Katase Megumi

Katase Megumi (片瀬 恵美, April 30, 1874 – January 23, 1967) was a naval officer in the Yamatai Imperial Navy who served as the Governor-General of Kita-Imoshima from 1925 to 1930, the Imperial Grand Marshal of Yamatai from 1932 to 1936, and then as the Grand Admiral of the Imperial Navy from 1936 to 1941. She is considered a war hero in Yamatai for her actions in the First Escar-Varunan War, but is also considered a controversial historical figure.

Military Service
Born in 1874 in Yokoyama, Katase joined the Imperial Navy in 1893, and trained as a naval officer at Mitakishima Naval Academy. Rapidly rising through the ranks, in 1908 Katase received her first command, the destroyer Yonokaze. During the First Escar-Varunan War, she was in command of the battleship Akitsukuni during the Battle of Hokkai, the decisive engagement where the Imperial Navy defeated the Chiseian Royal Navy. During the battle, Katase took the initiative after the death of Vice-Admiral Ikeda Eiji, and took command of the 1st Attack Squadron to, routing the Royal Navy's main line. Her actions and command during the battle earned her a hero's welcome in Yamatai, becoming a household name and a celebrated historical figure to the modern day. She was also promoted to Vice-Admiral in 1922, and she was placed in command of the Crosswind Sea Fleet in 1923, just prior to the end of the war.

On the recommendation of the Imperial Grand Marshal Yokota Hidenori, Katase was appointed the Governor-General of Kita-Imoshima in 1925. Katase was part of a faction of outspoken proponents of a war against Chisei, and was involved in the development of Operation Ōka, the plan for a full-scale invasion of Chisei. She was later appointed by Empress Kikuko as the Imperial Grand Marshal in 1930. During her tenure as Imperial Grand Marshal, Katase oversaw a further military build-up to match Chisei's ongoing military expansion, as well as to secretly prepare for the planned 1940 invasion of Chisei. On the diplomatic front, Katase also reached out to the Kingdom of Kuiju, building on existing diplomatic ties and bringing both nations closer. Katase's term also saw the controversial and short reign of the pacifistic Empress Hinata, who granted the Imperial Grand Marshal a large amount of power before abdicating in 1935, granting the throne to her daughter Empress Kiyono.

Second Escar-Varunan War
In 1936, Katase's term as Imperial Grand Marshal ended and Tsukiyama Tomoko was appointed to the position by Empress Kiyono. Katase briefly became the commander of the Mitakishima Naval Academy for two months before becoming the Grand Admiral of the Imperial Navy in April 1937. Despite plans for the Chiseian Operation Hiyari having been captured during the Nakanogō Incident in 1936, Katase was part of the large faction in the senior national leadership that complacently believed Chisei did not have the will or means to attack Yamatai in 1937, especially after the supposed attack date passed without incident. In reality, the attack date had been pushed back due to logistical difficulties, and on July 1937 the Second Escar-Varunan War commenced.

A disciple of the Decisive Battle doctrine, during the opening stages of the war Katase set the Imperial Navy on a general strategy of whittling down and separating the Royal Navy, keeping her most powerful forces in reserve for the Decisive Battle. The Imperial Navy attained naval superiority during the first few years of the war, though it is generally agreed by historians that Katase and her command team's strict adherence to the Decisive Battle doctrine led the Imperial Navy to avoid costly confrontations that caused them to miss several crucial chances at eliminating key Royal Navy forces that would return to haunt them later in the war.

Katase's life took a turn in 1941 when she was severely injured in a terrorist bomb attack while she was in Wanshu. The Governor-General of Chisei, Field Marshal Yamori Kenta, immediately ordered the Wanshu Kenpeitai to hunt down the rebels responsible and carry out mass reprisal attacks against known resistance groups and criminal gangs, a task which was carried out by Lieutenant-General Okabe Nariakira. Fukunaga Toshiaki took over as the Grand Admiral of the Imperial Navy. Katase was permanently paralysed from the waist down due to injuries to her spine, but she refused to retire and was sent to be an instructor at the Mitakishima Naval Academy, the only time in Yamataian history where there were multiple Grand Admirals simultaneously in the Imperial Navy. In 1943, she was finally discharged from the Imperial Navy with full honours at the insistence of Empress Kiyono.

Post-Navy, retirement, and death
After her discharge from the Navy, Katase became a special advisor to Empress Kiyono, and was firmly in support of continuing the war until total defeat. During the Kōkyo Incident in 1944, the coup leaders led by Inaba Youji locked Katase in her office to prevent her interference while they met with Empress Kiyono to attain her approval for a ceasefire with the Escaric Allies. The next day on 15 July, the Treaty of Senbonzakura was signed, enacting a ceasefire with the Escaric Allies. Katase resigned from her position three days later.

Following her retirement, Katase returned to her family estate in her hometown of Yokoyama. She wrote several books on naval strategy, military leadership, and various right-wing political theories. She largely remained in her family estate in Yokoyama due to her paralysis, though undertook several tours across the country as part of Imperial Grand Marshal Tominaga Hiroshi's propaganda efforts to raise national morale. Katase was a vocal opponent of Okabe Nariakira, chastising his pro-reconciliation policies with Chisei and his increasing introduction of civilian rule into the government. As she grew older, Katase gradually withdrew from the public eye, except for occasional speeches at the Mitakishima Naval Academy. She attended its closing ceremony in 1958, and was rarely seen in public again until 1963, when she was awarded the newly-created Prime Minister's National Service Award by newly-elected civilian Prime Minister of Yamatai Okudera Gunzo.

Katase passed away in her sleep on January 23, 1967, at her family estate in Yokoyama. She was survived by her daughters Haruko and Himeko. Katase Haruko also became a naval officer, while Katase Himeko began working with Shinomiya Life Insurance.

Public perceptions
Katase is still widely celebrated in Yamatai as a war hero of the First Escar-Varunan War, and to a lesser extent for her strong leadership of the Navy in the first part of the Second Escar-Varunan War. She is particularly recognised in her hometown of Yokoyama as a local hero, and a statue of Katase was erected outside of Yokoyama Station in 1996. There is also a museum dedicated to her at the site of her former estate, operated by the Grand Admiral Katase Megumi Foundation, which is owned by the Katase family.

However, historians are divided as to Katase's exact impact on the Imperial Navy's performance in the Second-Escar Varunan War. The general consensus is that the Imperial Navy's performance in terms of grand strategy was better under Fukunaga Toshiaki, who abandoned the Decisive Battle doctrine and began a general hunter-killer strategy that was much more flexible. However, Yamataian historians are often hesitant to consider Katase's leadership a hindrance to the Imperial Navy, citing the inferior size of the Imperial Navy and internal political situation at the start of the war as a reason for her cautious strategies, with the deteriorating war situation later on enabling Fukunaga to be more reckless with his actions. Overseas historians are often more blunt, and occasionally name Katase's poor strategic choices as one of the reasons Yamatai lost the war.

Another controversial aspect involving Katase is her support for the invasion of Chisei and strong pro-military rule views, which she held until her death. In Chisei, Katase is considered to be one of the principal architects of the Second Escar-Varunan War, and is often portrayed alongside Tsukiyama and Miyazaki Reizō as the chief enemies of Chisei during the period. Foreign observers note that Katase's anti-democratic views and some of her more extreme right-wing publications have been suppressed by the Yamataian Ministry of Culture and Communications, with three of her books having been banned.