 He became Commander-in-Chief of the Readiness Fleet on 29 July 1889, and vice admiral and commander-in-chief of the Sasebo Naval District on 12 December 1892.He remained in charge of reserve forces, and thus did not see any combat during the First Sino-Japanese War of 1895.He was commander-in-chief of the Kure Naval District from 26 February 1896 to 20 May 1900.