Prince Hiroyasu entered the
Imperial Japanese Naval Academy on 5 April 1886, but resigned in September 1889 and moved to
Germany. He enrolled in the Naval Academy of the
Kaiserliche Marine on 8 April 1892. Promoted to midshipman (
Fähnrich zur See) on March 30, 1893 and to ensign (
Oberfähnrich zur See) on April 20, 1894, he graduated from the academy on 15 August 1895 and returned to service in the IJN. He spoke fluent
German. He then served aboard the cruisers
Itsukushima and
Matsushima. On December 1, 1897, he was promoted to sub-lieutenant and assigned to the battleship
Fuji, receiving a promotion to lieutenant on December 27. Promoted to
lieutenant-commander on July 29, 1903, he served in the
Russo-Japanese War (1904–05), and sustained wounds aboard the
battleship Mikasa in the
Battle of the Yellow Sea (August 1904). He later served as
executive officer on the cruiser
Niitaka, the battleship
Okinoshima, and cruisers
Naniwa and
Nisshin. He was awarded the
Order of the Golden Kite, 4th class, for his services in the Russo-Japanese War, and was promoted to commander on September 28, 1906. He studied in
Great Britain from 1907 to 1910 and upon his return to Japan was promoted to captain on December 1, 1910. He commanded the
cruiser Takachiho (1910), and later the
Asahi and the
battlecruiser Ibuki. Promoted to
rear admiral on August 31, 1913, he rose to
vice admiral on December 1, 1916 and to full
admiral on December 1, 1922. He was a member of the
Supreme War Council from 1920 onward. He was a strong supporter of the
Fleet Faction within the Navy, pushing for the cancellation of the
Washington Naval Agreement and the building of a more powerful navy. Prince Hiroyasu succeeded his father as the twenty-third head of the house of Fushimi in 1923. He was appointed commander of the
Sasebo Naval District in 1924. Admiral Prince Fushimi became the chief of the
Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff on February 2, 1932, replacing Admiral
Abo Kiyokazu, and held the post until April 9, 1941. Prince Fushimi received the largely honorary rank of
marshal admiral on May 27, 1932, and the Collar of the Supreme
Order of the Chrysanthemum in 1934. While he was Chief of Staff of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the
Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service used
strategic bombing against Chinese cities including
Shanghai and
Chongqing. The bombing of
Nanjing and
Guangzhou, which began on September 22–23, 1937, resulted in widespread international condemnation of Japan and a resolution against Japan by the Far Eastern Advisory Committee of the
League of Nations. As Chief of Staff, he supported the "
southward advance" into northern
French Indochina and the
Dutch East Indies. In 1945, the Americans listed Hiroyasu as a major war criminal suspect. Although he was reported dead in the War Crimes Office list, he was alive but sick. == Honours ==