was a Japanese

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 ...

. Norinobu was influential in the last days of the

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 ...

, being appointed 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 ...

shortly before its demise and working for the new government to show clemency to the Tokugawa family.

Genealogy

Born the 3rd son of Imagawa Yoshiyori, he was a

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 ...

who headed one of the 26 families holding the position of ''

kōke A during the Edo period in Japan generally referred to the position of the "Master of Ceremonies", held by certain -less samurai ranking below a daimyō. Historically, or in a more general context, the term may refer to a family of old lineage a ...

'' (master of ceremonies) in the

,Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kōke''" in ; "''Imagawa''" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ''see'
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File
a position whose most famous holder was

Kira Yoshinaka was a '' kōke'' (master of ceremonies). His court title was '' Kōzuke no suke (上野介)''. He is famous as the adversary of Asano Naganori in the events of the Forty-seven rōnin. Although his name (義央) has been long pronounced as "Yosh ...

of Chushingura fame. His childhood name was Hikosaburo (彦三郎). He was a direct descendant of the famed

Imagawa Yoshimoto was a pre-eminent ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) in the Sengoku period Japan. Based in Suruga Province, he was known as . he was one of the three ''daimyōs'' that dominated the Tōkaidō region. He died in 1560 while marching to Kyoto to become ...

and his son Ujizane.

Family

* Father: Imagawa Yoshiyori (1810–1841) * Mother:

Matsura Seizan , born , was a ''daimyō'', essayist, and famed swordsman during the Edo period of Japan. Seizan was a practitioner of Iba Hideaki's Shingyōtō-ryū school of swordsmanship, in which Seizan was considered as an adept. Seizan adopted the name J ...

’s daughter * Wife: Keirin’in (d.1869) * Children: ** Imagawa Yoshihito (1854-1872) ** daughter (d.1862) ** Sen (1858-1904) married Shino Tomitaka

Later life

Living the rest of his life in quiet obscurity, Norinobu died in 1887. Because his son

Imagawa Yoshihito was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji by way of the Kawachi Genji. It was a branch of the Minamoto clan by the Ashikaga clan. Origins Ashikaga Kuniuji, grandson of Ashikaga Yoshiuji, established himself in the ...

died young, he was left heirless, and the direct line of descent in the Imagawa family came to an end.

Notes

References

* Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan encyclopedia.''
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 58053128
1829 births 1887 deaths Hatamoto Meiji Restoration Wakadoshiyori Imagawa clan {{samurai-stub

Genealogy

Family

Later life

See also

Notes

References