was a Japanese samurai who was an influential figure of 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 ...

. His childhood name was Shizasaburo (鎮三郎).

Biography

The son of

Matsudaira Yoshitatsu The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan. It originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture). During the Sengoku period, the chieftain of the main line of t ...

of Takasu han, his brothers included the famous

Matsudaira Katamori Matsudaira Katamori after the Meiji restoration was a samurai who lived in Bakumatsu period and the early to mid Meiji period Japan. He was the 9th ''daimyō'' of the Aizu Domain and the Kyoto Shugoshoku (Military Commissioner of Kyoto). He in ...

Matsudaira Sadaaki was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Bakumatsu period, who was the last ruler of the Kuwana Domain. Sadaaki was the adopted heir of Matsudaira Sadamichi, the descendant of Sadatsuna, the third son of Hisamatsu Sadakatsu (1569–1623), who was Tok ...

, and

Tokugawa Yoshikatsu was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the late Edo period, who ruled the Owari Domain as its 14th (1849–1858) and 17th daimyō (1870–1880). He was the brother of Matsudaira Katamori. His childhood name was Hidenosuke (秀之助). Early years Yoshik ...

. Together, the four men were known as the Takasu yon-kyōdai 高須四兄弟, or "Four Brothers of Takasu". First serving as ''

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 his native

Takasu Domain The was a Japanese domain located in Mino Province (present-day Kaizu, Gifu). For most of its history, it was ruled by the Takasu-Matsudaira, a branch of the Tokugawa clan of Owari Domain. Matsudaira Katamori, Matsudaira Sadaaki, Tokugawa Yoshi ...

, and then the

Owari Domain The was a feudal domain of Japan in the Edo period. Located in what is now the western part of Aichi Prefecture, it encompassed parts of Owari, Mino, and Shinano provinces. Its headquarters were at Nagoya Castle. At its peak, it was rated at ...

, Mochiharu retired before succeeding to the headship of the Hitotsubashi branch of the Tokugawa house. An important figure in the Bakumatsu period, he eventually retired the Hitotsubashi headship in favor of his son Satomichi.

Family

* Father: Matsudaira Yoshitatsu (1800-1862) * Mother: Norihime, 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 ...

* Wife: Masahime, daughter of

Niwa Nagatomi was an Edo period Japanese samurai, and the 9th ''daimyō'' of Nihonmatsu Domain in the Tōhoku region of Japan. He was the 10th hereditary chieftain of the Niwa clan. His courtesy title was ''Saikyō-no-daifu'', and his Court rank was Junio ...

* Children: ** Matsudaira Yoshimasa (1858-1860) by Masahime ** Tokugawa Satomichi by Masahime

Biography

Family

References

Notes

Further reading