Uryū Sotokichi

Baron was an early admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy, active in the Russo-Japanese War, most notably at the Battle of Chemulpo Bay and the Battle of Tsushima. His name has sometimes been transliterated as "Uriu Sotokichi", or "Uriu Sotokitchi", a transliteration of older kana spelling. The spelling is different by current accepted methods of transliteration, but the pronunciation is the same as the modern spelling for . He was a lifelong proponent of better ties with the United States.

Biography Uryū was the second son of a samurai in service of Daishōji Domain (present day Daishōji in Ishikawa prefecture). He attended a mission school in Tsukiji, Tokyo and was converted to Protestantism in 1874. He became one of the first cadets of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy but did not graduate; instead, he was then sent to the US Naval Academy in Annapolis on 9 June 1875, returning on 2 October 1881

Commissioned as a lieutenant, Uryū served aboard various ships throughout the 1880s, including the corvette , the ironclad , and the sloop . On 23 July 1891, he assumed his first command: the gunboat .

Appointed commander of the Yokosuka Naval District on 1 December 1909, Uryū was made a full admiral on 16 October 1912. He was the official representative from Japan at the opening ceremonies for the Panama Canal in 1914. From 1922 to 1925, he served on the House of Peers in the Diet of Japan. He entered the reserve list in 1927, and died in 1937.

His grave is at Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo.

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