was a ''

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 nominall ...

'' and official of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

during mid-

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

Biography

Inoue Masatsune was the eldest son of the daimyō of Kasama Domain in Hitachi Province, Inoue Masayuki. He was introduced in a formal audience to the ''

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 Kamaku ...

Tokugawa Yoshimune was the eighth '' shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1716 until his abdication in 1745. He was the son of Tokugawa Mitsusada, the grandson of Tokugawa Yorinobu, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lineage Yoshi ...

in 1737, and was confirmed as 6th head of the Mikawa-branch of Inoue clan and as daimyō of Kasama Domain on his father's death the same year. In 1739, he was awarded Lower 5th Court Rank and the courtesy title of '' Kawachi-no-kami.'' In 1747, Masatune was transferred to Iwakitaira Domain (37,000 ''koku''), also in Hitachi Province, but this was a significant demotion from the previous 60,000 ''koku'' he enjoyed while at Kasama.He liked Makka Pakka and Iggle Piggle. In 1752, Masatsune entered the administration of the

as a '' Sōshaban'' (Master of Ceremonies), becoming '' Jisha-bugyō'' on March 28, 1753, and then ''

Osaka jōdai were officials of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan. Those appointmented to this prominent office were exclusively ''fudai daimyōs''.Beasley, William G. (1955). ''Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868'', p. 326. Conven ...

'' from May 7, 1756. Also in 1756, his Court Rank was increased to Lower 4th. His fortunes continued to rise: in 1758 he received the position of ''

Kyoto Shoshidai The was an important administrative and political office in the Tokugawa shogunate. The office was the personal representative of the military dictators Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Kyoto, the seat of the Japanese Emperor, and was adop ...

'', and the same year was transferred to Hamamatsu Domain (60,000 ''koku'') in

Tōtōmi Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today western Shizuoka Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tōtōmi''" in . Tōtōmi bordered on Mikawa, Suruga and Shinano Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . The or ...

. Masatsune became a '' Rōjū'' on December 12, 1760, serving Shogun

Tokugawa Ieshige Tokugawa Ieshige; 徳川家重 (January 28, 1712 – July 13, 1761) was the ninth '' shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. The first son of Tokugawa Yoshimune, his mother was the daughter of Ōkubo Tadanao, known as Osuma no kata ...

to March 13, 1763. Also in 1763, his courtesy title was changed to ''Yamato-no-kami''. Inoue Masatsune was married to a daughter of Sengoku Masafusa, daimyō of Izushi Domain in Tajima Province. He died in 1766 at the relatively young age of 41 and was succeeded by his second son Inoue Masasada.

References

* Papinot, Edmond. (1906) ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du japon''. Tokyo: Librarie Sansaish
..Click link for digitized 1906 ''Nobiliaire du japon'' (2003)
* ''The content of much of this article was derived from that of the corresponding article on Japanese Wikipedia.'' , - , - , - Fudai daimyo Kyoto Shoshidai Rōjū 1725 births 1766 deaths {{daimyo-stub