Akiyama Yoshifuru

(1859–1930) is the father of modern Japanese cavalry. He was sent to France as a military attaché to study cavalry tactics and techniques at a time when the rest of the Japanese army had turned to the imperial German army as its model.
Akiyama was active in the first Sino-Japanese War, and served with Japanese expeditionary forces in the subsequent Boxer Rebellion. After retiring from active military service in 1923, he declined promotion to field marshal and became the principal of a high school.