Akiyama Hisakata (Yasoku) (1822–1890): father of Yoshifuru and Saneyuki.
Akiyama Saneyuki (1868–1918): Yoshifuru’s younger brother; staff officer of the Japanese Combined Fleet at the time of the Russo-Japanese War.
Akiyama Yoshifuru (1859–1930): Saneyuki’s older brother; father of the modern Japanese cavalry; defeated Russian Cossacks in the Russo-Japanese War.
Alexeyev, Yevgeny Ivanovich (1843–1918): Russian tsar’s viceroy in the Far East.
Arima Ryōkitsu (1861–1944): vice chief of staff of the Japanese Combined Fleet in the Russo-Japanese War.
Cervera y Topete, Pascual (1839–1909): commander of the Spanish fleet in the Spanish–American War.
Ding Ruchang (1836–1895): admiral in the Chinese Navy at the end of the Qing dynasty.
Fujii Shigeta (1858–1945): chief of staff of General Kuroki’s First Army.
Grippenberg, Oskar-Ferdinand Kazimirovich (1838–1916): commander of the Russian Second Army in Manchuria.
Hayashi Tadasu (1850–1912): Japan’s ambassador to Britain at the time of the Russo-Japanese War.
Hekigotō (see Kawahigashi Hekigotō).
Hirose Takeo (1868–1904): naval officer; close friend of Saneyuki; killed during the second blocking operation at Port Arthur; remembered as a war hero, he was revered as a “war god” until Japan’s defeat in the Second World War in 1945.
Hisamatsu family: former lords of the Matsuyama domain in Iyo province.
Iguchi Shōgo (1855–1925): staff officer of Japan’s Manchurian Army during the Russo-Japanese War.
Ijichi Kōsuke (1854–1917): chief of staff of General Nogi’s Third Army.
Itō Hirobumi (1841–1909): head of the Privy Council; prime minister at the time of the First Sino-Japanese War.
Itō Sukeyuki (1843–1914): fleet commander during the First Sino-Japanese War.
Kamimura Hikonojō (1849–1916): commander in chief of the Second Squadron of the Japanese Combined Fleet during the Russo-Japanese War.
Kataoka Shichirō (1854–1920): commander of the Third Squadron of the Japanese fleet.
Katō Tomosaburō (1861–1923): chief of staff of Admiral Kamimura’s Second Squadron.
Katō Tsunetada (1859–1923): diplomat and Shiki’s uncle.
Katsura Tarō (1847–1913): prime minister at the time of the Russo-Japanese War.
Kawahigashi Hekigotō (1873–1937): haiku poet.
Kawakami Sōroku (1848–1899): vice chief of the Army General Staff during the First Sino-Japanese War; known for his genius in military tactics.
Kodama Gentarō (1852–1906): chief of staff at General Headquarters of Japan’s Manchurian Army during the Russo-Japanese War.
Komura Jutarō (1855–1911): foreign minister at the time of the Russo-Japanese War.
Kovalevskaya, Ariadna Vladimirovna: beautiful young Russian noblewoman who fell in love with Japanese naval officer Hirose Takeo.
Kuga Katsunan (1857–1907): journalist and head of the newspaper Nippon; Shiki’s lifelong friend and protector.
Kuroki Tamemoto (1844–1923): commander of the Japanese First Army in the Russo-Japanese War.
Kuropatkin, Alexei Nikolayevich (1848–1925): Russian war minister and the commander in chief of the Russian Manchurian Army during the Russo-Japanese War.
Kyoshi (see Takahama Kyoshi).
Lansdowne, Lord Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice (1845–1927): British foreign secretary.
Li Hongzhang (1823–1901): China’s best-known statesman and diplomat in the latter part of the nineteenth century.
Linevich, Nikolai Petrovich (1838–1908): commander in chief of the Russian Manchurian Army in the early phase of the Russo-Japanese War.
Makarov, Stepan Osipovich (1848–1904): commander in chief of the Russian fleet at Port Arthur and author.
Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902): poet and critic credited with modernizing Japan’s two traditional short poetic forms, haiku and tanka.
Matsukawa Toshitane (1860–1928): staff officer of Japan’s Manchuria Army.
Meckel, Klemens Wilhelm Jacob (1842–1906): German military officer and advisor to the Japanese Army.
Mishchenko, Pavel Ivanovich (1853–1918): commander of the Cossack cavalry brigade involved in many battles of the Russo-Japanese War.
Nagaoka Gaishi (1858–1933): vice chief of the Army General Staff during the Russo-Japanese War; proud of his mustache, which was said to be the world’s second longest.
Natsume Sōseki (1867–1916): Shiki’s friend; became a great Japanese novelist.
Nicholas II (1868–1918): Russian tsar at the time of the Russo-Japanese War.
Nogi Maresuke (1849–1912): commander of the Japanese Third Army during the Russo-Japanese War.
Nozu Michitsura (1841–1908): commander of the Japanese Fourth Army during the Russo-Japanese War.
Ochiai Toyosaburō (1861–1934): chief of staff of General Nozu’s Fourth Army.
Oku Yasukata (1846–1930): commander of the Japanese Second Army during the Russo-Japanese War.
Ōyama Iwao (1842–1916): army minister at the time of the Russo-Japanese War.
Rozhestvensky, Zinovy Petrovich (1848–1909): favorite of Tsar Nicholas II and commander of the Russian Baltic Fleet, which traveled via the Cape of Good Hope all the way to the Sea of Japan.
Ritsu (1870–1941): Shiki’s sister.
Sada (1827–1905): mother of Yoshifuru and Saneyuki.
Saigō Tsugumichi (1843–1902): navy minister at the time of the First Sino-Japanese War; younger brother of Satsuma hero Saigō Takamori.
Saneyuki (see Akiyama Saneyuki).
Schiff, Jacob (1847–1920): Jewish financier who contributed to Japan’s war effort.
Shiki (see Masaoka Shiki).
Shimamura Hayao (1858–1923): chief of staff of the Japanese Combined Fleet at the time of the Russo-Japanese War.
Stakelberg, Georgi Karlovich (1851–1913): commander of the First Siberian Army Corps.
Stark, Oskar Viktorovich (1846–1928): commander of the Pacific Fleet at the start of the Russo-Japanese War.
Stoessel, Anatoly Mikhailovich (1848–1915): commander of the Russian forces at Port Arthur.
Takahama Kyoshi (1874–1959): haiku poet and editor of the journal Hototogisu.
Takahashi Korekiyo (1854–1936): vice governor of the Bank of Japan at the time of the Russo-Japanese War; later prime minister and finance minister.
Tamura Iyozō (1854–1903): vice chief of the Army General Staff from 1902; died of overwork just before the outbreak of war with Russia.
Terauchi Masatake (1852–1919): army minister at the time of the Russo Japanese War.
Tōgō Heihachirō (1847–1934): commander in chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet in the Russo-Japanese War.
Uehara Yūsaku (1856–1933): chief of staff of General Nozu’s Fourth Army.
Uryū Sotokichi (1857–1937): commander of the Fourth Division of the Japanese Combined Fleet in the Russo-Japanese War.
Vitgeft, Vilgelm Karlovich (1847–1904): acted as commander in chief of the Russian fleet at Port Arthur after Makarov’s death.
Wilhelm II (1859–1941): German kaiser.
Witte, Sergei Yulyevich (1849–1915): Russian finance minister 1892–1903; strong opponent of the Russo-Japanese War.
Yae: Shiki’s mother.
Yamagata Aritomo (1838–1922): architect of the modern Japanese Army and chief of the Army General Staff during the Russo-Japanese War.
Yamamoto Gombei (1852–1933): Satsuma-born officer responsible for modernization of the Japanese Navy; navy minister at the time of the Russo-Japanese War.
Yoshifuru (see Akiyama Yoshifuru).
Yuan Shikai (1859–1916): Chinese army leader; first president of the Republic of China.