was the 7th ''

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 Sabae Domain in

Echizen Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area that is today the northern portion of Fukui Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Echizen bordered on Kaga Province, Kaga, Wakasa Province, Wakasa, Hida Province, Hida, and Ōmi Provin ...

under 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 ...

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 ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

.Meyer, Eva Maria. (1999)
''Japans Kaiserhof in der Edo-Zeit'', p. 146
His courtesy title was ''Shimōsa-no-kami'', and his Court rank was Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade, later raised to Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade. He was the 8th hereditary chieftain of the Manabe clan.

Biography

Akikatsu was born at the Sabae Domain's Edo residence as the fifth son of Manabe Akihiro. He became ''daimyō'' on the death of his uncle Manabe Akisane in 1814. Under

Shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers 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, except during parts of the Kamak ...

Tokugawa Ieharu he served in a variety of positions in the

, including '' Sōshaban'', '' Jisha-bugyō'', '' Osaka-jō dai'', '' Kyoto Shoshidai'' and became ''

rōjū The , usually translated as ''Elder (administrative title), 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 wh ...

'' in 1840. However, due to political disagreements with Mizuno Tadakuni, he was forced from office in 1843. In 1858, he was restored to the post of ''rōjū'' by the '' Tairō'' Ii Naosuke, and quickly was seen as Ii's right-hand man, taking a leading role in difficult situations, such as the Ansei Purge, the ratification of the

Ansei Treaties The Ansei Treaties (Japanese: 安政条約) or the Ansei Five-Power Treaties (Japanese: 安政五カ国条約) are a series of treaties signed in 1858, during the Japanese Ansei era, between Japan on the one side, and the United States, Great B ...

, and the opposition to Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu from becoming ''shōgun''. In particular, his heavy-handed approach to forcing

Emperor Kōmei Osahito (22 July 1831 – 30 January 1867), posthumously honored as Emperor Kōmei, was the 121st emperor of Japan, according to the List of Emperors of Japan, traditional order of succession.Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')孝明天皇 ...

to accept the ratification of the Harris Treaty and his suppression of 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 ...

'' samurai in

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 ...

drew the wrath of Yoshida Shōin in particular, who made many inflammatory speeches and writings urging Manabe's assassination. After the assassination of Ii Naosuke and accession of Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu as Shōgun

Tokugawa Yoshinobu Kazoku, Prince was the 15th and last ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful. He resigned his position as shogun in late 1867, while ai ...

, Akikatsu quickly fell from favour. He was dismissed as ''rōjū'' and forced to retire as ''daimyō'' in 1862. Furthermore, Sabae Domain was reduced in '' kokudaka'' by 10,000 ''koku''. Akikatsu remained under house arrest to 1865. He was placed under house arrest again by 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 ...

for suspicion of collaboration with

Aizu Domain was a Han (Japan), domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1601 to 1871.Ravina, Mark. (1998) ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan,'' p. 222 The Aizu Domain was based at Aizuwakamatsu Castle, Tsuruga Castle in M ...

from 1868 to 1869. He died in 1884 and his grave is at the temple of Hokekyō-ji in

Ichikawa, Chiba file:Ichikawashiyakusyo.jpg, 240px, Ichikawa City Hall is a city in western Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 492,749 in 256,229 households and a population density of 8577 persons per km2. The total area of the ci ...

Family

His wife was a daughter of Matsudaira Yasutō of Hamada Domain, and his son and heir was Manabe Akizane. He had several other children, including Ōkōchi Nobuhisa (''daimyō'' of

Yoshida Domain was a Japanese Han system, feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Mikawa Province located in eastern Mikawa Province (modern-day eastern Aichi Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Yoshida Castle in what is no ...

), Ōkōchi Masatada (''daimyō'' of Ōtaki Domain), and Manabe Akimichi, the final ''daimyō'' of Sabae Domain. Masatoshi Ōkōchi, the third president of

RIKEN is a national scientific research institute in Japan. Founded in 1917, it now has about 3,000 scientists on seven campuses across Japan, including the main site at Wakō, Saitama, Wakō, Saitama Prefecture, on the outskirts of Tokyo. Riken is a ...

, was the son of Ōkōchi Masatada.

References

* Papinot, Edmond. (1948). ''Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan''. New York: Overbeck Co.

External links

"Sabae" at Edo 300
, - 1804 births 1884 deaths Fudai daimyo Kyoto Shoshidai Rōjū Manabe clan {{Daimyo-stub