was the 7th Sanada ''

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

Matsushiro Domain 300px, Matsushiro Castle Part of the Matsushiro domain's Edo estate, relocated to Kamakura and used as a hall at Ryuko-ji Temple was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It is located in Shinano Province, Hon ...

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 ...

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

(modern-day

Nagano Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...

), under the

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 ...

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 ...

. 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 ''Shinano-no-kami'', ''Izu-no-kami'', and finally ''Ukyō-no-daifu'', and his Court rank was Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade.

Biography

Sanada Yukinori was the eldest son of Sanada Yukiyoshi (1814-1844), the son and heir of Sanada Yukitsura, but as he was still a minor when his father died, his grandfather Sanada Yukitsura initially came out of retirement to act as regent. He assumed the duties of ''daimyō'' in 1852; however, the following year, the

Perry Expedition The Perry Expedition ( ja, 黒船来航, , "Arrival of the Black Ships") was a diplomatic and military expedition during 1853–1854 to the Tokugawa Shogunate involving two separate voyages by warships of the United States Navy. The goals of thi ...

landed at Uraga, demanding an end to Japan's national isolation policy. Matsushiro Domain was ordered to provide troops to guard the approaches to Edo from the south, and subsequently to guard

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

and to build and man the No.6 gun battery in

Edo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous ...

. These demands were a severe strain on the domain's finances, and the domain's retainers were violently split between supporters of the

and supporters of the imperial cause. Due to Yukinori's youth and poor health, he was barely able to prevent open conflict within the domain, and although the domain had a prominent reformer,

Sakuma Shōzan sometimes called Sakuma Zōzan, was a Japanese politician and scholar of the Edo period. Biography Born Sakuma Kunitada, he was the son of a samurai and scholar and his wife , and a native of (or Shinano Province) in present day's Nagano Pref ...

, Yukinori was unable to prevent his assassination. In 1863, when

Shogun , 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 Ieshige Tokugawa Ieshige; 徳川家重 (January 28, 1712 – July 13, 1761) was the ninth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. The first son of Tokugawa Yoshimune, his mother was the daughter of Ōkubo Tadanao, known as Osuma no kata. ...

decided to go to

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

, Sanada Yorinori was ordered to report to Yokohama in person to take responsibility for the defenses of the

Port of Yokohama The is operated by the Port and Harbor Bureau of the City of Yokohama in Japan. It opens onto Tokyo Bay. The port is located at a latitude of 35.27–00°N and a longitude of 139.38–46°E. To the south lies the Port of Yokosuka; to the north ...

. Unwilling to go, he decided to retire and in 1866, after reviewing several possible candidates, selected the eldest son of

Date Munenari __NOTOC__ The Marquis was the eighth head of the Uwajima Domain during the Late Tokugawa shogunate and a politician of the early Meiji era. Early life Munenari was born in Edo, the 4th son of the hatamoto Yamaguchi Naokatsu. Munenari, then k ...

Uwajima Domain 270px, Date Munenari 270px, Uwajima Date Museum was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now western Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Uwajima Castle, and was ruled throu ...

as his heir. He was married to a daughter of Matsudaira Yorihiro of

Takamatsu Domain 270px, Matsudaira Yoritoshi. pre-1903 270px, Takamatsu Castle Tsukimi Yagura was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now Kagawa Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Takamatsu C ...

, but had no heir. However, after his retirement, he quickly had four sons by as many concubines, and one of these sons, Sanada Yukiyo (1870-1948) was ennobled with the title of baron (''danshaku'') for his services in the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the po ...

. Sanada Yukinori died in 1869 at the age of 34.

References

* ''The content of much of this article was derived from that of the corresponding article on Japanese Wikipedia.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanada, Yukinori Fudai daimyo Sanada clan 1836 births 1869 deaths