He studied Western military science under Ōmura Masujirō and was a company commander defending the domain against the Second Chōshū expedition mounted by the Tokugawa shogunate in 1866.

In April 1906, after his appointment as 5th Governor-General of Taiwan, Sakuma was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun (1st class with Paulownia Blossoms, Grand Cordon), and in 1907 was elevated to hakushaku (Count).

[2] With the end of armed resistance by Han Taiwanese population, the colonial authorities turned their attention to the suppression of the mountain dwelling aboriginal tribes.

One of the reasons Sakuma was selected to head the colonial government was due to his participation in Japan's previous 1874 campaign, and his mission extended Japanese control into the aboriginal regions.

[citation needed] He was highly regarded for helping develop Taiwan's east coast, especially the port of Hualien, and the Taroko Gorge area.