 As a young samurai, he joined the clan’s Seigitai militia and fought in the Boshin War during the Meiji Restoration against the Tokugawa shogunate.He joined the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army in May 1871, serving as a battalion commander, and from September 1874 on the staff of the Imperial Guards.After graduating from the predecessor of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in September 1875, he was assigned to the Hiroshima Garrison’s 12th Infantry Regiment as a battalion commander and was promoted to major in July 1876.