was a Japanese ''

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 early

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 ...

.Meyer, Eva-Maria
"Gouverneure von Kyôto in der Edo-Zeit".
Universität Tübingen (in German). Shigemune's daimyō family claimed descent from the Shibukawa branch of the

Seiwa Genji The is a line of the Japanese Minamoto clan that is descended from Emperor Seiwa, which is the most successful and powerful line of the clan. Many of the most famous Minamoto warriors, including Minamoto no Yoshiie, Minamoto no Yoritomo, the foun ...

. The Itakura identified its clan origins in

Mikawa Province was an old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mikawa''" in . Its abbreviated form name was . Mikawa bordered on Owari, Mino, Shinano, and Tōtōmi Provinces. Mik ...

. The descendants of

Itakura Katsushige was a Japanese daimyō of the Azuchi–Momoyama Period to early Edo period. He fought at the side of Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. He was also an ordained Shin Buddhist priest. Katsuhige's daimyō family claimed descent ...

, including the descendants of his eldest son Shigemune, were known as the elder branch of the clan. Papinot, Edmond. (2003)
''Nobiliare du Japon'' -- Itakura, pp. 16–17
Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon.'' (in French/German). In 1622, his service was rewarded by his assignment as daimyō of

Sekiyado Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Shimōsa Province (the northern portion of Chiba Prefecture and southern portion of Ibaraki Prefecture in modern-day, Japan). It was centered on Sekiyad ...

. Shigemune's court title was '' Suō no Kami''.

Biography

Shigemune was the eldest son of Itakura Katsushige. He was chosen to be one of

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

's pages at a young age, and Ieyasu is said to have liked Shigemune greatly. Shigemune took part in both the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...

and the Siege of Osaka Castle. His childhood name was Jusaburo (十三郎). In 1620, Shigemune was appointed to the position as the third ''

Kyoto Shoshidai The was an important administrative and political office in the Tokugawa shogunate. The office was the personal representative of the military dictators Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Kyoto, the seat of the Japanese Emperor, and was adop ...

''; and he would continue in this significant role for over 30 years (1620–1654). As ''shoshidai,'' he was actively and personally engaged as the head of a network of spies tasked to discover and report any covert sources of sedition, insurrection or other kinds of unrest. In the subtle currents of shogunate politics, he is said to have gone to great lengths to develop a sense of impartiality in judgement. When approached with a case to judge, he would place a lantern between himself and the speaker, and busy himself with making tea, so that he would not let external appearances interfere with his sense of justice. Shigemune was expected to guard the palace and to supervise court officials; but over time, he learned that this office was no sinecure. For example, when

Emperor Go-Kōmyō was the 110th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 後光明天皇 (110)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Go-Kōmyō's reign spanned the years from 1643 through 1654. This 17th-century sovereign was n ...

took fencing lessons, Shigemune is reported to have threatened to commit suicide, and Go-Kōmyō is said to have replied, "I have never seen a military man kill himself, and the spectacle will be interesting. You had better have a platform erected in the palace grounds so that your exploit can be witnessed." Both men somehow found a way to survive this impasse. Shigemune died at Sekiyado. The merit earned by Shigemune's loyal service to the shogunate was remembered years later when devastation of the Itakura family was threatened by the otherwise unpardonable actions of a descendant. In 1739, Hosokawa Munetake of Higo was killed inside

Edo Castle is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan in Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. In modern times it is part of the Tokyo Imperial Palace in Chiyoda, Tokyo and is therefore also known as . Tokugawa Ieyasu established the ...

by Itakura Katsukane, and the killer was ordered to commit suicide as just punishment; however, Shōgun Yoshimune personally intervened to mitigate untoward adverse consequences for the killer's ''fudai'' family. Shigemune's grave is at Kōetsu-ji temple, in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

. He also has a grave at Chōen-ji, in

Nishio, Aichi is a city located in Aichi Prefecture, in the Chūbu region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 169,984 in 65,553 households, with a population density of 1,054 persons per km². The total area of the city was . It is a regional ...

.板倉重宗の紹介

Family

* Father:

* Mother: Ao Nagakatsu’s daughter * Wives: ** Naruse Masanari’s daughter **

Toda Ujikane was a Japanese ''daimyō.'' In 1617, he helped build the Amagasaki Castle was a flatland type Japanese castle located in the city of Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The castle was the headquarters of Amagasaki Domain, which ruled this ...

’s daughter * Children ** Itakura Shigesato (1619-1662) by

’s daughter ** Itakura Shigekata (1620-1684) ** daughter married Naitō Masakatsu ** daughter married

Honda Toshinaga was a daimyō of the early to mid Edo period, Japan, who ruled Okazaki and Yokosuka domains, and was finally transferred to Murayama Domain in Dewa Province. Toshinaga was the 6th son of Honda Tadatoshi, daimyō of Okazaki Domain. His mother ...

** daughter married

Ōta Sukemune was a daimyō during early-Edo period Japan. His courtesy title was '' Bitchu no Kami.'' Biography Ōta Sukemune was the second son of Ōta Shigemasa, a Sengoku period samurai descended from Ōta Dōkan, who entered into the service of Tokugaw ...

** daughter married Endō Yoshitoshi ** daughter married Morikawa Shigemasa ** daughter married Matsudaira Mitsushige ** daughter married Naitō Tadamasa ** daughter married Matsudaira Terutsuna ** daughter married Matsudaira Terutsuna (as 2nd wife) ** Juko-in married Ichihashi Masanobu ** Senshō-in married Matsudaira Sukenobu

Notes

References

* Bolitho, Harold. (1974). ''Treasures Among Men: The Fudai Daimyo in Tokugawa Japan''. New Haven: Yale University Press.
OCLC 185685588
* Meyer, Eva-Maria. (1999). ''Japans Kaiserhof in de Edo-Zeit: Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Jahre 1846 bis 1867''. Münster: Tagenbuch. * Murdoch, James and Isoh Yamagata. (1903–1926). London: Kegan Paul, Trubner
OCLC 502662122
* 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 48943301
* Papinot, Edmond. (1906) ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du japon''. Tokyo: Librarie Sansaish
..Click link for digitized 1906 ''Nobiliaire du japon'' (2003)
* Porter, Robert P. (2001)
''Japan: the Rise of A Modern Power.''
Boston: Adamant Media. * Screech, Timon. (2006). ''Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822''. London:

RoutledgeCurzon Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

.
OCLC 635224064

External links

Samples of correspondence from Shigemune's tenure as Kyoto Shoshidai

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Itakura, Shigemune Daimyo Itakura clan Kyoto Shoshidai 1586 births 1657 deaths