was a

Sō clan were a Japanese clan claiming descent from Taira no Tomomori. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Toki," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 56 retrieved 2013-5-10. The clan go ...

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 ...

'' (feudal lord) of the island domain of Tsushima at the end of Japan's

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 ...

. Yoshinori was the head of the Sō clan from 1842 through 1862.

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Sō ''Tsushima-no-kami'' was a senior member of the Imperial Commission which was delegated the responsibility of meeting with Commodore Perry and his men on March 8, 1854. He sat next to ''Daigaku-no-kami'' Hayashi Akira in the conference meeting. * March 8, 1854 ('' Kaei 7, 10th day of the 2nd month''): Commodore Perry returned to

Edo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous a ...

to force Japanese agreement to the

Treaty of Kanagawa The Convention of Kanagawa, also known as the Kanagawa Treaty (, ''Kanagawa Jōyaku'') or the Japan–US Treaty of Peace and Amity (, ''Nichibei Washin Jōyaku''), was a treaty signed between the United States and the Tokugawa Shogunate on March ...

; and the chief Japanese negotiator was ''Daigaku-no kami'' Hayashi Akira, who was known to the Americans as "Prince Commissioner Hayashi".Sewall, John S. (1905). ''The Logbook of the Captain's Clerk: Adventures in the China Seas'', Bangor, Maine: Chas H. Glass & Co. eprint by Chicago: R. R. Donnelly & Sons, 1995. p.lxiv In the context of this unique negotiation with the Americans, Yoshinori's rank was considered secondary only to Hayashi. Perry construed his counterparts as an Imperial Commission consisting of five Commissioners with supporting staff and military support: * Hayashi ''Daigaku-no-kami''; * Sō Yoshinori ''Tsushima-no-kami'' – Americanized as "Ido, Prince of Tsus-sima"; * Izawa ''Mimasaki-no-kami'' – Americanized as "Izawa, Prince of Mimasaki", named "governor" of the newly elevated "Imperial" city of Shimoda "United States Treaty with Japan; an Account of Commodore Perry's Second Visit to Japan"
''Daily Southern Cross'' (Aukland), Vol. XI, Issue 759, 6 October 1854, p. 3. * U-dono ''Minboi-shiogū'' – Americanized as "Udono, member of the Board of Revenue"; * "Matsusaki Michitaro".

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See also

References

Further reading