was a ''

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 n ...

'' in 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 characteriz ...

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 north ...

, who ruled Yokosuka Domain 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 ...

. He also served as an official within the administration of

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 ...

, rising through the ranks first as ''

Sōshaban were officials of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan. Conventional interpretations have construed this Japanese title as "master of ceremonies" Created in 1632, this '' bakufu'' title identified an official selected from the ranks of the ...

,'' ''

Jisha-bugyō was a "commissioner" or an "overseer" of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan. Appointments to this prominent office were always ''fudai daimyōs'', the lowest-ranking of the shogunate offices to be so restricted.Beasley, William G. (1955) ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', and finally to the position of ''

Rōjū The , usually translated as ''Elder'', was one of the highest-ranking government posts under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council of Elders as a whole; under the first two ''shō ...

''.

Biography

Tadanao was the fourth son of

Nishio Tadanari was a daimyō of the early to mid Edo period, Japan, who ruled the Tanaka and Komoro domains, and was finally transferred to Yokosuka Domain in Tōtōmi Province, where his descendants ruled until the Meiji Restoration. Biography Nishio Tad ...

, the first daimyō of the

Nishio clan was a Japanese samurai kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Nishio," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 42 retrieved 2013-5-5. History The clan claims descent from ...

at Yokosuka Domain. He was recognized as heir apparent in 1696 and granted courtesy rank and title of junior 5th court rank, lower grade (''ju go i no ge'' 従五位下), and ''Harima no Kami'' in 1703. He became clan leader upon his father's retirement in 1713. In the same year, he received his father's former courtesy title, ''Oki no Kami''. Tadanao entered the service of the Tokugawa administration in the spring of 1732, with his appointment to the offices of ''Sōshaban'' and ''

''. After two years in these positions, he was promoted to ''

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 ...

''. In 1745, his court rank was raised to junior 4th, lower grade (''ju shi i no ge'' 従四位下), and his domain increased by 5,000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. 1 koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about . It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1000 gō. One ''gō'' is the volume of the "rice cup", the plastic measuring cup that is supplied ...

'' to 30,000 ''koku''. The following summer, he was made a ''

rōjū The , usually translated as ''Elder'', was one of the highest-ranking government posts under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council of Elders as a whole; under the first two ''shō ...

'' in the service 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 Kamakur ...

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. ...

, and served in the position until 1747.Tadanao was also granted the additional courtesy title of ''jijū'' (侍従) His domains were further expanded by another 5,000 ''koku'' in 1749, bringing Yokosuka Domain to 35,000 ''koku'' in size. Tadanao resumed his service as ''rōjū'' in 1751, but fell ill in the spring of 1760, while still serving as ''rōjū''. He did not recover from his illness, and died at Tatsunokuchi, in Edo, a few days later. He was 72 years old. His grave is located at the Nishio clan temple of Ryumin-ji in modern

Kakegawa, Shizuoka is a city in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 117,925 in 45,519 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Kakegawa is in the coastal plains of southwest Shizuoka Prefecture. It is border ...

. Tadanao's official wife was a daughter of

Kyōgoku Takatoyo Kyogoku may refer to: * Kyōgoku, Hokkaidō, a town on the Japanese island of Hokkaidō * Kyōgoku clan, a Japanese clan * Aya Kyōgoku, a video game developer currently working at Nintendo is a Japanese multinational video game company h ...

, the ''daimyō'' of

Marugame Domain 270px, Kyōgoku Akiyuki 270px, Marugame Castle was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now Kagawa Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Marugame Castle, and was ruled throughout ...

Sanuki province was a province of Japan in the area of northeastern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Sanuki''" in . Sanuki bordered on Awa to the south, and Iyo to the west. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō system ...

, but he had no son. His adopted son Tadamitsu succeeded him as daimyō of

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city ...

and head of the Nishio clan. Tadanao, like his father Tadanari, is remembered as a patron of culture and the arts. The ''Enshu-Yokosuka San-Kumano Taisai'' festival, still held every year during a week in April, was started by Tadanao, who spent much time in Edo and wished to bring something of its culture to Yokosuka.

Notes

References

Nishio family genealogy
1689 births 1760 deaths Nishio clan Fudai daimyo Wakadoshiyori Rōjū People from Tokyo {{Daimyo-stub