Viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is ...

was a Japanese ''

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 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 ...

.Meyer, Eva-Maria
"Gouverneure von Kyôto in der Edo-Zeit".
Universität Tübingen (in German). In the Edo period, the Makino were identified as one of the '' fudai'' or insider ''daimyō'' clans which were hereditary vassals or allies of the

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty which produced the Tokugawa shoguns who ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868 during the Edo period. It was formerly a powerful ''daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of ...

, in contrast with the '' tozama'' or outsider clans.Appert, Georges. (1888)
''Ancien Japon'', p. 67.
/ref>

Inaba clan genealogy

The ''fudai'' Inaba clan originated in

Mino Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviated fo ...

. They claim descent from Kōno Michitaka (d. 1374),Papinot, Jacques. (2003)
''Nobiliare du Japon'' -- Inaba, p. 15
Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon.'' (in French/German). who claimed descent from Emperor Kammu (736–805)."Inaba" at Ancestry.com
citing Hank, Patrick, ed. (2003)
''Dictionary of American Family Names.''
/ref> Masakuni was part of the cadet branch of the Inaba which was created in 1588. This branch is descended from Inaba Masanari, who fought in the armies of Nobunaga and then Hideyoshi. In 1619, Masanari was granted the '' han'' of Itoigawa (25,000 ''koku'') in

Echigo Province was an old provinces of Japan, old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It bordered on Uzen Province, Uzen, Iwashiro Province, Iwashiro, Kōzuke Province, Kōzuke, Shinano Province, Shinano, and Etchū Province, ...

; then, in 1627, his holding was transferred to Mōka Domain (65,000 ''koku'') in

Shimotsuke Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today Tochigi Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''SHimotsuke''" in . Shimotsuke was bordered by Kōzuke Province, Kōzuke, Hitachi Province, ...

. Masanari's descendants resided successively at

Odawara Domain file:Odawara 2006-02-21 c.jpg, 250px, Odawara Castle, Headquarters of the Odawara Domain was a Japanese Han (Japan), domain of the Edo period, located primarily in western Sagami Province (modern-day Kanagawa Prefecture). It was centered on Odawa ...

(105,000 ''koku'') in

Sagami Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan located in what is today the central and western Kanagawa Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kanagawa''" at . Sagami Province bordered the provinces of Izu Province, Izu ...

from 1632 through 1685; at Takata Domain in

from 1685 through 1701; at Sakura Domain in

Shimōsa Province was a province of Japan in the area of modern Chiba Prefecture and Ibaraki Prefecture as well as the bordering parts of Saitama Prefecture and Tokyo (the parts that used to be located east of the lower reaches of the old Tone River prior to the ...

from 1701 through 1723. Masakuni's heirs and others who were also descendants of Inaba Masanari settled at Yodo Domain (115,000 ''koku'') in

Yamashiro Province was a province of Japan, located in Kinai. It overlaps the southern part of modern Kyoto Prefecture on Honshū. Aliases include , the rare , and . It is classified as an upper province in the '' Engishiki''. Yamashiro Province included Kyoto it ...

from 1723 through 1868. The head of this clan line was ennobled as a "Viscount" in the Meiji period.

Tokugawa official

Masakuni served in a variety of positions in 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 ...

. He was the shōgun's representative, the Kyoto ''shoshidai'' in the period spanning July 26, 1863, through May 16, 1864. During 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 ...

, he refused the entry of pro-Shogunate forces into Yodo, and thus helped tip the balance in the favor of the Satsuma and Chōshū forces. He was made a

viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is ...

in the

Meiji period The was 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 colonizatio ...

, and served as a Shinto priest and government official.

Notes

References

* Appert, Georges and H. Kinoshita. (1888)
''Ancien Japon''.
Tokyo: Imprimerie Kokubunsha. * Hank, Patrick, ed. (2003)
''Dictionary of American Family Names''.
New York:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. (cloth) * Meyer, Eva-Maria. (1999). ''Japans Kaiserhof in de Edo-Zeit: Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Jahre 1846 bis 1867''. Münster: Tagenbuch. * Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906) ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du japon''. Tokyo: Librarie Sansaish
..Click link for digitized 1906 ''Nobiliaire du japon'' (2003)
* Sasaki, Suguru. (2002). ''Boshin sensō: haisha no Meiji ishin''. Tokyo: Chūōkōron-shinsha.

External links

National Diet Library The is the national library of Japan and among the largest libraries in the world. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of the in researching matters of public policy. The library is similar in purpose and scope to ...

NDL call number: YDM23880
photo of Edo residence of Yodo (Inaba) clan , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Inaba, Masakuni Nobility from Tokyo Rōjū Kannushi Kyoto Shoshidai Japanese Shintoists People of the Boshin War Kazoku 1834 births 1898 deaths Inaba clan Fudai daimyo