Yamauchi Toyoshige , also known as , was a Japanese ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominall ...

'' in the

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), ...

region in the late

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)
"Yamauchi Toyoshige"
in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 1045. He was usually referred to as “Lord Yōdō” in Western accounts.

Career

Yamauchi was the 15th head of the

Tosa Domain The was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, controlling all of Tosa Province in what is now Kōchi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Kōchi Castle, and was ruled throughout its ...

. He opposed the

treaties A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pers ...

of the '' Ansei'' era. In 1859, he was forced to retire. In 1862 he was appointed sanyo (参与). After the assassination of his

favourite A favourite (British English) or favorite (American English) was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In post-classical and early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated s ...

Yoshida Tōyō in 1862, he ordered an investigation into the local anti-foreigner samurai groups, suspecting them of terrorism. These efforts culminated in the arrest and subsequent suicide of political rogue Takechi Hanpeita, who ordered the hitokiri Okada Izō, in 1865. In 1867 he advised Shōgun

Tokugawa Yoshinobu Prince was the 15th and last ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful. He resigned of his position as shogun in late 1867, while aiming ...

to carry out ''

Taisei Houkan Taisei may refer to: * , a historical Japanese name for the "Far West Far West may refer to: Places * Western Canada, or the West ** British Columbia Coast * Western United States, or Far West ** West Coast of the United States * American fronti ...

'' (大政奉還), the return of power to the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( e ...

, which he carried out later that year. In 1871, Yamauchi was appointed governor of the new Kochi Prefecture.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yamanouchi, Toyoshige Daimyo 1827 births 1872 deaths Boshin War People from Tosa Domain People of the Boshin War People of Meiji-period Japan Meiji Restoration Deified Japanese people

Career

See also

References