was a
Sengoku period samurai and early
Edo period ''
daimyō'' under the
Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. 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 ''Kunai-no-taifu''.
Biography
Sakai Tadakatsu was the sixth son of
Sakai Ietsugu, castellan of
Yoshida Castle and son of
Sakai Tadatsugu (1527–1596), who was a vassal of
Tokugawa Ieyasu. Tadakatsu's childhood name was Kogōrō, and when he underwent his ''
genpuku'' ceremony, he was awarded a ''
kanji'' from the name of
Shōgun Tokugawa Hidetada as a special mark of favor, becoming "Tadakatsu".
[Plutschow, Herbert. (1995)]
"Japan's Name Culture: The Significance of Names in a Religious, Political and Social Context,'' p.53.
/ref>
He became ''daimyō'' of Takada Domain in 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 ...
(100,000 koku) on the death of his father in 1618. However, only one year later, he was transferred to Matsushiro Domain in Shinano Province
or is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture.
Shinano bordered on Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, whi ...
by order of the shogunate, with the same nominal ''kokudaka''. Three years later, in 1622, when the shogunate dispossessed the Mogami clan, Tadakatsu was transferred again, to become ''daimyō'' of Shōnai Domain. At that time, his ''kokudaka'' was increased to 138,000 ''koku''. One of his first actions on becoming ''daimyō'' of Shōnai was to begin the construction of Tsuruoka Castle as a replacement for the dilapidated Kamegasaki Castle. However, the completed Tsuruoka Castle was given to his grandson, Sakai Tadayoshi, and he continued to reside at the old Kamegasaki Castle after his retirement. It was unusual for a domain, especially of this size, to have two castles in violation of the shogunate's "one domain - one castle" edict, and was a mark of the high standing the Sakai clan enjoyed within the shogunate. On the other hand, funding of this castle resulted in higher taxation, which caused unrest in the domain, even to the point where petitions were sent directly to the shogunate in 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 ...
in 1634 complaining about misgovernment.
In his final years, Tadakatsu instigated an '' O-Ie Sōdō'' by attempting to disinherit his own son, Sakai Tadamasa, in favor of his younger brother, Sakai Tadashige in 1642. This action was greatly opposed by the domain's senior advisors and '' karō'' and Tadakatsu died in 1647 before the issue was resolved. The ō Matsudaira Nobutsuna ruled in favor of Sakai Tadamasa as successor.
References
Papinot, Edmond. (1906) ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du japon''. Tokyo: Librarie Sansaish
..Click link for digitized 1906 ''Nobiliaire du japon'' (2003)
*Asano Gengo 浅野源吾(1976). ''Shōnai-han shi'' 庄內藩史. Ed. by Tōhoku Shinkōkai 東北振興会. Tokyo: Tōyō shoin 東洋書院.
* ''The content of much of this article was derived from that of the corresponding article on Japanese Wikipedia.''
Footnotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sakai, Tadakatsu (Shonai)
1594 births
1647 deaths
Fudai daimyo
Sakai clan