Gensui Prince Yamagata Aritomo also known as Prince Yamagata Kyōsuke, was a Japanese statesman and military commander who was twice-elected Prime Minister of Japan, and a leading member of the genrō, an élite group of senior statesmen who dominated Japanese politics after the Meiji Restoration. As the Imperial Japanese Army's inaugural Chief of Staff, he was the chief architect of the Empire of Japan's military and its reactionary ideology. For this reason, some historians consider Yamagata to be the “father” of Japanese militarism.
Yamagata Aritomo
Yamagata in his early years
Field Marshal Yamagata (c.1898).
Yamagata during his years as Prime Minister
Gensui (Imperial Japanese Army)
Rikugun-gensui , formal rank designations: Gensui-rikugun-taishō was the highest title in the pre-war Imperial Japanese military.
Image: Takamori Saigo
Image: Prince Komatsu Akihito
Image: Yamagata Aritomo
Image: Iwao Oyama 2 (cropped)