Sonnō jōi
Yashiro was born in Gakuden Village, Owari Province (present-day Inuyama, Aichi), as the third son of a village headman, Matsuyama Shoichi. The Matsuyama claimed descent from a retainer of the medieval pro-Imperial hero Kusunoki Masashige, and as a youth Yashiro joined a cadet movement of pro-Sonnō jōi militia of Owari Domain and despite his young age, fought in the Boshin War. He was adopted in 1868 by Yashiro Ippei, a samurai retainer of Mito Domain, whose surname he took. His adopted father saw that he was enrolled in the han school and subsequently