was the 2nd ''

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

Kuroishi Domain was a '' tozama'' feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It is located in northwestern Mutsu Province, Honshū. Its territory included 2000 ''koku'' in the area around present-day city of Kuroishi, 1000 ''koku'' in pr ...

, and later the 11th ''daimyō'' of

Hirosaki Domain Hirosaki Castle, the seat of the Hirosaki Domain , also known as , was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period JapanRavina, Mark. (1998) ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan,'' p. 222 It is located in Mutsu Province, in northern Honsh� ...

in northern

Mutsu Province was an old province of Japan in the area of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori Prefectures and the municipalities of Kazuno and Kosaka in Akita Prefecture. Mutsu Province is also known as or . The term is often used to refer to the comb ...

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 (modern-day

Aomori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, ...

). His courtesy title was '' Ōsumi-no-kami'', and his Court rank was Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade.

Biography

Tsugaru Yukitsugu was born as Matsudaira Yukinori, the 5th son of

Matsudaira Nobuakira 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 ...

, the ''

'' of

Yoshida Domain was a Japanese feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Mikawa Province located in eastern Mikawa Province (modern-day eastern Aichi Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Yoshida Castle in what is now the cit ...

Mikawa Province was an old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mikawa''" in . Its abbreviated form name was . Mikawa bordered on Owari, Mino, Shinano, and Tōtōmi Provinces. Mik ...

. He was adopted on June 5, 1821, as the heir to

Tsugaru Chikatari was the 1st ''daimyō'' of Kuroishi Domain in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, Japan (modern-day Aomori Prefecture). His courtesy title was '' Kai-no-kami'', and his Court rank was Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade. Biography Tsugaru Chikatar ...

, the ''daimyō'' of

. On his adoptive father’s retirement, as Tsugaru Yukinori, he became the 2nd ''daimyō'' of Kuroishi Domain from 1825 to 1839. He was known as an intelligent ruler, and worked for the restoration of the domain's finances during the political and agricultural crisis of the

Tenpō was a after '' Bunsei'' and before '' Kōka.'' The period spanned from December 1830 through December 1844. The reigning emperor was . Introduction Change of era * December 10, 1830 () : In the 13th year of ''Bunsei'', the new era name of ' ...

era. After the

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 ...

forced

Tsugaru Nobuyuki was the 10th ''daimyō'' of Hirosaki Domain in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, Japan (modern-day Aomori Prefecture). His courtesy title was '' Dewa-no-kami'', to which was later added title ''Jujū'', and his court rank was Junior Fourth Ra ...

into retirement over allegations of gross misrule, Yukinori was ordered to change his name to Tsugaru Yukitsugu and to take his place as the 11th ''daimyō'' of Hirosaki. He turned the rule of Kuroishi Domain over to his brother, Tsugaru Tsuguyasu. Yukitsugu brought in the noted

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...

scholar Satō Issai as an advisor and attempted to continue implementation many of the reforms initiated by

Tsugaru Nobuakira was the 8th ''daimyō'' of Hirosaki Domain in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, Japan (modern-day Aomori Prefecture). His courtesy title was '' Tosa-no-kami'', and his Court rank was Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade. Biography Tsugaru Nobuyasu w ...

to restore prosperity to the disaster-prone domain, expanding on Nobuakira’s code of ethics from five articles to thirty in an attempt to rein in his unruly retainers. In addition to expanding the domain's agricultural land through opening of new

paddy field A paddy field is a flooded field (agriculture), field of arable land used for growing Aquatic plant, semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in sout ...

s, Yukitsugu also established a foundry for the casting of cannons, and attempted to modernize the domain's military and medical levels through the introduction of ''

rangaku ''Rangaku'' (Kyūjitai: /Shinjitai: , literally "Dutch learning", and by extension "Western learning") is a body of knowledge developed by Japan through its contacts with the Dutch enclave of Dejima, which allowed Japan to keep abreast of Wester ...

'' studies. In 1855, the domain was ordered to assist in the defences of

Ezo (also spelled Yezo or Yeso) is the Japanese term historically used to refer to the lands to the north of the Japanese island of Honshu. It included the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, which changed its name from "Ezo" to "Hokkaidō" in 18 ...

, and established a military outpost of what the now the city of

Wakkanai ' meaning "cold water river" is a city located in Sōya Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of Sōya Subprefecture. It contains Japan's northernmost point, Cape Sōya, from which the Russian island of Sakhalin can be seen. As of ...

. In 1859 Yukitsugu turned the reign over to his adopted son,

Tsugaru Tsuguakira Count was the 12th and final ''daimyō'' of Hirosaki Domain in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, Japan (modern-day Aomori Prefecture). His courtesy title was '' Tosa-no-kami'', which was later upgraded to ''Etchū-no-kami'' and ''Jiju'', and hi ...

, and retired to pursue studies in literature and ''waka'' poetry. He died at the clan's Edo residence in 1865. His grave is at the clan temple of Shinryō-in (a subsidiary of

Kan'ei-ji (also spelled Kan'eiji or Kaneiji) is a Tendai Buddhist temple in Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1625 during the Kan'ei era by Tenkai, in an attempt to emulate the powerful religious center Enryaku-ji, in Kyoto. The main object of worship is .Nihon Re ...

) in Taitō-ku,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

References

* Kurotaki, Jūjirō (1984). ''Tsugaru-han no hanzai to keibatsu'' 津軽藩の犯罪と刑罰. Hirosaki: Hoppō shinsha. * Narita, Suegorō (1975). ''Tsugaru Tamenobu: shidan'' 津軽為信: 史談. Aomori: Tōō Nippōsha. * Tsugaru Tsuguakira Kō Den kankōkai (1976). ''Tsugaru Tsuguakira kō-den'' 津輕承昭公傳. Tokyo: Rekishi Toshosha * ''The content of much of this article was derived from that of the corresponding article on Japanese Wikipedia.''

External links

"Hirosaki-jō"
(17 February 2008)

(17 February 2008) *Koyasu Nobushige (1880). ''Buke kazoku meiyoden'' 武家家族名誉伝 Volume 1. Tokyo: Koyasu Nobushige. (Accessed fro

17 July 2008) , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Tsugaru, Yukitsugu Tozama daimyo Ōkōchi-Matsudaira clan Tsugaru clan 1800 births 1865 deaths People of Edo-period Japan

Biography

See also

References

External links