NOTORIOUS BRAVO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15056, 27 July 1912, Page 2 (Supplement)

NOTORIOUS BRAVO.

ENGINEERED KOREAN ANNEXA-

TION.

MURDEROUS ROYAL FOX HUNT. Despatches received from Tokio, bring news of the deathat Shanghai of Okamoto Ryunosuke, a notorious swashbuckler and adventurer, who was mixed up with the aeuter stages of' the Far Eastern ' question in the last century.

; Born in Yedo in 1860 from a Samurai family, he obtained the surname of Okamoto by adoption. At an early age he entered the Shogun's Military Academy, and at twenty he was in command of an artillery battalion. Prince Katsura was one Of bis fellow-officers as captain of the Tokio Garrison Artillery.

Okamoto was cashiered for participation in the Takebashi rebellion. . Thenceforward ho transferred his activities to Korea and China, and spent most of his time in those countries, a soshi, or bravo and adventurer. ■ .

: The position of Korea was already taking shape as the political "bone of contention "in the Far East. . After th« first few years, however, it must be confessed that ; many of Okamoto's actions, reprehensible as they were, wore dictated by patriotism, if not by the direct instructions of the Tokio authorities. He and many like him simply formed a section of that vast corps of secret agente, often soshi and hooligans, which appears to have been a necessary adjunct of Far Eastern diplomacy in thoso days. _ In any case Okamoto obtained a most in- | timate knowledge of Korean conditions, and soon became a close, though unofficial, adviser to Count Mutsti> Baron Goto, and [Count Aoki. From the beginning he was lan ardent Jingo and annexationist. " : He was attached to tho Kuroda Mission, • which obtained compensation for firing on a Japanese vessel at Chemulpo. As a free j lance'* he was implicated in' th© coup d'etat j and butchery which finally resulted in the I expulsion of the Japanese troops from Seoul. ■ '».,,' "■■

■■'''.' Planned Queen's Murder. r Later he was a member of the.lnouy© Embassy, which brought order out of the chaos that incident aroused. As a reward for his services he was appointed Japanese Military Adviser to the Korean Government, 0,.', In this position he concocted with Viscount Mittra, the Japanese Minister*, and M. Sugimura, the First Secretary of the Legation, the- plot for th© assassination of the Queen of Korea, which was carried into effect on the night of; Oct. 8, 1895.. , • ,

, Okamoto actually contrived the ; raiee-on-scene of the tragedy, enlisting too actual murderers, procuring their, entrance to the .Palace, marshalling them for the, final assault, in the Palace yard, where he gave them the fox-hunting instructions, which have now 'passed' into history. Owing to the efforts of Bit- -Walter Hillier Ninia, • Sugimura, and Okamoto were arrested and confined in Hiroshima Prison; and eventually: brought to trial. • The court found that Okamoto had acted on the instructions '•_; of a superior : officer, whilst there was no Evidence "to connect Niura and Sugimura with the actual murder, although the court acknowledged that they -, had instigated and ■ arranged ;■; the crime. '" : '"" :

After this incident Okamoto retired somewhat into the background, though always in close, if invisible, touch with, the Gwaymmbo (P. 0.). In 1910 he had the Satisfaction of seeing the policy for'which he had from the beginning consistently fought carried into effect, and Korea was annexed. ' ' ': : He then framed his attentions towards China, and;from time to time his presence was repartee at places which for the moment were in the public eyo. Last year on the outbreak of the revolution he went to Shanghai and offered his services to Dr. Sun-yat-Sen. His sympathies and interests were generally supposed to 1 ; lie with the Imperialists, and in recent advices to Japan ;he is quoted as ', predicting a coun- ■ ter-revolution of far greater "■. importance and interest than the present trouble, • Okamoto possessed undoubted military ability ami diplomatic skill. He was probably one of the most important factors in the .. acute development of. the . Far . Eastern: question. ; It is declared,' and it would appear with some reason, that the China. War was his i direct inspiration. He was the draughtsman of the present Military Conscription Law of Japan, and, considering his record, curiously enoueh a champion of religion in. education. Himself a Buddhist fanatic, he was referred to by Count Aoki as "our priest' Statesman."