was the 14th ''

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 Fukui Domain 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 ...

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. 47
Naritsugu was born in

Fukui is a Japanese name meaning "fortunate" or sometimes "one who is from the Fukui prefecture". It may refer to: Places * Fukui Domain, a part of the Japanese han system during the Edo period * Fukui Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan located in ...

as the third son of

Matsudaira Haruyoshi was the 13th ''daimyō'' of Fukui Domain under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate in Echizen Province.Burks, Ardath W. (1985) ''The Modernizers: overseas students, foreign employees, and Meiji Japan'', p. 47 Haruyoshi was born in Edo as the eld ...

. His childhood name was Jinosuke (仁之助). In 1817, he was engaged to Asahime, a daughter of

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 Ienari Tokugawa Ienari ( ja, 徳川家斉, November 18, 1773 – March 22, 1841) was the eleventh and longest-serving ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan who held office from 1787 to 1837.Hall, John Whitney ''et al.'' (1991) ''Early Modern J ...

, and the couple was formally married in 1819. 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 1824 and received 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 Tokugawa Ienari’s name to become Matsudaira Naritsugu. 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 ''Iyo-no-kami'' and his court rank was Junior Fourth Rank, Upper Grade. His father died in 1825 and he formally became ''daimyō'' of Fukui early the following year. His courtesy title became ''Echizen-no-kami'' and also ''Sakon'e-no-shōjō'' Early in his tenure (from 1827) he ordered a five-year

fiscal austerity Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spend ...

plan in an attempt to rebuild the domain’s finances, and from 1829 he ordered that the domain’s retainers be reduced to half the present number over the next seven years. However, in stark contrast to these efforts, he maintained the luxurious lifestyle of his father and grandfather, and spared no expense when he rebuilt the palace within the grounds of

Fukui Castle is a flatland-style castle located in what is now the city of Fukui, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. During the Edo period, it was the headquarters of a branch of the Matsudaira clan, who were hereditary ''daimyō'' of Fukui domain under the Tokugawa ...

. The domain was also hit hard by increasing rice prices, and a major

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

epidemic. Naritsugu also attempted to convince the Shōgun to allow him to trade territories with

Hikone Domain was a '' fudai'' feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It was located in eastern Ōmi Province, in the Kansai region of central Honshu. The domain was centered at Hikone Castle, located in what is now the city of ...

under the control of the

Ii clan is a Japanese clan which originates in Tōtōmi Province. It was a retainer clan of the Imagawa family, and then switched sides to the Matsudaira clan of Mikawa Province at the reign of Ii Naotora. A famed 16th-century clan member, Ii Naomasa, ...

; however, he died in 1835 at the domain’s Edo residence at the age of 25, possibly due to illness, before a decision was reached. This was one of the causes of the ill-will between the ''

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 e ...

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 ...

and future ''daimyō'' of Fukui, especially

Matsudaira Shungaku , 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 ...

. At the time of his death, Naritsugu had not yet produced an heir. A younger son of Tokugawa Ienari, and thus a brother of Asahime, was chosen as successor.

External links

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

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matsdaira Naritsugu 1811 births 1835 deaths Shinpan daimyo Fukui-Matsudaira clan People of Edo-period Japan