Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

was a Japanese political figure of the late Meiji through early

Shōwa period Shōwa may refer to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu Japanese eras * Jōwa (Heian ...

s, and served as President of the House of Peers in the Diet of Japan.

Biography

Yorinaga Matsudaira was the eighth son of Matsudaira Yoritoshi, the former ''

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 nominal ...

'' of

Matsuyama Domain 270px, Matsudaira Katsushige, 13th daimyō of Iyo-Matsuyama Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now central Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Matsuyama Cast ...

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'' (), '' ...

. His mother, Chiyoko, was the daughter of

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 ...

and his wife was the daughter of

Tokugawa Akitake was a younger half-brother of the Japanese Shōgun Tokugawa Yoshinobu and final daimyō of Mito Domain. He represented the Tokugawa shogunate at the courts of several European powers during the final days of Bakumatsu period Japan. Biography ...

, head of the Mito branch of the

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty that was formerly a powerful ''daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji) through the Matsudaira clan. The early history of this clan r ...

. He attended the

Gakushūin The or Peers School (Gakushūin School Corporation), initially known as Gakushūjo, is a Japanese educational institution in Tokyo, originally established to educate the children of Japan's nobility. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2002)"Gakushū- ...

Peer’s School, and with the sponsorship of

Ōkuma Shigenobu Marquess was a Japanese statesman and a prominent member of the Meiji oligarchy. He served as Prime Minister of the Empire of Japan in 1898 and from 1914 to 1916. Ōkuma was also an early advocate of Western science and culture in Japan, and ...

, graduated from the law school of

Waseda University , mottoeng = Independence of scholarship , established = 21 October 1882 , type = Private , endowment = , president = Aiji Tanaka , city = Shinjuku , state = Tokyo , country = Japan , students = 47,959 , undergrad = 39,382 , postgrad ...

. district of Tokyo, as the eldest son of

Tokugawa Iesato Prince was the first head of the Tokugawa clan after the overthrow of the Tokugawa bakufu, and a significant figure in Japanese politics and diplomacy during the Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa period Japan. When Prince Tokugawa travelled t ...

. In 1909 he became a member of the House of Peers, and continued to serve as a member every year (except for a hiatus between 1911–1914) until his death. A strong supporter of education, he donated a large property in downtown Tokyo to create the Hongo Gakuin school. In 1933, he was made Vice-President of the House of Peers, breaking with the precedent that only men with the rank of princes or marquis could service in the highest level positions. Four years later, when Fumimaro Konoe became

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan (Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Sta ...

, Yorinaga Matsudaira became the President of the House of Peers. He died while in office, and was posthumously awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, 1st class with Paulownia Flowers. His grave is at the

Yanaka Cemetery is a large cemetery located north of Ueno in Yanaka 7-chome, Taito, Tokyo, Japan. The Yanaka sector of Taito is one of the few Tokyo neighborhoods in which the old Shitamachi atmosphere can still be felt. The cemetery is famous for its beautif ...

in Tokyo. His nephew Yorihiro Matsudaira succeeded him in his peerage. Yorinaga Matsudaira was also a noted collector of miniature bonsai, and served as honorary president of the Kofuku Bonsai Association. His collection eventually reached a thousand specimens, but many were destroyed after his death during World War II. Around two hundred specimens were preserved by his widow, who wrote an article for the 1953 ''Handbook on Dwarf Potted Trees'' issued by the

Brooklyn Botanic Garden Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is a botanical garden in the borough of Brooklyn, New York City. It was founded in 1910 using land from Mount Prospect Park in central Brooklyn, adjacent to Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Museum. The garden holds ...

. In 1975, she published a book in Japanese, ''Matsudaira Mame Bonsai Collection Album'', which included photos of the couple.

Ancestry

References

*Lebra, Sugiyama Takie. ''Above the Clouds: Status Culture of the Modern Japanese Nobility''. University of California Press (1995). * Sims, Richard. ''Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868–2000''. Palgrave Macmillan.

External links

Hongo Gakuin homepage
(Japanese)

(Japanese)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matsudaira Yorinaga 1874 births 1944 deaths Waseda University alumni Matsudaira clan Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Kazoku Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers