was the 9th '' daimyō'' of Suwa 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 ...

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 ...

) and hereditary chieftain of the Suwa clan. 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 ...

s before the Meiji restoration were ''Inaba-no-kami'' and ''Jijū'', and his Court rank was Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade, which was posthumously raised to Third Rank.

Biography

Suwa Tadamasa was the eldest son of Suwa Tadamichi and became ''daimyō'' in 1840 on the retirement of his father. He was strongly supported by his uncle, Matsudaira Sadanobu and rose to the post of '' wakadoshiyori'' in 1860, '' jisha-bugyō'' in 1862 and '' rōjū'' in 1864. As this was during the tumultuous Bakumatsu period, during which time the Tokugawa shogunate was forced to sign treaties with the Western powers to end Japan's self-imposed national isolation policy, Yorimasa played a role in the negotiations. Together with fellow ''rōjū'',

Makino Tadayuki was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the late Edo period.Meyer, Eva-Maria"Gouverneure von Kyôto in der Edo-Zeit". University of Tübingen (in German). The Makino were identified as one of the '' fudai'' or insider ''daimyō'' clans which were heredit ...

of Nagaoka Domain, he strenuously opposed the Second Chōshū expedition, and resigned his posts when the shogunate proceed with the punitive campaign against

Chōshū Domain The , also known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871.Deal, William E. (2005) ''Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan,'' p. 81 The Chōshū Domain was base ...

. In 1868, he also retired as ''daimyō'' in favor of his nephew,

Suwa Tadaaya Takashima Castle, administrative centre of Suwa Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It was located in Shinano Province, Honshū. The domain was centered at Takashima Castle, located in what is now part ...

. Suwa Domain played no role in 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 after the Meiji restoration and the

abolition of the han system The in the Empire of Japan and its replacement by a system of prefectures in 1871 was the culmination of the Meiji Restoration begun in 1868, the starting year of the Meiji period. Under the reform, all daimyos (, ''daimyō'', feudal lords) ...

in 1871, he relocated to Tokyo. From 1874 to 1879, he was appointed '' kannushi'' of the Shiba Tōshō-gū, a

Shinto Shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The '' honden''Also called (本殿, meani ...

dedicated to the previous Shoguns of the Tokugawa clan in Tokyo. After the death of Suwa Tadaaya in 1878, he resumed his position as chieftain of the Suwa clan. he was reappointed ''kannushi'' of the Shiba Tōshō-gū from 1882 to 1889. In 1884 he became a viscount (''shisaku'') under the '' kazoku'' peerage system. His court rank was increased to Senior Fourth Rank in 1887. From 1891 to 1895, he returned to Suwa and became the head ''kannushi'' of Suwa Shrine. He then returned to his post at the Shiba Tōshō-gū until his death in 1898. HIs wife was a daughter of

Matsudaira Norihiro was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the mid to late Edo period, who ruled the Nishio Domain. Norihiro held a variety of positions in the Tokugawa shogunate, including ''rōjū'' and ''Kyoto Shoshidai''. He was the father of Makino Tadayuki, another h ...

Nishio Domain was a feudal domain of the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in former Mikawa Province, in what is now the modern-day city of Nishio in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It was centered on Nishio Castle. History When Tokugawa Ieyasu beca ...

and 38th '' Kyoto Shoshidai''. After her death, he remarried to a daughter of Matsudaira Yasutō and ''40th Kyoto Shoshidai''. HIs third wife was a daughter of Kutsuki Tsuneeda of Fukuchiyama Domain. His grave is at the Suwa clan temple of Kisshō-ji in Bunkyo, Tokyo.

References

* ''The content of much of this article was derived from that of the corresponding article on Japanese Wikipedia.'' {{Authority control Fudai daimyo Suwa clan 1821 births 1898 deaths Wakadoshiyori Rōjū Kannushi Kazoku