was a Japanese ''

kugyō is the collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the Emperor of Japan in pre- Meiji eras. The term generally referred to the and court officials and denoted a court rank between First Rank and Third Rank un ...

'' (court noble) during the

Bakumatsu 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 government ...

period.

Life

Takatsukasa Sukekimi was born on December 22, 1821. His father was

Takatsukasa Masamichi was a Japanese court noble of the late Edo period. He held the regent position of kampaku from 1823–1856. Biography Masamichi was born the son of regent Takatsukasa Masahiro. He served as kampaku from 1823–1856. In 1856, at the Ansei Pur ...

and his mother was a daughter of

Tokugawa Harutoshi was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Edo period, who ruled the Mito Domain. His childhood name was Tsuruchiyo (鶴千代). Family * Father: Tokugawa Harumori (1751-1805) * Mother: Yayohime, daughter of Ichijo Michika * Wife: Manhime, daughter of ...

. He was also the adopted son of Tokudaiji Sanekata. Amongst his children were

Tokudaiji Sanetsune ''With information translated from the Japanese Wikipedia article'' Duke was a Japanese statesman and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan in the Meiji era. Life Tokydaiji Sanetsune was born to a branch of the Fujiwara court nobility in Ky ...

Saionji Kinmochi Prince was a Japanese politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1906 to 1908 and from 1911 to 1912. He was elevated from marquis to prince in 1920. As the last surviving member of Japan's ''genrō,'' he was the most in ...

, Suehiro Takemaro and Sumitomo Tomoito. In 1850, Kin'ito became ''

dainagon was a counselor of the first rank in the Imperial court of Japan. The role dates from the 7th century. This advisory position remained a part of the Imperial court from the 8th century until the Meiji period in the 19th century.Nussbaum, "Dainag ...

''. He was made a ''gisō'' in 1857. In 1858,

Emperor Kōmei was the 121st Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')孝明天皇 (121)/ref> Kōmei's reign spanned the years from 1846 through 1867, corresponding to the final years of the ...

appointed Kin'ito and Ichijō Tadaka as his emissaries to the

Ise Grand Shrine The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is a shrine complex composed of many Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and . The Inn ...

. After the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, Kin'ito was purged by

Ii Naosuke was ''daimyō'' of Hikone (1850–1860) and also Tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan, a position he held from April 23, 1858, until his death, assassinated in the Sakuradamon Incident on March 24, 1860. He is most famous for signing the Ha ...

during the

Ansei Purge was a multi-year event in Japanese history of the Edo period between 1858 and 1860, during which the Tokugawa shogunate imprisoned, executed, or exiled those who did not support its authority and foreign trade policies. The purge was undertaken by ...

for fifty days because he opposed the rights of the treaty. However, he was forgiven after one month. Kin'ito then promoted the '' kōbu gattai'' policy with Nijō Nariyuki and opposed the marriage between

Princess Kazu (''Kazunomiya'') was the wife of 14th ''shōgun'' Tokugawa Iemochi. She was renamed Lady Seikan'in-no-miya after she took the tonsure as a widow. She was the great-great-great aunt of Emperor Akihito, who reigned from 1989 to 2019. Biography ...

and

Tokugawa Iemochi (July 17, 1846 – August 29, 1866) was the 14th ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, who held office from 1858 to 1866. During his reign there was much internal turmoil as a result of the "re-opening" of Japan to western nations. ...

, for which he resigned under pressure from the shogunate. After that, he returned home and became a minor official (''shissei''). His public duties were also being targeted in political fluctuations, and in 1863, his vassals were killed by ''

rōnin A ''rōnin'' ( ; ja, 浪人, , meaning 'drifter' or 'wanderer') was a samurai without a lord or master during the feudal period of Japan (1185–1868). A samurai became masterless upon the death of his master or after the loss of his master's ...

'' who opposed the civil war. After the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, Tokudaiji remained in

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 ...

. He died on November 5, 1883 at the age of 61.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tokudaiji, Kin'ito 1821 births 1883 deaths Kazoku People of Bakumatsu People of Meiji-period Japan Takatsukasa family Tokudaiji family Parents of prime ministers of Japan