18 Facts About Shigeyoshi Inoue

Shigeyoshi Inoue was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.

Shigeyoshi Inoue was commander of the Japanese 4th Fleet and later served as Vice-Minister of the Navy.

Shigeyoshi Inoue was born on December 9,1889, in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, the eleventh son of a vineyard owner and former samurai retainer Kanori Inoue.

Shigeyoshi Inoue attended the 37th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, graduating second out of a class of 179 cadets in 1909.

Shigeyoshi Inoue stayed with Soya on its cruise the following year to Manila, Ambon, Townsville, Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, Melbourne, Fremantle, Batavia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Makung, and Keelung.

Shigeyoshi Inoue was promoted to lieutenant at the end of 1915, and transferred to the battleship Fuso.

Shigeyoshi Inoue remained in staff positions for the next several years, including an appointment as naval attache to Italy from 1927 to 1929, after which he was promoted to captain.

On November 15,1933, Shigeyoshi Inoue was given command of Hiei.

Shigeyoshi Inoue was a protege of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, and was strongly opposed to the Tripartite Pact with Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.

Shigeyoshi Inoue was a leader of the "leftist clique" within the Japanese military, which opposed Japan's increasing trend towards fascism and overseas expansionism.

Shigeyoshi Inoue was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun in 1940.

In 1940, Shigeyoshi Inoue became commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy Aviation Bureau, and submitted his thesis for a radical restructuring of the Imperial Japanese Navy to Naval Minister Koshiro Oikawa early in 1941.

Shigeyoshi Inoue was highly critical of the Navy's shipbuilding programme, with its emphasis on battleships over aircraft carriers.

Shigeyoshi Inoue was given command of the IJN Fourth Fleet later the same year, based out of Truk.

Shigeyoshi Inoue was thus in command of Japanese naval forces during the Battle of Guam and Battle of Wake Island.

Shigeyoshi Inoue subsequently relocated his headquarters to Rabaul for Operation Mo, intended to occupy Port Moresby.

Shigeyoshi Inoue became Vice Minister of the Navy in the closing stages of World War II, was promoted to full admiral on May 15,1945, and officially retired on October 15 of the same year.

Shigeyoshi Inoue's grave is at Tama Cemetery in Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan.