was the 14th and final ''

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

Tokushima Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, controlling all of Awa Province and Awaji Province in what is now Tokushima Prefecture and Awaji Island of modern-day Hyōgo Prefecture. It was centered around Tokushima ...

, Awa Province, and the 2nd President of the House of Peers in

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

Japan.

Early life

Hachisuka was born at the Hachisuka domain residence in Edo, as the eldest son of the 13th ''

Hachisuka Narihiro was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the late Edo period, who ruled the Tokushima Domain. He was a son of the eleventh shōgun, Tokugawa Ienari. Biography As stated above, Narihiro was a son of the 11th shōgun, Ienari. Ienari had many children, w ...

(1821–1868). Hachisuka Narihiro was the 22nd child of ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamak ...

Tokugawa Ienari Tokugawa Ienari ( ja, 徳川家斉, November 18, 1773 – March 22, 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 J ...

, and was adopted into the Hachisuka clan as the 12th ''daimyō'', Hachisuka Narimasa was childless. Thus, Mochiaki was the grandson of Tokugawa Ienari, nephew of Tokugawa Ieyoshi and cousin of Tokugawa Iesada and Iemochi. However, when his father suddenly died in 1868 and he became heir, Japan was already in the midst of the Boshin War leading to the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

. Quick to see the direction in which the wind was blowing, he pledged loyalty to the Imperial forces, and led his troops against Tokugawa partisans in Mutsu Province. His forces were armed with western rifles and accompanied by British military advisors, giving him a much greater strength than their small numbers might have indicated.

Political career

In 1869, with the ''hanseki hokan'' ( Abolition of the han system), he was appointed Governor of Tokushima Prefecture. In 1872, Hachisuka went to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

and attended

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

, where he matriculated at

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

in 1874. After returning to Japan, he joined the government as Director of the Customs Bureau director in the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

and a member of ''Sanjiin'' (legislative advisory council). In 1882, Hachisuka was envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, and received the title of ''kōshaku'' ( marquis) under the new ''

kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords () and court nobles (), but were abolished with the 1947 constitution. Kazoku ( 華族) should not be confused with ...

'' peerage system. After returning to Japan, he served as a member of the House of Peers, Governor of

Tokyo Prefecture Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, President of the House of Peers, Minister of Education, and Privy Councillor. He died in 1918, and his grave is located in

Tokushima is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 728,633 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,146 km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the nort ...

Honours

''Translated from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia'' * Marquess (7 July 1884) *Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure (14 March 1896) *Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (26 December 1903) (Second Class: 25 November 1887; Third Class: 16 July 1881) *Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers (10 February 1918; posthumous)

Order of precedence

*Fourth rank (April 1860) *Second rank (21 April 1868) *Senior second rank (20 December 1895) *First rank (10 February 1918; posthumous)

Personal life

Hachisuka Mochiaki ran an experimental farm in Hokkaidō, as he often stated that the nobility needed to have some gainful employment other than government service. He also enjoyed ''

haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or s ...

'' poetry and ''

noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...

'' drama and actively promoted these traditional arts.

Family

* Father:

* Mother: Takatsukasa Shinako (1820–1858) * Wives: ** Ayahime ** Yoriko (1854–1923) * Concubine: unknown * Child: Hachisuka Masaaki (1871–1932)

Ancestry

Reference and further reading

* Beasley, W. G. ''The Meiji Restoration''. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1972. * Cobbing, Andrew. ''The Japanese Discovery of Victorian Britain''. RoutledgeCurzon, London, 1998. * Fraser, Andrew. ''Japan's Early Parliaments, 1890–1905''. Routledge(1995). * Koyama Noboru. ''Japanese Students at Cambridge University in the Meiji Era, 1868–1912: Pioneers for the Modernization of Japan''. Lulu.com (2004).

External links

– Biography and Photo in National Diet Library
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hachisuka, Mochiaki 1846 births 1918 deaths Hachisuka clan Japanese diplomats Japanese expatriates in the United Kingdom Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Kazoku People from Tokushima Prefecture Tozama daimyo Education ministers of Japan Governors of Tokyo