was the 5th Hotta ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

'' of the

Sakura Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Shimōsa Province (modern-day Chiba Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Sakura Castle in what is now the city of Sakura, Chiba. It was ruled for most of its hi ...

in the Japanese

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 served as chief ''

rōjū The , usually translated as '' Elder'', was one of the highest-ranking government posts under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council of Elders as a whole; under the first two ''sh� ...

'' in the

Bakumatsu period was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji govern ...

Tokugawa shogunate 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 ...

, where he played an important role in the negotiations of the

Ansei Treaties The Ansei Treaties (Japanese:安政条約) or the Ansei Five-Power Treaties (Japanese:安政五カ国条約) are a series of treaties signed in 1858, during the Japanese Ansei era, between Japan on the one side, and the United States, Great Bri ...

with various foreign powers.Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric ''et al.'' (2005). "Hotta Masayoshi" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ''see'
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File

Early life

Hotta Masayoshi was the younger son of the 3rd ''

'' of Sakura, Hotta Masatoki, and was born at the domain's Edo residence. On the death of his father in 1811, he was adopted by his elder brother, the 4th daimyo of Sakura, Hotta Masachika, to secure the family succession. Masachika was of sickly physique and by 1824 there was a movement by the senior line of the

Hotta clan The was a Japanese clan that ruled the Sakura Domain in Shimosa Province in the late Edo period. Jindai-ji in the present-day city of Sakura was the clan's bodaiji A in Japanese Buddhism is a temple which, generation after generation, take ...

to have him removed from office, and replaced by the son of Hotta Masatsu, the daimyo of Katada Domain and a ''

wakadoshiyori The ', or "Junior Elders", were high government officials in the Edo period Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1867). The position was established around 1633, but appointments were irregular until 1662. The four to six ''wakadoshiyori'' we ...

'' in the government. This was strongly opposed by most of the leadership of the Sakura domain, and Hotta Masayoshi was appointed daimyo. Almost immediately, the domain was saddled with the fiscally taxing burden of improving coastal defenses in

Edo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous ...

against incursions of the

Black Ships The Black Ships (in ja, 黒船, translit=kurofune, Edo period term) was the name given to Western vessels arriving in Japan in the 16th and 19th centuries. In 1543 Portuguese initiated the first contacts, establishing a trade route linking G ...

. However, Masayoshi proved an able administrator, reforming the domain’s finances, sponsoring studies of ''

rangaku ''Rangaku'' (Kyūjitai: /Shinjitai: , literally "Dutch learning", and by extension "Western learning") is a body of knowledge developed by Japan through its contacts with the Dutch enclave of Dejima, which allowed Japan to keep abreast of Wester ...

,'' especially western military science, and establishing the predecessor of

Juntendo University is a private university in Japan. Its headquarters are on its campus in Bunkyo, Tokyo, for the School of Medicine and in Inzai, Chiba, for the School of Health and Sports Science. The university was established in 1838 for medical and in 1946 ...

Official career

In April 1829, he was appointed a ''

Sōshaban were officials of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan. Conventional interpretations have construed this Japanese title as "master of ceremonies" Created in 1632, this '' bakufu'' title identified an official selected from the ranks of the ...

'' and in August 1834 became ''

Jisha-bugyō was a "commissioner" or an "overseer" of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan. Appointments to this prominent office were always ''fudai daimyōs'', the lowest-ranking of the shogunate offices to be so restricted.Beasley, William G. (1955) ...

''. In May 1837 he was appointed

Osaka jōdai were officials of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan. Those appointmented to this prominent office were exclusively ''fudai daimyōs''.Beasley, William G. (1955). ''Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868'', p. 326. Conven ...

, however only two months later he was recalled to Edo to join the ranks of the ''

''. From 1841, he was regarded as the right arm of

Mizuno Tadakuni was a ''daimyō'' during late-Edo period Japan, who later served as chief senior councilor (''Rōjū'') in service to the Tokugawa shogunate. He is remembered for having instituted the Tenpō Reforms. Biography Mizuno Tadakuni was the second son ...

, the architect of the

Tenpō Reforms The were an array of economic policies introduced between 1841 and 1843 by the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan. These reforms were efforts to resolve perceived problems in military, economic, agricultural, financial and religious systems. The changes ...

. However, after Mizuno fell out of favor in 1843 due to failure of the Tenpō Reforms, Hotta also lost his position as rōjū. Returning to Sakura, Hotta remained one of the leaders of the party supporting ending the ''

sakoku was the Isolationism, isolationist Foreign policy of Japan, foreign policy of the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate under which, for a period of 265 years during the Edo period (from 1603 to 1868), relations and trade between Japan and other countri ...

'' isolation policy and opening the country to foreign trade. In August 1855, the

Ansei great earthquakes The Ansei great earthquakes (安政の大地震, ''Ansei no Dai Jishin'') were a series of major earthquakes that struck Japan during the Ansei era (1854–1860): * The Ansei Tōkai quake ( ja, 安政東海地震, Ansei Tōkai Jishin, label=none) ...

struck Japan, and the Hotta clan residence in Edo was destroyed. A week later, senior rōjū

Abe Masahiro was the chief senior councilor ('' rōjū'') in the Tokugawa shogunate of the Bakumatsu period at the time of the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry on his mission to open Japan to the outside world. Abe was instrumental in the eventual signi ...

requested that Hotta return to the ranks of the ''rōjū''. Abe came under criticism from the ''

tozama daimyō was a class of powerful magnates or ''daimyō'' (大名) considered to be outsiders by the ruler of Japan.Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary, ''Tozama daimyō'' were classified in the Tokugawa Shogunate (江戸幕府) as ''daimyō'' w ...

s'', the Imperial Court and various factions within the government for perceived appeasement to the foreign powers in authorizing the signing treaties with the various western powers, starting with the

Convention of Kanagawa The Convention of Kanagawa, also known as the Kanagawa Treaty (, ''Kanagawa Jōyaku'') or the Japan–US Treaty of Peace and Amity (, ''Nichibei Washin Jōyaku''), was a treaty signed between the United States and the Tokugawa Shogunate on March ...

which effectively ended the 220-year policy of national isolation, and in September 1855 was forced to resign his post, and was replaced by Hotta the following month, although Abe remained one of the ''rōjū'' and a powerful influence until his death in 1857.Harold Bolitho, ''Treasures among Men'', p. 233.

''Gaikoku-bōeki-toshirabe-gakari''

On October 17, 1856 Hotta formed and headed an ''ad hoc'' committee of officials with special knowledge of foreign affairs. In November 1856, he charged the members to come up with recommendations about the terms for opening Japanese ports. The results of their deliberations would become the basis for negotiations which ultimately resulted in the Treaty of Amity and Commerce of 1858 (also known as the Harris Treaty), which open up six ports to American trade, and established

extraterritoriality In international law, extraterritoriality is the state of being exempted from the jurisdiction of local law, usually as the result of diplomatic negotiations. Historically, this primarily applied to individuals, as jurisdiction was usually cla ...

.Beasley, William G. (1955). ''Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868'', p. 322. Based on his knowledge of the events of the

Arrow War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted the British Empire and the French Emp ...

, Hotta believed that a violent response from the United States would arise if the demands of American consul

Townsend Harris Townsend Harris (October 4, 1804 – February 25, 1878) was an American merchant and politician who served as the first United States Consul General to Japan. He negotiated the "Harris Treaty" between the US and Japan and is credited as the di ...

were refused. However, it was necessary to convince the

Emperor Kōmei was the 121st Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')孝明天皇 (121)/ref> Kōmei's reign spanned the years from 1846 through 1867, corresponding to the final years of the ...

to accept the treaty. Traveling to Kyoto, Hotta found the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

securely in the midst of the ''jōi'' faction within the Imperial Court, who favored expelling the foreigners from Japan, by force if necessary, and was forced to return to Edo empty-handed. On top of this, ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

Tokugawa Iesada was the 13th ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He held office for five years from 1853 to 1858. He was physically weak and was therefore considered by later historians to have been unfit to be ''shōgun''. His reign marks the begin ...

was very ill and factional strife erupted within the Shogunal court over who would be his successor. With these issues still largely unresolved, Hotta was replaced by

Ii Naosuke was ''daimyō'' of Hikone (1850–1860) and also Tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan, a position he held from April 23, 1858, until his death, assassinated in the Sakuradamon Incident on March 24, 1860. He is most famous for signing the Ha ...

on June 21, 1858, who was given the title of ''

tairō ''Tairō'' (, "great elder") was a high-ranking official position in the Tokugawa shogunate government of Japan, roughly comparable to the office of prime minister. The ''tairō'' presided over the governing '' rōjū'' council in the event of an ...

''. On September 6, 1859, Hotta resigned his posts in favor of his son, and went into official retirement. He continued to lend his political support to the Hitotsubashi faction which was opposed to Ii Naosuke, and during the

Ansei purge was a multi-year event in Japanese history of the Edo period between 1858 and 1860, during which the Tokugawa shogunate imprisoned, executed, or exiled those who did not support its authority and foreign trade policies. The purge was undertaken by ...

of Hitotsubashi partisans, he was placed under house arrest within Sakura Castle, where he died on March 31, 1864 at the age of 53.

Ancestry

Notes

References

* Beasley, William G. (1955). ''Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868.'' London: Oxford University Press; reprinted by RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2001. * Bolitho, Harold. (1974). ''Treasures Among Men: The Fudai Daimyo in Tokugawa Japan.'' New Haven: Yale University Press.
OCLC 185685588
* Jansen, Marius B. (2000). ''The Making of Modern Japan.'' Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

.
OCLC 44090600
* McDougall, Walter (1993). "Let the Sea Make a Noise: Four Hundred Years of Cataclysm, Conquest, War and Folly in the North Pacific." New York: Avon Books. * Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). ''Japan Encyclopedia.'' Cambridge:

.
OCLC 48943301

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hotta, Masayoshi 1810 births 1864 deaths Tozama daimyo Rōjū Rangaku