Akashi Motojiro

Akashi Motojiro was a high-ranking general in the Imperial Japanese Army. He also served as the 7th Governor-General of Taiwan. This means he was the top leader of the island from June 1918 to October 1919.

Akashi is famous for two very different careers. First, he was a highly skilled intelligence officer. He gathered secret information to help Japan during major wars. Later, he focused on building infrastructure and managing the economy of Taiwan. His life was so full of adventure that people in Japan often call him the "Japanese James Bond."

Akashi began his military career by graduating from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1889. During the First Sino-Japanese War, he worked under General Kawakami Sōroku. His main job was information gathering. He traveled through the Liaodong Peninsula, northern China, Taiwan, and Annam. He later served as a military observer in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. He was also stationed in Tianjin, China, during the Boxer Rebellion. These early roles helped him learn how to move through different countries and collect data.

As a member of the Japanese intelligence services, Akashi built an intricate espionage network in Europe. Espionage is the practice of gathering secret information about an enemy. Around the year 1900, he traveled through Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, and France. In 1902, he moved to Saint Petersburg, Russia. He used specially trained operatives, local merchants, and even local workers to gather secrets. He had a discretionary budget of 1 million yen. This was an incredible sum of money at that time. He used these funds to track Russian naval developments and troop movements.

During the Russo-Japanese War, Akashi's work became even more complex. He supported Russian extremist groups to help cause unrest within the Russian Empire. He provided money and weapons to groups attempting to overthrow the Romanov dynasty. He met with famous figures like Lenin, who was then in exile in Switzerland. Akashi also reportedly recruited the famous spy Sidney Reilly. He sent Reilly to Port Arthur to study the defenses of a Russian stronghold. Akashi narrowly escaped capture and assassination by the Okhrana, which was the Russian secret police. He spent much of his time moving between cities like Stockholm, Paris, and Rome to stay safe.

After the war, Akashi moved into different types of leadership. In 1905, he became a major general in command of the 14th Infantry Division in Korea. He later organized the military police there and was promoted to lieutenant general at age 49. In 1918, he reached the rank of general. He was appointed by Prime Minister Terauchi to lead Taiwan. He also received the title of danshaku, which is a type of nobility known as a baron. His time in Taiwan was focused on large-scale engineering and economic projects.

In Taiwan, Akashi worked to modernize the island's infrastructure. He focused heavily on electricity and water management. He helped create the Taiwan Power Company and planned the Sun Moon Lake hydroelectric power plant. To create this lake, engineers turned a swamp into a body of water using concrete pipes and a huge dam.

He also led the construction of the Ka-Nan irrigation system. This massive project cost 26 million yen in 1918. That amount was roughly equivalent to 2 billion modern-day U.S. dollars. This cost was so high that the Japanese government had to pass a special law to provide the extra money.

Akashi died in 1919 while visiting his home in Fukuoka. He was the only Governor-General of Taiwan to die while serving in office. Before he died, he wrote a will with a very specific request. He asked to be buried in Taiwan to serve as a "national guardian" for the people. Because of this, he was buried at the Sanbanqiao cemetery in Taihoku, which is now Taipei City. He remains the only Japanese Governor-General buried in Taiwan. The people of Taiwan donated about three million modern-day U.S. dollars to build a memorial for him. His remains were later moved to a different cemetery in 1999.