Gombei Yamamoto (1852-1933)
Admiral Gombei Yamamoto was a military and political leader of the Meiji (1868-1912) and Taisho (1912-1926) periods, and twice prime minister (1913-14, 1923-24). He was an early patron of Morihei Ueshiba beginning in 1925 and was instrumental in helping Ueshiba establish himself in Tokyo in the mid-1920s by introducing the Aikido Founder to important people in high social circles. Yamamoto's son, Kiyoshi, trained under Ueshiba for several years in the mid-to-late 1920s.

