was the 13th
daimyo of
Chōshū Domain. His
domain was a traditional enemy of the
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868.
The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...
, and he became a key player in its downfall during the
Bakumatsu
were the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate Meiji Restoration, ended. Between 1853 and 1867, under foreign diplomatic and military pressure, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a Feudali ...
period. He was also the first daimyo to return his lands to the Emperor during the
abolition of the han system. He was later allowed to use a character from the name of shōgun
Tokugawa Ieyoshi and changed his name to Yoshichika (慶親).
Life
He was born on March 5, 1819, the first son of
Fukubara Fusamasa (later known as Mōri Narimoto) and a concubine from the Harada clan. His father later became the 11th daimyo of
Chōshū Domain. His father was the first son of
Mōri Chikaaki, but at the time of Takachika's birth, his father was the adopted son of
Fukubara Fusazumi, the head of the
Fukubara clan, one of the eight ''
karō'' families of the domain. On August 28, 1819, his father returned to the Mōri main family, and on September 10, he was adopted by
Mōri Narihiro and changed his name to Narimoto, later becoming the next daimyo of the domain.
He employed
Murata Seifū,
Tsuboi Kuemon and
Sufu Masanosuke as reformers of the economy and administration in his domain.
Events during his reign include the
Bombardment of Shimonoseki, the
Ikedaya Incident, the
Kinmon incident, the
First Chōshū expedition and
Second Chōshū expedition, the
Satchō Alliance and the
Boshin War.
He was the first daimyo to return his lands to the
Emperor
The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
during the
abolition of the han system.
See also
*
Meirinkan
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mori, Takachika
People from Yamaguchi Prefecture
Daimyo
1819 births
1871 deaths
Mōri clan
Deified Japanese men