Yamamoto Shinjiro

was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy. He is known for being one of the highest ranking Catholic officials in the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces, and for his missionary work in the Japanese-controlled South Seas Mandate, now Palau, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands. He was also made a Knight of Malta in 1936.

Personal life His father was Shōtarō Yamamoto, who died in 1923. a fellow catholic and daughter of a wealthy banker. Together they had three sons and two daughters. One of his sons, Hitoshi, died in battle in Nomonhan in 1939, during the Battle of Khalkhin Gol. His daughter, Takeko, became a catholic nun. He had one adoptive daughter, Mume (born 1891). He was also a knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. He met Pope Leo XIII in 1902, Pope Pius X in 1908, Pope Benedict XV thrice in 1917, 1919, and 1921, and Pope Pius XI in 1932. The circumstances of the third meeting with Pope Benedict XV had Yamamoto accompany then Crown Prince Hirohito as a translator and French instructor.

Yamamoto served in the Boxer Rebellion, where he was most notably stationed aboard the cruiser Kasagi as an interpreter due to his proficiency in English and French. During the Russo-Japanese War, he served under Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō. He was present during the Siege of Port Arthur and captained the IJN Mikasa during the Battle of the Tsushima Straits. He received the surrender of the Russian Admiral Nikolai Nebogatov. In 1909, he graduated from the Naval War College, then being assigned as an aide-de-camp to Admiral Tōgō.

Following the outbreak of the First World War, Yamamoto became naval attaché to the Japanese Embassy in Rome. He was appointed as a representative to the signing of the Versailles Peace Treaty by Saionji Kinmochi.

He died on the 28th of February, 1942, in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, just under three months after the Attack on Pearl Harbour and the escalation of the Pacific War,

In media He was played by actor Seiji Hino in the 2009 Japanese war drama TV series Saka no ue no kumo (Clouds Above the Hill), based on the book of the same name by Ryōtarō Shiba.

Decorations

Order of the Golden Kite, 2nd Class Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd Class Order of Leopold, Officer Order of Saint Stanislaus, 3rd Class Knight of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great (military class)