In 1913, he was sent to the Naval Staff College at Tsukiji, a prerequisite for high command. Upon graduation in 1916, he was appointed to the staff of the Second Battle Squadron.
Apoption Of New Name
That same year, at age 30, Isoroku--now a lieutenant commander--was adopted by the wealthy and socially prestigious Yamamoto family. Such adoptions were a common practice in Japan: families lacking a male heir sought to keep the lineage from dying out. As Isoroku's parents had died several years earlier, he felt he could accept the Yamamoto's generous invitation. At a formal ceremony in a Buddhist temple, he took on the family name, which means "Base of the Mountain."
At age 30, Yamamoto married Reiko Mihashi, daughter of a dairy farmer from his own province and a woman who bore him four children. Although he engaged in intensive Buddhist meditation, he made no secret of his relationships with "ladies of the night." A talented calligrapher, he would decorate the geisha houses of his past and current mistresses, and lived far beyond his means, earning a second income from his skill at bridge and poker.
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