Kamimura, Hikonojo, Baron Kamimura (1849–
1916) Japanese admiral
Born in Satsuma Prefecture (later Kagoshima Prefec-
ture), Japan, Hikonojo Kamimura joined the navy in
1871 and, after eight years in the naval academy, was
commissioned an ensign in 1879, rising to the rank of
commander in the last years of the 19th century. He
commanded a series of ships in the First Sino-Japanese
War against China (1893–94) and fought at the Battle
of the Yalu River (17 September 1894) with distinc-
tion. In 1898, he was named as captain of the cruiser
Akitsushima, and he served in the Second Sino-Japa-
nese War (1898–99). In 1899, he was advanced to the
rank of rear admiral, and four years later, he was named
as the head of the Educational Bureau of the Japanese
Navy.
In the Russo-Japanese War against Russia (1904–
05), Kamimura commanded the second Japanese squad-
ron, serving directly under Admiral Heihachiro togo.
His main task was to blockade and contain the ships of
the Russian fleet at Vladivostok so they could not leave
to attack the main Japanese forces entering the area;
however, the Russian ships slipped out under his watch
and easily defeated the Japanese in a series of battles in
the Sea of Japan in April and June 1904. This brought
about calls for Kamimura’s resignation from inside Japan.
In his official report to the Japanese government on the

initial Japanese attack on Vladivostok on 6 March 1904,

Kamimura wrote a cold narrative:

As pre-arranged, the squadron reached the east-

ern entrance of Vladivostok on the morning of

March 6, after passing through the frozen sea.

The enemy’s ships were not seen in the outside

harbor, and the Japanese vessels approached the

batteries on the north-east coast from a point

beyond the range of the batteries of the Balzan

Promontory and the Bosphorous Strait.

After bombarding the inner harbor for forty

minutes from ten minutes to two, the Japanese

squadron retired. It is believed that the bom-

bardment effected considerable damage. Soldiers

were seen on land, but the Russian batteries did

not reply to the Japanese fire.

Black smoke was observed in the eastern

entrance about five in the afternoon, and was

thought to be from the enemy’s ships, but the

smoke gradually disappeared. On the morning of

the 7th inst. the Japanese squadron reconnoitred

America Bay and Strelok Bay, but nothing un-

usual was seen. The warships again approached

the eastern entrance of Vladivostok at noon, but

the enemy’s ships were not visible, and the bat-

teries did not fire.

K