Katsu Kaishū military branch navy
Count Katsu Yasuyoshi (勝 安芳, born Katsu Yoshikuni (勝 義邦); March 12, 1823 – January 21, 1899), best known by his nickname Katsu Kaishū (勝 海舟), was a Japanese statesman and naval engineer during the late Tokugawa shogunate and early Meiji period. Kaishū was a nickname which he took from a piece of calligraphy (Kaishū Shooku 海舟書屋) by Sakuma Shōzan. He went through a series of given names throughout his life; his childhood name was Rintarō (麟太郎). He was often called Awa (安房) from his ceremonial title Awa-no-kami (安房守) during the late Tokugawa shogunate and later changed his name to Yasuyoshi after the Meiji Restoration.
Katsu Kaishū eventually rose to occupy the position of commissioner (Gunkan-bugyō) in the Tokugawa navy. He is particularly known for his role in the surrender of Edo.Early life
Born Katsu Yoshikuni on March 12, 1823, in Edo to a low-ranking retainer of the Tokugawa shōgun. His father, Katsu Kokichi, the subject of the autobiography, Musui's Story, was the ill-behaved head of a minor samurai family. As a youth whose given childhood name as Katsu Rintarō (Kaishu was a pseudonym), he studied Dutch and European military science, and was eventually appointed translator by the government when European powers attempted to open contact with Japan. Katsu developed the reputation as an expert in western military technology.
Under the advice of Dutch naval officers, Katsu served as head naval cadet at the Nagasaki Naval Academy between 1855 and 1859.
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