Viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

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 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 ...

who served as daimyō of Shishido han. Retiring early, he was succeeded by his son Matsudaira Yorinori, but Yoritaka returned to headship following Yorinori's death in 1864. Though the domain was abolished following its involvement in the chaos of the revolt of 1864, the new Satsuma-Chōshu centered government of the

Meiji Emperor , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figure ...

forgave Shishido, and allowed Yoritaka to retake his former holdings. Becoming ''han chiji'' (domainal governor) by Imperial order in 1869, he remained in that position until the abolition of the domains in 1871. After that he became a Shinto priest and was famed as a prolific writer. His son succeeded him as family head in 1880. Yoritaka's granddaughter Natsu (the daughter of and , son of the famous

Nagai Naoyuki , also known as or , was a Japanese hatamoto under the Tokugawa of Bakumatsu period Japan. His great-great-grandchild was Yukio Mishima. Naoyuki's adopted son, Iwanojō Nagai, was the father of Natsu, who was Mishima's grandmother. Iwanojō's r ...

), is famous as the grandmother of

Mishima Yukio , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Nationalism, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was ...

.　Under the new system of nobility, Yoriyasu became a viscount (''shishaku'' 子爵). Yoritaka died in December 1886, at age 76.

Ancestry

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References

External links

Biographical information
1810 births 1886 deaths Daimyo Japanese writers Kannushi Kazoku Meiji Restoration Japanese Shintoists Mitorenshi-Matsudaira clan {{Shinto-stub