Viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is ...

, was the 11th ''

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 no ...

'' of Mineyama Domain,

Tango Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of northern Kyoto Prefecture. Tango bordered on Tanba Province, Tanba to the south, Tajima Province, Tajima to the west, and Wakasa Province, Wakasa to the east. Its abbreviated form name ...

, Japan during the

Bakumatsu period were the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, under foreign diplomatic and military pressure, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunat ...

Biography

Kyōgoku Takatomi was the eldest son of Kyōgoku Takakage, the 10th ''daimyō'' of Mineyama. His childhood name was Keijirō. His wife was a daughter of Inagaki Nagakata of Toba Domain. In 1849, he became ''daimyō'' on the retirement of his father and received the courtesy title of ''Bitchū-no-kami'', which he later changed to ''Suo-no-kami''. In 1857, he was appointed an ''Obangashira'', and in 1861 took part in campaigns to suppress the Tenchūgumi and other pro-''

sonnō jōi was a '' yojijukugo'' (four-character compound) phrase used as the rallying cry and slogan of a political movement in Japan in the 1850s and 1860s, during the Bakumatsu period. Based on Neo-Confucianism and Japanese nativism, the movement sou ...

'' movements. In 1866 he rose to the position of ''

wakadoshiyori The ', or "Junior Elders", were high government officials in the Edo period Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1867). The position was established around 1633, but appointments were irregular until 1662. The four to six ''wakadoshiyori'' we ...

'' under Shogun

Tokugawa Iemochi (17 July 1846 – 29 August 1866) was the 14th '' shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, who held office from 1858 to 1866. During his reign there was much internal turmoil as a result of the "re-opening" of Japan to western nations. I ...

Totman, Conrad. (1980)
''The Collapse of the Tokugawa Bakufu: 1862-1868,'' p. 516 n49
and during the

Second Chōshū expedition The Second Chōshū expedition (), also called the Summer War, was a punitive expedition led by the Tokugawa shogunate against the Chōshū Domain. It followed the First Chōshū expedition of 1864. Campaign The Second Chōshū expedition was a ...

was ordered to lead the Tokugawa army across

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

and to attack

Chōshū Domain The , also known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871.Deal, William E. (2005) ''Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan,'' p. 81 The Chōshū Domain was based ...

from the seaward approaches. He advanced as far as

Matsuyama 270px, Matsuyama City Hall 270px, Ehime Prefectural Capital Building is the capital city of Ehime Prefecture, on the island of Shikoku, in Japan and is also Shikoku's largest city. , the city had an estimated population of 505,948 in 243,541 h ...

Iyo Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of northwestern Shikoku.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Iyo bordered on Sanuki Province to the northeast, Awa Province (Tokushima), Awa to the east ...

when the expedition was called off. The following year, he returned home to oversee the military preparations of his own domain, but was soon called upon by the Shogunate to oversee Army affairs at the end of October 1867, followed by the position of ''Kaigun bugyō'' overseeing Naval affairs from early December. He resigned his positions in February 1868 and attempted the change allegiance to the new

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...

.幕末英傑録幕末諸藩の戦歴九
/ref> The Meiji authorities were initially suspicious and rejected his offer, but seeing that his adopted son, Kyōgoku Takanobu had already pledged fealty to

Emperor Meiji , posthumously honored as , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the List of emperors of Japan, traditional order of succession, reigning from 1867 until his death in 1912. His reign is associated with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ...

and had sent troops in support of the imperial armies, his petition was eventually granted. However, a few months later, complaining of chest pains, he retired from public life and returned to his domains. In 1875, after the retirement of his adopted son, he resumed chieftainship of the clan. He was given the ''

kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. It was formed by merging the feudal lords (''Daimyo, daimyō'') and court nobles (''kuge'') into one system modelled after the British peerage. Distin ...

'' peerage title of ''shishaku'' (

viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is ...

) in 1884. He died on February 9, 1889, at the age of 55 and his grave is at the Buddhist temple of Joryu-ji in Yoshiwara, Mineyama-chō,

Kyōtango is a Cities of Japan, city located in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 52,683 in 22,886 households and a population density of 110 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kyōtango is locate ...

city, Kyoto.

Notes

References

* Beasley, William G. (1990). ''The Rise of Modern Japan: Political, Economic and Social Change Since 1850.'' New York: St. Martin's Press. (cloth) * Jansen, Marius B. (2000). ''The Making of Modern Japan.'' Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
OCLC 44090600
* .

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyogoku, Takatomi 1836 births 1889 deaths Tozama daimyo Kazoku Wakadoshiyori Kyōgoku clan

Biography

See also

Notes

References

External links