Akashi Motojiro Baron was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and the 7th Governor - General of Taiwan from 6 June 1918 to 26 October 1919 . Early life and career . A native of Fukuoka and a graduate of the 1889 class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy , Akashi was nominally under the Imperial Guard Division attached to the staff of General Kawakami Sōroku during the First Sino - Japanese War . His primary duty was information gathering , and in that capacity he traveled extensively around the Liaodong Peninsula and northern China , Taiwan and Annam . Towards the end of the war , he was promoted to major . After the Sino - Japanese War , he was dispatched as a military observer to the Philippines during the Spanish - American War , and during the Boxer Rebellion , he was stationed out of Tianjin in northern China . Around this time , he was promoted to lieutenant colonel . A Spy during the Russo - Japanese War . Akashi was sent as an itinerant military attaché in Europe at the end of 1900 , visiting Germany , Switzerland , Sweden , staying in France in 1901 , and moving to Saint Petersburg , Russia in 1902 . As a member of the Japanese Secret Intelligence Services , Akashi was involved in setting up an intricate espionage network in all major European cities , using specially trained operatives under various covers , members of locally - based Japanese merchants and workers , and local people either sympathetic to Japan , or willing to be cooperative for a price . In the period of growing tensions before the outbreak of the Russo - Japanese War , Akashi had a discretionary budget of 1 million yen ( an incredible sum of money in contemporary terms ) to gather information on Russian troop movements and naval developments . While based at Saint Petersburg , he recruited the famous spy Sidney Reilly and sent him to Port Arthur , to gather information from within the Russian stronghold on its defenses . After the start of the war , he used his contacts and network to seek out and to provide monetary and weaponry support to revolutionary forces attempting to overthrow the Romanov dynasty . Akashi was also known for his talents as a poet and as a painter , interests that he shared with fellow spy and close friend General Fukushima Yasumasa . It was also a shared interest in poetry and painting that enabled him to cultivate Sidney Reilly into working for the Japanese . Narrowly escaping capture and assassination by the Ochrana several times even before the start of the war , Akashi relocated to Helsinki in late 1904 , although he traveled extensively to Stockholm , Warsaw , Geneva , Lisbon , Paris , Rome , Copenhagen , Zurich and even Irkutsk . Akashi helped funnel funds and arms to selected groups of Russian anarchists , the secessionists in Finland and Poland , and disaffected Moslem groups in the Crimea and Russian Turkestan . Akashi is also known to have met with Konni Zilliacus in Stockholm and Lenin , then in exile in Switzerland . It is widely believed in Japan that Akashi was behind the assassination of Russian Interior Minister Vyacheslav von Plehve ( whom many in Japan held responsible for the war ) , the Bloody Sunday Uprising and the Potemkin Mutiny . General Yamagata Aritomo reported to Emperor Meiji that Colonel Akashi was worth " more than 10 divisions of troops in Manchuria " towards Japan winning the war . Akashi was promoted to colonel at age 40 . Korea under Japanese rule . In 1905 , just prior to the end of the war , he was recalled to Japan , divorced his wife , remarried , and joined the ground forces in Korea as a major general in charge of the 14th Infantry Division Although Akashi is known to have received support from his close contacts within the Kokuryukai secret society , and although he certainly shared in many of their political goals , his name does not appear on their membership lists and it is mostly likely that he was never actually a member . After the war , he remained in Korea with General Terauchi Masatake , where he organized the military police organization . He was promoted to lieutenant general at the age of 49 . As Governor - General of Taiwan . In 1918 , Akashi was promoted to general and appointed by Prime Minister Terauchi as the Governor - General of Taiwan . He also received the title of " danshaku " ( baron ) under the " kazoku " peerage system . During his brief tenure , Akashi devoted significant efforts to improving the infrastructure and economy of Taiwan , and is especially remembered for his electrification projects and the creation of the Taiwan Power Company , and for planning the Sun Moon Lake hydroelectric power plant . The " lake " was originally a swamp . Akashi built concrete pipes to introduce water from the nearby Muddy Water River , and built a huge dam with water siphoned from the river . Akashi ' s greatest contribution to Taiwan , however , was the construction of " Ka - Nan Irrigation System , " which totals long , several times the length of China ' s " Great Wall . " It cost the Taiwan government at that time more than one year ' s budget . The Japanese Imperial Diet , had to pass a special law for the extra appropriation of 26 million yen in 1918 , equivalent to roughly 2 billion today ' s U . S . dollars , which was a big burden on Japan ' s finance at that time , although it would be impossible to build such a dam today with the relatively paltry 2 billion U . S . dollars . Death and burial . Akashi fell ill and died a little over a year after taking office while visiting his home in Fukuoka becoming the only Governor - General of Taiwan to die in office . In his will , Akashi expressed his desire to be buried in Taiwan to " serve as a national guardian , and a guardian spirit for the people of Taiwan " . Akashi was buried at a cemetery in Taihoku ( modern day Taipei City ) , becoming the only Japanese Governor - General to be buried in Taiwan . The Taiwanese donated money equivalent to roughly three million modern - day U . S . dollars for construction of a memorial , and support fund for his family , because Akashi himself was too clean to leave anything behind . His remains were exhumed in 1999 and re - interred at the Fuyin Mountain Christian Cemetery in Sanzhi Township , Taipei County ( now New Taipei City ) . Akashi ' s death has spawned a massive number of conspiracy theories . The flamboyant exploits ( both real and imagined ) of " Colonel Akashi " have been the subject of countless novels , manga , movies and documentary programs in Japan , where he has been dubbed the " Japanese James Bond " .