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 ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

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 ...

, and 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

Morioka Domain 300px, Ruins of Morioka Castle was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan. It was ruled throughout its history by the Nanbu clan. It was called during the early part of its history. It was located in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, ...

in northern Japan. He was the 40th hereditary chieftain of the

Nanbu clan The was a Japanese samurai clan who ruled most of northeastern Honshū in the Tōhoku region of Japan for over 700 years, from the Kamakura period through the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The Nanbu claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji of Kai Pr ...

Biography

Nanbu Toshihisa was the 3rd son of Nanbu Toshitada, the 12th ''daimyō'' of Morioka Domain and was born in

Morioka is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. On 1 February 2021, the city had an estimated population of 290,700 in 132,719 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . ...

. He was initially adopted by Nanbu Nobunori as heir to

Shichinohe Domain was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan, located in Mutsu Province, Honshū. It was centered at Shichinohe Castle in what is now the modern town of Shichinohe, Aomori in the Kamikita District of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku regi ...

, but was returned to Morioka after the forced retirement of his brother, Nanbu Toshitomo in September 1849. He was received in a 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 ...

, and received the

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 ...

of ''Minō-no-kami'' and Junior 4th Rank, Lower Grade Court rank later the same year. In 1851 he received the additional courtesy title of ''Jijū'' (Chamberlain) and his court rank was increased to Senior 4th Rank. At the time, the domain was divided into a faction supporting Toshitomo, and a faction supporting his father, Toshitada, who was still controlling the domain despite his official retirement. When Toshitomo was forced aside to permit the appointment of the more pliable Toshihisa, the domain erupted into widespread revolt in 1853. The ''

rōjū The , usually translated as '' Elder'', was one of the highest-ranking government posts under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council of Elders as a whole; under the first two ''sh� ...

Abe Masahiro was the chief senior councilor (''rōjū'') in the Tokugawa shogunate of the Bakumatsu period at the time of the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry on his mission to open Japan to the outside world. Abe was instrumental in the eventual signing o ...

responding by placing both Toshitada and Toshitomo under

house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

, thus removing their influence over the government of the domain. In 1861, his courtesy title was changed to ''Sashōshō''. Although he was approached by

Kujō Michitaka , son of regent Kujō Hisatada and adopted son of his brother, Kujō Yukitsune, was a '' kuge'' or Japanese court noble of the late Edo period and politician of the early Meiji era who served as a member of the House of Peers. One of his daughte ...

to support 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 ...

, Toshihisa led the domain into the

Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei The was a Japanese military-political coalition established and disestablished over the course of several months in early to mid-1868 during the Boshin War. Its flag was either a white interwoven five-pointed star on a black field, or a black i ...

during the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

, and fought against the forces of the pro-Meiji

Akita Domain was a feudal domain in Edo period Japan, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Akita Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Kubota Castle in what is now the city of Akita and was thus also known as the . It was governed for the whole of its hi ...

. However, there was little support within the domain for the war, and he formally surrendered to the Meiji government on 9 October 1868. On 7 December, he was ordered to retire and was replaced as ''daimyō'' by his son,

Nanbu Toshiyuki Count was a Bakumatsu period Japanese samurai, and the 15th and final '' daimyō'' of Morioka Domain in northern Japan. He was the 41st hereditary chieftain of the Nanbu clan. Nanbu Yoshiyuki was the eldest son of Nanbu Toshihisa, the 14th ''d ...

ten days later. Three of the senior ''

karō were top-ranking samurai officials and advisors in service to the ''daimyōs'' of feudal Japan. Overview In the Edo period, the policy of ''sankin-kōtai'' (alternate attendance) required each ''daimyō'' to place a ''karō'' in Edo and anoth ...

'' of the domain committed ''

seppuku , sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honour but was also practised by other Japanese people ...

'' rather than submit to the Meiji government. On 30 October 1896, Toshihisa was posthumously awarded Senior Third Rank. His grave is at the temple of

Gokoku-ji is a Shingon Buddhist temple in Tokyo's Bunkyō. History This Buddhist temple was established by the fifth shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, who dedicated it to his mother. It is notable for surviving the American air raids during World War II, w ...

in Tokyo. Toshihisa had at least 11 sons and 6 daughters. His eldest daughter married

Prince Kachō Hirotsune of Japan, was the founder of a ōke, collateral branch of the Imperial Household of Japan, Japanese imperial family. Biography Prince Hirotsune was the twelfth son of Prince Fushimi Kuniye (1802–1875). Hirotsune's father was the twentieth head ...

, and one of his sons was adopted by

Ōkuma Shigenobu Marquess was a Japanese statesman and a prominent member of the Meiji oligarchy. He served as Prime Minister of the Empire of Japan in 1898 and from 1914 to 1916. Ōkuma was also an early advocate of Western science and culture in Japan, and ...

References

* Papinot, Edmond. (1948). ''Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan''. New York: Overbeck Co. *Onodera, Eikō (2005). ''Boshin nanboku sensō to Tōhoku seiken'' Sendai: Kita no mori.

External links

List of Meiji-era Japanese nobility
(accessed 15 August 2008)

(accessed 15 August 2008).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nanbu, Toshihisa 1827 births 1896 deaths Tozama daimyo Nanbu clan People of Edo-period Japan People of the Boshin War