during the hakodate war , he was treated as a noncombatant and learned french from an interpreter , masachika tajima . 箱館戦争中も非戦闘員として扱われ、通訳の田島応親よりフランス語を学ぶ。
while he was department director of the military order in the navy just before the sino-japanese war , he was strictly on the noncombatant side because he appreciated the military potential of china ' s north sea fleet . 日清戦争直前海軍軍令部長を勤めていたが、清の北洋艦隊の戦力を高く評価し、徹底した非戦派であった。