A career army officer, Prince Sadanaru entered the military academy in 1873 and fought as a lieutenant in the
Satsuma Rebellion. Promoted to captain in 1878, he studied
military tactics at the
École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr in
France and later in
Germany in the 1870s. Upon his return to Japan, he was promoted to major in 1881 and advocated the establishment of a Japanese version of an army
General Staff based on the
Prussian model. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1884, colonel in 1887 and to
major general in 1889. He was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum in 1886. Major General Prince Fushimi Sadanaru served as a field commander in the
First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), commanding the
IJA 4th Division, and landing with his forces in the
Liaodong Peninsula,
China in 1894. He subsequently participated in the 1895
Japanese invasion of Taiwan. He represented
Emperor Meiji at the
coronation of
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia on May 26, 1896. In 1898, he was promoted to
lieutenant general and assigned command of the
Himeji-based
IJA 10th Division. In 1901, he became commander of the
IJA 1st Division. In 1904, with the start of the
Russo-Japanese War he again landed with his forces in the Liaodong Peninsula. In June, he was promoted to full
general, and recalled to Japan to serve on the
Supreme War Council, before being sent by Emperor Meiji on a diplomatic mission to the
United States. After the conclusion of the
Treaty of Portsmouth, he was sent to England again on a mission of thanks from the Japanese government for British advice and assistance during the war. During this mission, he also stopped in
Honolulu for a visit with the Japanese community there. In 1909, he was again sent on a diplomatic mission, this time to China. Prince Fushimi also represented Japan at the
state funeral of Great Britain's King
Edward VII May 20, 1910. He met with the new
King George V at
Buckingham Palace. Prince Fushimi was a close advisor to then-
Crown Prince Yoshihito (later
Emperor Taishō). After the death of Emperor Meiji in 1912, he served as
Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan from 1912 to 1915, thus becoming the only imperial prince to have served in that office. He was promoted to the largely ceremonial rank of
field marshal in 1915, and awarded the Grand Collar of the Supreme
Order of the Chrysanthemum in 1916. ==Death==