Kabayama Sukenori was the first governor-general of Taiwan. Previously, he had been a samurai retainer to the Shimazu clan of Satsuma han, and following the abolition of the samurai class and the bakuhan system, commander of the second Kyushu outpost garrison. He played a significant role in pressuring the national government to send a punitive expedition to Taiwan following the Taiwan Incident of 1871.
References
- Uemura Hideaki. "The Colonial Annexation of Okinawa and the Logic of International Law: The Formation of an 'Indigenous People' in East Asia." Japanese Studies 23:2 (2003). p109.