Tōgō Nakagorō was born in Kagoshima, Satsuma Province on 27 January 1848. He was the third of four sons of Tōgō Kichizaemon Sanetomo and Hori Masuko. The Tōgō family was one of the noble samurai families who served the ruling Shimazu daimyō in Satsuma Province. As such, around 1861, Nakagorō changed his name to Heihachirō in a ceremony. During his service with Satsuma, he participated in the Anglo-Satsuma War and the Boshin War, mainly in naval operations.
During the period in which Japan was not at war, Heihachirō married Kaieda Tetsu. He had at least two sons and at least two daughters. His sons were Hyō, born on 28 February 1885, and Minoru, born on 10 September 1890. His second daughter was Yachiyo, who was born in October 1891. His first daughter died young.
Heihachirō was active as an officer for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the First Sino-Japanese War. He was then promoted to admiral for his service in the Russo-Japanese War. He confined the forces of the Russian Pacific fleet to Port Arthur before winning against a relieving force at Tsushima in May 1905. As a military hero of Japan in the early 20th century, Western journalists called Heihachirō "the Nelson of the East".
After the war, Heihachirō was ennobled in Japan's kazoku system as a count (hakushaku) on 21 September 1907. In 1913, he was promoted to fleet admiral, or gensui. From 1914 to 1924, he was in charge of the education of Crown Prince Hirohito. On 29 May 1934, one day before he died from throat cancer, Heihachirō was promoted to marquis (kōshaku). He received a state funeral, and he was promoted to the courtly rank of Junior First Rank.
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