Katsu Kaishū
Count Katsu Yasuyoshi (勝 安芳) (born Katsu Yoshikuni (勝 義邦); March 12, 1823—January 21, 1899, best known by his nickname Katsu Kaishū (勝 海舟)) was a Japanese statesman, naval engineer and military commander during the late Tokugawa shogunate and early Meiji period. Kaishū was a nickname which he took from a piece of calligraphy (Kaishū Shooku 海舟書屋) by Sakuma Shōzan. He went through a series of given names throughout his life; his childhood name was Rintarō (麟太郎). He was often called Awa (安房) from his ceremonial title Awa-no-kami (安房守) during the late Tokugawa shogunate and later changed his name to Yasuyoshi after the Meiji Restoration. An advocate of modernization and westernization, Katsu was an influential figure during the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate (Bakumatsu) and subsequent Meiji Restoration.