was the 8th (and final) Abe ''daimyō'' of Shirakawa Domain, and the 1st Abe ''daimyō'' of

Tanagura Domain was a '' fudai'' feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It is located in southern Mutsu Province, Honshū. The domain was centered at Tanagura Castle, located in what is now part of the town of Tanagura in Fukushima ...

Biography

Abe Masakiyo was the eldest son of Abe Masato, who at the time was a 3000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. 1 koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about . It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1000 gō. One ''gō'' is the volume of the "rice cup", the plastic measuring cup that is supplied ...

'' ''

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as ''gokenin.'' However ...

''. After the sudden death of Abe Masahisa of Shirakawa Domain in 1864, Abe Masato was selected to posthumously inherit the 100,000 ''koku'' domain and Masakiyo inherited the original 3000 ''koku'' holding as well as the

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some co ...

of ''Mimasaka-no-kami'', and his Court rank of Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade. However, in 1866, when his father was forced into retirement for his actions in the opening of the port of Hyōgo to foreign trade, Masakiyo was named ''daimyō'' of Shirakawa. The very same day, he was transferred to Tanagura and Shirakawa Domain became ''

tenryō The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

'' territory under direct control of the Shogunate. Although he protested the move, and later petitioned to return to Shirakawa, he was allowed to return for less than a month before

Komine Castle is a Japanese castle located in what is now the city of Shirakawa, southern Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Throughout the middle to later Edo period, Komine Castle was home to the Abe clan, ''daimyō'' of Shirakawa Domain. It was also referred to ...

was again taken from him, and placed under the control of

Nihonmatsu Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in southern Mutsu Province. It was centered on Nihonmatsu Castle in what is now the city of Nihonmatsu, Fukushima, and its territory included all of Nihonmatsu, Motomi ...

. He sided with the ''

Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei The was a Japanese military-political coalition established and disestablished over the course of several months in early to mid-1868 during the Boshin War. Its flag was either a white interwoven five-pointed star on a black field, or a black i ...

'' during the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

, fighting against the

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...

during the Battle of Shirakawa. Komone Castle fell to government forces, and Tanagura fell shortly afterwards to an army led by

Itagaki Taisuke Count was a Japanese politician. He was a leader of the "Freedom and People's Rights Movement" and founded Japan's first political party, the Liberal Party. Biography Early life Itagaki Taisuke was born into a middle-ranking ''samurai'' ...

. Masakiyo surrender to the Meiji government, blaming his participation in the ''Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei'' on his ''

karō were top-ranking samurai officials and advisors in service to the ''daimyōs'' of feudal Japan. Overview In the Edo period, the policy of ''sankin-kōtai'' (alternate attendance) required each ''daimyō'' to place a ''karō'' in Edo and anoth ...

'', Abe Masateru, who had conveniently been killed in combat during the Battle of Shirakawa, and thus the government reduced his holdings from 100,000 ''koku'' to 60,000 ''koku'' rather than abolishing the domain completely. However, Abe Masakiyo went ordered to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, where he was to remain with his son under

house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...

. He died in 1878. Fudai daimyo Abe clan 1850 births 1878 deaths People of the Boshin War {{daimyo-stub