Major Fukushima Yasumasa and His Influence on the Japanese Perception of Poland at the Tum of the Century

M ajorFukushimaYasumasa(1852-1919)wasoneofJapan's mostbrilliantmilitaryofficersoftheMeijiera(1868-

1912).Heisanimportantpersonagenotonlyforsomeonelike thepresentauthor,whoisresearchingthehistoryofPolishJapaneserelations,butalsoforanystudentofJapan'smodem history.FukushimawasthefirstrepresentativeofthenewJapan totravelacrossPolishterritorywithhislonelyhorserideacross twocontinentsandtobecomeacquaintedwiththehistoryof PolandandtogetintouchwithsomePoles-unofficially, becausePolandstilldidnotexistasacountry.Heprovidedthe JapanesearmywithvaluableinformationonEuropeandRussia andmadePolandanditstragichistoryknowninMeijiJapan. 1

BornastheeldestsonofFukushimaYasuhiro,asamuraifrom theMatsumotohaninShinanoprovince,hewaseducatedfrom hisyoungestyearsasasoldierofthenew,modemera.He studiednotonlytacticsfromaDutchinEdobutalso,afterthe restorationofpowertoEmperorMutsuhito(1852-1912),atthe Kaiseischool[Kaiseigakko].ZAfterspendingayearinthe MinistryofJusticeasatranslatorin1874hewastransferredto theArmyMinistryandin1878tothenewlyestablishedGeneral Staff.HevisitedtheUnitedStates,Mongolia,China,Koreaand India.In1887hewaspromotedtotherankofmajorand appointedasamilitaryattacheinBerlin.Thereasonwasthatthe

GeneralStaffhaddecidedtostudythestrategiesofstrong Europeancountries.BythisappointmentFukushimabecamethe firstintelligenceagentofthemodemJapanesearmyactingin Europe.Speakingfiveforeignlanguagesfluendy,hemade friendswithmanyforeigners,includingPoles.Hiscontactswith thelatterwereprobablyespeciallyfrequentashecouldget valuableinformationfromthemconcerningRussia.