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 Tsu Domain under the late

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

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 the 19th hereditary chieftain of the Tōdō clan. Takayuki's sudden betrayal of the Tokugawa forces at the

Battle of Toba–Fushimi The occurred between pro-Imperial and Tokugawa shogunate forces during the Boshin War in Japan. The battle started on 27 January 1868 (or fourth year of Keiō, first month, 3rd day, according to the lunar calendar), when the forces of the sho ...

during the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a coalition seeking to seize political power in the name of the Impe ...

was one of the decisive factors which turned the battle in the imperial army's favor.

Biography

Takayuki was born in 1813 as the son of the previous ''daimyō'' of Tsu Domain, Tōdō Takasawa. His mother was a daughter of the ''daimyō'' of

Tanakura Domain was a ''fudai'' Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It is located in southern Mutsu Province, Honshū. The domain was centered at Tanagura Castle, located in what is now part of the town of Tanagura, Fuk ...

, Nagai Naonobu. He succeeded his father as ''daimyō'' at the age of 11. That year, he was received in formal audience by

Shogun , officially , was the title of the military aristocracy, rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor of Japan, Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, exc ...

Tokugawa Ienari Tokugawa Ienari (, 18 November 1773 – 22 March 1841) was the eleventh and longest-serving ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan who held office from 1787 to 1837.Hall, John Whitney ''et al.'' (1991) ''Early Modern Japan'', p. 21./ref> ...

and two years later was accorded the

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but is rather used by custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some context ...

s of ''Izumi-no-kam'' and ''jijū'', and Junior Fourth court rank.His courtesy title was promoted to ''Sakon'e-no-shosho'' (左少将) in 1840. In 1842, as concern over the increasing incursions of foreign ''kurofune'' warships into Japanese waters grew, the shogunate ordered Tsu Domain to assume guard duties over

Ise Grand Shrine The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the solar goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami and the grain goddess Toyouke-hime (Toyouke Omikami). Also known simply as , Ise Shrine is a shrine complex composed of many Shi ...

, which included the construction of artillery batteries. Saitō Satsudō, the head of the domain academy, incorporated ''

rangaku ''Rangaku'' (Kyūjitai: , ), and by extension , is a body of knowledge developed by Japan through its contacts with the Dutch enclave of Dejima, which allowed Japan to keep abreast of Western technology and medicine in the period when the countr ...

'' technology to build modern batteries and attempted to modernize the domain’s military. Tōdō Takayuki also attempted to introduce other forms of western science, including photography, by sponsoring equipment and a laboratory for Ueno Hikoma at the domain’s residence in Edo.Himeno, p. 24. In 1861, Tōdō Takayuki was further promoted to ''Sakon'e-no-chusho'' (左中将). Tōdō Takayuki promoted the policy of '' Kōbu gattai'' aimed to strengthen political coordination between the

and the Japanese Imperial Court, but he was not very involved in the shogunate administration. During the Tenchūgumi Incident in 1863, the domain was called upon to send forces to

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

to help suppress the 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 ...

'' rebels; however, as with many domains during the tumultuous Bakumatsu period, the samurai of the domain were divided into factions between those to supported the ''sonnō jōi'' movement and those remaining loyal to the shogunate. At the

at the start of the

, the forces of Tsu Domain initially supported the Tokugawa side; however, when the battle began to turn in the favor of the

Satchō Alliance The , or was a powerful military alliance between the southwestern feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū formed in 1866 to combine their efforts to restore Imperial rule and overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. History The name ''Satc ...

forces, Tsu Domain quickly changed sides, contributing strongly to the defeat of the Tokugawa forces. Tsu Domain subsequently contributed military forces to other battles of the Boshin War, including the Battle of Hakodate on the side of 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 ...

. On June 28, 1871, Takayuki officially retired, turning over his offices to his eldest son Tōdō Takakiyo. He died in Tokyo at the age of 83 in 1895. He was posthumously awarded with Second court rank, and the

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese Order (distinction), order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six c ...

, 2nd class."Kanpo" No. 3483 "Investiture and Appointments" (in Japanese) 12 February 1895. Takayuki is believed by some historians to be the father of the

Shinsengumi The was a small secret police organization, elite group of swordsmen that was organized by commoners and low rank samurai, commissioned by the (military government) during Japan's Bakumatsu period (late Tokugawa shogunate) in 1863. It was ac ...

samurai,

Tōdō Heisuke was a samurai of Japan's late Edo period who served as the eighth unit captain of the Shinsengumi. His full name was ''Tōdō Heisuke Fujiwara no Yoshitora''. Background Tōdō was from Edo, Musashi Province (now Tokyo). Very little is known abo ...

, but there is no direct documentary evidence.

References

Sources

*Himeno, Junichi. "Encounters With Foreign Photographers: The Introduction and Spread of Photography in Kyūshū". In ''Reflecting Truth: Japanese Photography in the Nineteenth Century'' (Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, 2004), 18–29. *Totman, Conrad (1980). ''Collapse of the Tokugawa Bakufu''. (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press), pp. 425–429.

External links

Tōdō family information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Todo, Takayuki Tozama daimyo People of the Boshin War 1813 births 1895 deaths Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class