-Genji clan (甲斐源氏). Nakane was born in Edo (江戸), and was adopted and brought up by the Nakane-House (中根) from childhood.
Writing under the pen name of Kōtei, his given name was Kiyoshi (淑). Nakane liked Japanese martial arts and read many books, however he had no formal teacher. Military service Nakane served Edo Bakufu as a kachi-metsuke (徒士目), an infantry officer, and became an infantry commandant in the last days of the Edo period.
After the Meiji Restoration, Nakane followed Tokugawa Yoshinobu to Suruga (駿河, now Shizuoka prefecture), and worked there at the Numazu Military Academy (沼津兵学校).
In 1873, Nakane was called to the Staff Bureau of Military (陸軍参謀局), and served as a major. In the winter of 1876, he contracted a disease, and became incapable of performing any further physical hard labour.
Due to this he resigned his post, and lived in Tokyo for the next five or six years. He was eventually appointed as a sonin-hensankan (奏任編纂官), or "compilation government service" in the Ministry of Education, but resigned several years later.
At this point Nakane"s life in the public services had ended, and he thereafter followed his literary pursuits.
Literature Death Nakane never remarried, gave up his house, and roamed from place to place. In his last days, he lived in Okotsu (興津), Shizuoka. Nakane died in 1913 at 75 years of age, and his ashes were scattered as requested in his will.