Background
Yoshimasa Oshima was born in 1850 in Nagato, Yamaguchi, Japan.
大島 義昌
Yoshimasa Oshima was born in 1850 in Nagato, Yamaguchi, Japan.
He studied at the clan's school and entered the Osaka Military Academy (1870).
He was commissioned a probationary sublieutenant in 1871. In the 1877 civil war (Takamori Saigo's rebellion), he was a battalion commander. He commanded a brigade of the Fifth Division (1894) which was sent to Korea on the occasion of an internal trouble in that country, which led to the Sino-Japanese War ( 1894-1895).
After the war, he was appointed commander of the Third Division. He took part in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) and was made a full general. He served afterward as Governor of Kwantung Leased Territory and was appointed a member of the Military Council in 1907.
He was created a Baron after the Sino-Japanese War and a Viscount after the Russo-Japanese War.
