Background
Shima Yoshitake was born on September 12, 1822 in Saga, Japan. His family served the Nabeshima family which ruled Saga Province.
島 義勇
Shima Yoshitake was born on September 12, 1822 in Saga, Japan. His family served the Nabeshima family which ruled Saga Province.
He studied under Issai Sato in Tokyo and Toko Fujita in Mito.
During the Ansei Era (1854-1859) Shima inspected Hokkaido and Sakhalin as a follower of Toshihiro Hori. He was appointed naval commander of the Saga Clan in 1868, then served in the Imperial army which fought Shogunate forces in northern Japan and became an administrator of Tokyo immediately following its fall to the Imperial forces.
In 1869, Naomasa Nabeshima, his lord, was appointed director general of the Ноkkaido Development Board and Yoshitake accompanied him to Hokkaido. He resigned from the board because of his disagreement with Director General Michiyoshi Higashikuze, became a chamberlain and then governor of Akita Prefecture.
A very conservative person, Shima disagreed with many progressive government officials and returned to Saga in 1874. There he was made the head of the Yukokuto Party which called for an expedition to Korea. Together with Shimpei Eto, he rebelled against the government. The rebellion was soon brought under control and he fled to Kagoshima, where he was arrested. Shima was brought back to Saga and decapitated.
