Viscount (March 22, 1833 – January 23, 1888) was a Japanese '' daimyō'' of the late Edo period who was the last ruler of the Iino Domain ( Kazusa Province; 20,000 ''

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 ...

''). Though lord of a minor domain, his family was a branch of the Matsudaira of

Aizu is the westernmost of the three regions of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, the other two regions being Nakadōri in the central area of the prefecture and Hamadōri in the east. As of October 1, 2010, it had a population of 291,838. The princip ...

, whose founder

Hoshina Masayuki was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period, who was the founder of what became the Matsudaira house of Aizu. He was an important figure in the politics and philosophy of the early Tokugawa shogunate. Biography Hoshina Masayuki was born ...

was the older brother of the Iino founder, Hoshina Masasada. Masaari was born in Edo to the 9th Iino lord, Hoshina Masamoto. Masaari was the younger brother of

Matsudaira Teru Matsudaira Teru (松平照), or Teruhime (, "Princess Teru"), (February 2, 1833 − February 28, 1884) was an aristocrat in Japan during the late Edo period, Edo and early Meiji periods. She participated in the siege of Aizuwakamatsu Castle (Ts ...

. As he was initially weak, his father did not notify the shogunate of his birth. However, as Masamoto's first and second sons died in quick succession, he notified the shogunate of Masaari's birth in 1836; this is why Masaari's birthdate is given in some sources as 1836. He was made heir in 1847, and succeeded to family headship after his father's death in 1848. He received his family's hereditary title of ''Danjō no chū'' in 1850. In 1853, Masaari led Iino troops and took part in the defense of Uraga upon the arrival of Commodore Matthew C. Perry and the U.S. Navy's East India Squadron. As lord of Iino, he held a variety of minor posts in the Tokugawa administration, most notably becoming a '' wakadoshiyori'' in the 2nd year of Keiō. He was also the chief commander of the multi-han military force active in the Chōshū Expedition, leading forces on the Iwami front. After 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 ...

he was ordered by the new government to investigate those who were "responsible" for the war, and it was as part of this action that former Aizu ''

karo Karo may refer to: Ethnic groups * Karo people (East Africa), a group of tribes in East Africa * Karo people (Ethiopia), an ethnic group from Ethiopia * Karo people (Indonesia), the indigenous people of the Karo Plateau in North Sumatra Language ...

Kayano Gonbei was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period, who served the Matsudaira clan of Aizu. He was a ''karō'' in the Aizu domain's administration. Kayano served in a senior military role during the Boshin War, he was later imprisoned by the Meiji go ...

was executed in Masaari's residence at Azabu, in 1869. As with many other former daimyo, Masaari became a member of the kazoku as a viscount (''shishaku'') in the Meiji era. He had several children; the eldest son

Hoshina Masaaki Hoshina (written: ) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese ''daimyō'' *, Japanese ''daimyō'' *, Japanese ''daimyō'' *, Japanese ''daimyō'' *, Japanese ''daimyō'' *, Japanese samurai *, Japanese ''daimyō'' ...

was his successor; one daughter, Shizuko, married Iwasaki Hisaya, the younger brother of Mitsubishi founder

Iwasaki Yatarō was a Japanese industrialist and financier known as the founder of Mitsubishi, one of Japan's largest conglomerates. Early life Iwasaki Yatarō was born on 9 January 1835 in Aki, Tosa Province (now Kōchi Prefecture) into a provincial farmin ...

References

* Kobiyama Rokurō, ''Matsudaira Katamori Kankeinin Jinmei Jiten'', pp. 200–211 of ''Matsudaira Katamori no Subete''. Tokyo: Shin Jinbutsu Ōraisha, 1984, p. 208. * Kimura Motoi, ed. ''Hanshi Daijiten''.

References

See also