Akabane Shirō (赤羽四郎; February 1855 – January 28, 1910) was a samurai of the Aizu Domain during the late Edo period and a diplomat during the Meiji period. He was the Spanish envoy during the Russo-Japanese War.
He is wearing 3rd class Russian order of Saint Anna for Non-christians, 3rd class Persian order of the Lion and Sun
https://asiamedals.info/forums/order-of-the-lion-and-sun.511/, 3rd class Prussian order Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd class Dutch order Of Orange Nassau and breast star of the Danish order of the Dannebrog.
His father was Akabane Shōzaburō, the Aizu Clan's flag magistrate. The Akabane family was a high-ranking samurai with a stipend of 350 koku. He studied at the domain school Nisshinkan, and during the Boshin War, he fought under siege in Aizu -Wakamatsu Castle. After the domain's surrender, he was placed under house arrest in Inawashiro, but he escaped from the house of house arrest with Yamakawa Kenjirō, Shiba Shiro, and Takagi Morinosuke, who were his peers. He went to Wakamatsu Castle and petitioned the new government forces for the lives of the domain's lord and son . He later studied English at the Tonan Domain English School, and then at the school set up by Numa Morikazu in the Tosa Domain's residence.
In 1872, he went to America to study at Yale University, and after returning to Japan, he served as a third-class teacher and instructor at the preparatory school of the University of Tokyo. In 1880, he became a secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and thereafter began his career as a diplomat. He served in Germany, Russia, and America, and in 1892, he became secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. After serving as first secretary at the embassy , he was stationed in the Netherlands as a minister-patent, and in 1900, he was appointed minister extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Beijing, China, and also served as a counselor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1902, he attended the royal inauguration ceremony of the King of Spain as a special ambassador.
During the Boxer Rebellion, he played an active role as the envoy extraordinary and plenipotentiary, and during the Russo-Japanese War, he served as the envoy to Spain and reported the movements of the Russian Baltic Fleet.
