was a

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 ...

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 ...

'' under the

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 ...

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 ...

of Japan. He was the 7th ''daimyō'' of

Itoigawa Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It is located in Echigo Province, Honshū. The domain was centered at Itoigawa Jin'ya, located in what is now part of the city of Itoigawa in Niigata Prefecture. History It ...

Echigo Province was an old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It bordered on Uzen, Iwashiro, Kōzuke, Shinano, and Etchū Provinces. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Echigo''" in . It corresponds today to Niigata ...

and later the 17th (and final) ''daimyō'' of Fukui Domain in

Echizen Province was a province of Japan in the area that is today the northern portion of Fukui Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Echizen bordered on Kaga, Wakasa, Hida, and Ōmi Provinces. It was part of Hokurikudō Circuit. Its abbreviated form ...

.Burks, Ardath W. (1985)
''The Modernizers: overseas students, foreign employees, and Meiji Japan'', p. 61
excerpt

Matsudaira Yoshinaga , also known as Matsudaira Keiei,Beasley, William G. (1955). ''Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868'', p. 335. or better known as Matsudaira Shungaku (春嶽) was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Edo period. He was head of the ...

"abdicated the lordship of Fukui to his remote relative Mochiaki (''daimyō'' 1858–1871)"

Biography

Mochiaki was the fourth son of Matsudaira Naoharu of Itoigawa. He was received in formal audience by

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 Ieyoshi was the 12th ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan.Hall, John Whitney ''et al.'' (1991) ''Early Modern Japan',' p. 21./ref> Biography Ieyoshi was born as the second son of the 11th ''shōgun'', Tokugawa Ienari and named Toshijirō (敏 ...

in 1852. His childhood name was Yuanosuke (鑜之助). He underwent his ''

genpuku is a Japanese coming-of-age ceremony which dates back to Japan's classical Nara Period (710–794 AD). /sup> This ceremony marked the transition from child to adult status and the assumption of adult responsibilities. The age of participat ...

'' ceremony in 1853, becoming Matsudaira Naokiyo (直廉). On the retirement of his father in 1857, he became ''daimyō'' of Itoigawa. At that time, his

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some co ...

was ''Hyūga-no-kami'' and his court rank was Junior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade. In 1858,

(better known as Matsudaira Shungaku) was forced into retirement 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 ...

, and Naokiyo was transferred to Fukui Domain and was adopted as Yoshinaga's successor. His courtesy title became ''Echizen-no-kami'', and also ''Sakon'e-no-chūjō'', and his court rank was increased to Junior Fourth Rank, Upper Grade. Also, Shōgun

Tokugawa Iemochi (July 17, 1846 – August 29, 1866) was the 14th ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, who held office from 1858 to 1866. During his reign there was much internal turmoil as a result of the "re-opening" of Japan to western nations. ...

granted him a ''

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

'' from his name, which then became Matsudaira Mochiaki. Uni 1864, his court rank became Senior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade. However, he was mostly a figurehead within Fukui Domain, as the retired Matsudaira Yoshinaga continued to exert much influence, and all of the powerful retainers of the domain, including

Yuri Kimimasa Viscount was a statesman in Meiji period Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Yuri Kimimasa" in . During the Meiji Restoration he used the alias Life and career Yuri was a '' samurai'' born in Fukui, Echizen Province (present-da ...

Yokoi Shōnan was a Bakumatsu and early Meiji period scholar and political reformer in Japan, influential around the fall of the Tokugawa bakufu. His real name was Yokoi Tokiari. Life and career Yokoi was a ''samurai'' born in Kumamoto, Higo Province (pre ...

, etc. continued to be loyal to their former lord. During the

First Chōshū expedition The First Chōshū expedition ( ja, 第一次長州征討) was a punitive military expedition by the Tokugawa shogunate against the Chōshū Domain in September–November 1864. The expedition was in retaliation for Chōshū's role in the attack ...

, he served as deputy commander under the overall command of

Tokugawa Yoshikatsu was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the late Edo period, who ruled the Owari Domain as its 14th (1849–1858) and 17th daimyō (1870–1880). He was the brother of Matsudaira Katamori. His childhood name was Hidenosuke (秀之助). Early years Yoshik ...

. In June 1869, he defected to the side of the new

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...

and was appointed imperial governor of Fukui, a post which he held to the

abolition of the han system The in the Empire of Japan and its replacement by a system of prefectures in 1871 was the culmination of the Meiji Restoration begun in 1868, the starting year of the Meiji period. Under the reform, all daimyos (, ''daimyō'', feudal lords) ...

in 1871. In 1884, he became a Count (''hakushaku'') in the ''

kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords () and court nobles (), but were abolished with the 1947 constitution. Kazoku ( 華族) should not be confused with ' ...

'' peerage system. He was awarded the Fourth class of the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

in 1885. In 1889, he inherited the title of Marquis (''koshaku'') from his adopted father. "Summary of the News,"
''The Japan Weekly Mail,'' Vol. IX, No, 3 (January 21, 1888), P. 46, 1st column; excerpt, "Counts Matsudaira Mochiaki, Nakanomikado Tsuneakira, and Saga Kinto have been promoted to the rank of Marquis, in recognition of services rendered by their fathers to the Government"; retrieved 2013-4-9. He died in 1890. His son, Matsudaira Yasutaka (1867–1930) served as a member of the House of Peers of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...

and was author of a number of works on

agricultural science Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Profession ...

, having studied for several years in England.

Family

* Father: Matsudaira Naoharu (1810–1878) * Wives: **Yuki-hime, daughter of Kuga Takemichi ** Ikuhime, daughter of Hirohashi Tanetatsu * Children: ** Matsudaira Yasutaka ** Matsudaira Nagayori ** Takeya Harumitsu ** Fujinami Shigeuji ** Kiyohime, married Nabeshima Naoyasu ** Keihime, married Kato Yasumichi ** Akihime, married Toda Yasukei

External links

"Fukui" at Edo 300
*
越前松平氏 (Echizen Matsudaira) at ReichsArchiv.jp

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matsudaira, Mochiaki Shinpan daimyo Kazoku 1836 births 1890 deaths Meiji Restoration Fukui-Matsudaira clan People of Edo-period Japan