Tottori Domain (2/2)Ruled by three Ikeda families

Tsunakiyo Ikeda, who succeeded him, wrote in a book called ``Tsuchikakuhosuki'' which describes the lives of feudal lords across Japan, ``He loved beautiful women and young children day and night.Therefore, he didn't know anything about politics and left it to the chief retainer.'' It is written.
In fact, it seems that he did not have much involvement in the domain's politics, and the direct government of the domain that his father, Mitsunaka, had poured his heart and soul into came to an abrupt end, and the real political power was transferred to the vassals.
After retiring, he established a branch domain called the Wakasa domain with his younger brother as the lord.

The fifth lord of the Tottori domain, Yoshiyasu Ikeda, issued an edict to improve discipline and a frugality order due to the instability of the domain's government due to a series of natural disasters within the Tottori domain, while he bought a Noh mask that he liked during his sankin kotai. In the end, he splurged and owned 800 Noh masks.

Immediately after taking over as lord of the domain, the 6th lord, Muneyasu, encountered the Genbun Uprising, a large-scale uprising by the people of the domain who opposed the tax increase. In response to this uprising, he issued another thrift edict, but soon afterward he died of illness at the young age of 31.

Shigehiro Ikeda, the seventh lord of the domain, assumed the position of lord at the young age of two due to his father's death from illness. The domain was managed under the guardianship of his mother, Keikoin. He also passed away at the young age of 38.

During the era of the 8th feudal lord, Harumichi Ikeda, a dispute arose between his vassals over whether his eldest son or second son would become the lord of the domain. As a result, one of his vassals commits seppuku, and Harumichi officially appoints his eldest son as the heir.
As a result, the eldest son died young and had no children, so the second son also became the lord of the domain.
Around this time, the Tottori domain suffered from financial difficulties due to the shogunate's help with construction work and natural disasters, but on the other hand, it was blessed with wise retainers and reform of the domain's administration progressed.
However, financial reconstruction was not achieved, and Harumichi passed away from illness at the age of 31.

The 9th lord, Ikeda Saikuni, died at the age of only 21, and was succeeded by his younger brother, Ikeda Saikuni, who became the 10th lord.
Ikeda Sairyoku adopted Tokugawa Ienari's 13th son, and as a result, the Ikeda family was allowed to adopt children from other families. Furthermore, since Tokugawa Ienari's adopted child, Saishu, died young due to smallpox, his successor was his biological son, Seinoshin.

The 11th lord, Nashinori Ikeda, also died at the age of 21, and the 12th lord, Yoshiyuki Ikeda, also died at the age of 17. Yoshiei Ikeda, the 13th lord of the domain, also died of illness at the age of 24.

Yoshinori Ikeda, the 14th lord of the domain, was the last lord of the domain and the biological son of Ienari Tokugawa. Shigemasa Ikeda, the lord of the Okayama domain, was his younger half-brother, and Yoshinobu Tokugawa, the last shogun, was his half-brother.

Therefore, during the turmoil at the end of the Edo period, he voiced his objections to the Shogun Council's decision to banish the shoguns, announced his resignation from the post of guardian of the shogun, and persuaded his half-brother Yoshinobu Hitotsubashi, who had refused to ascend to the castle, to become the lord of the Tottori domain. He acts as a member of the Tokugawa family.
On the other hand, the Tottori Domain built Western-style platforms at nine important points along the coast, and used them to bombard British ships that entered Osaka Bay.

Furthermore, he collaborated with Hachisuka Shigeta, the crown prince of the Awa domain, Shigemasa Ikeda, the lord of the Okayama domain, and his younger brother, Shigemasa Uesugi, the lord of the Yonezawa domain, to form a group of feudal lords in Kyoto to oppose the Joi pro-conquest faction, and was allowed to enter the imperial court. Now it looks like this.

However, he could not hold back the flow of history, and after the political coup of August 18 and the Honkokuji Incident, the Satsuma/Choshu Imperial faction gained the upper hand, and he withdrew from central politics, despite Yoshinobu's repeated requests. However, along with Shigemasa Ikeda, his younger brother from the same mother, he never made a comeback.

Afterwards, Yoshitoku Ikeda participated in the Boshin War and other wars, and in the Meiji period was awarded the rank of Junior Second Rank, Gon Chunagon, and after the restoration of imperial rule, he became the governor of the Tottori Domain.
Due to Tottori's financial difficulties, he personally recommended to the government the abolition of the feudal domain and establishment of prefectures, retired in 1898, and died in 1891.

summary
The Tottori clan was ruled by the Ikeda clan along with the Okayama clan from the early Edo period until the Meiji period. Furthermore, the last lord's legitimate son, Terutomo Ikeda, died young at the age of 30, so Yoshinobu Tokugawa's fifth son, Nakahiro Ikeda, was adopted, married Terutomo Ikeda's daughter, and succeeded the Ikeda family. Currently, Yuriko Ikeda is the 18th head of the family, but as she has no biological children, the Ikeda family is effectively extinct.