was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

of the late

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

who went on to become a soldier, government official, and businessman in the

Meiji era The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization b ...

. He served as a ''

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 ...

'' in the

Yonezawa Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain in Edo period Japan, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Yamagata Prefecture), Japan. It was centered at Yonezawa castle in what is now the city of Yamagata, Yamagata, Yamagata, and its territory extended over t ...

's administration.

Biography

Takamasa was born in 1841 to a prominent

family in

Akita Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is approximately 966,000 (as of 1 October 2019) and its ge ...

of the

. He was the firs son of Takaaki Chisaka, who was the chief retainer of the Yonezawa clan.

Government service

Takamasa entered official service in 1863 and five years later, in 1863, he was given command of the ''han'' military force. He was promoted as a ''dai-sanji'' (chief councilor) in 1870 and later accompanied the clan lord Shigenori Uesugi on his

European tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fift ...

. When he returned to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in 1875, he served in the government's Home Ministry. It is noted that his position in the ministry was not secure due to his Yonezawa roots. The installation of representatives of the central governments from among those who came from the abolished domains was not universally welcomed in the ministry. In 1876 Takamasa would be called upon to put down the rebellion in the

Ibaraki prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,871,199 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...

, and later in 1877, during the

Satsuma Rebellion The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. Its name comes from the Satsuma Domain, which had been influential in the Restoration and beca ...

, he was appointed a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

in the army.

Private sector

After his retirement from government service, Takamasa joined the private sector, holding executive positions at companies such as the ''Ryou Ginko'' (Ryou Bank), Ujigawa Hydroelectric Power Station'','' and ''Yokohama Soko'' (Yokohama Warehouse). Takamasa's career demonstrated the transition of the lives of the samurai from service to their lords to civil or government service in modern Japan. This development was also indicative of the relationships between the samurai and their previous lords. In the case of Takamasa, his former liege promoted his employment – as was done for other former samurai (''shizoku jusan'') of the

Kanazawa is the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Overview Cityscape File:もてな ...

– by getting his appointment as Nomi County Chief approved. He was later appointed as the governor of

Ishikawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,140,573 (31 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,186 km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to ...

. Takamasa was the father of Captain Tomojiro Chisaka, the Commander of the Yakumo, and Major Yojiro Chisaka, who served in the Imperial Army. He died on December 3, 1912 due to

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...

and inflammation of the lungs.

References

External Links

Chisaka, Takamasa , Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures
at www.ndl.go.jp

at www8.ocn.ne.jp Japanese expatriates in the United Kingdom Japanese military personnel Samurai Karō 1841 births 1912 deaths People of the Boshin War Meiji Restoration Kazoku Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Uesugi retainers {{samurai-stub