Okayama Domain (2/2)Hideie Ukita built the foundation and the Ikeda clan ruled.

In contrast to his father, the 8th lord of the domain, Naimasa Ikeda, conducted solid politics and was frugal and frugal. Thanks to this, he was able to somewhat restore the finances of the Okayama clan, which had been in decline due to his father's dissipation.
However, his successors died young one after another, and in the end, he adopted Hisayasu, the second son of Shimazu Narioki, the lord of the Satsuma domain, as his adopted son-in-law and succeeded him as head of the family. By the way, Kunei's older brother is Nariaki Shimazu, the 11th lord of the Satsuma domain who was very active at the end of the Edo period.

After changing his name to Masatoshi Ikeda and becoming the 9th lord of the domain, Hisanei established a powerful civilian government.
However, he died at the young age of 32.

Yoshimasa Ikeda, the 10th lord of the domain who succeeded him, was born as the 10th son of Masataka Okudaira, the lord of the Nakatsu domain in Buzen Province, and was adopted by Masatoshi Ikeda.
Although the government aggressively implemented fiscal policies such as strengthening monopolies on salt and sugar and implementing frugality laws, the reforms were too harsh, and in 1856, the Ashi-dye Uprising broke out within the domain, and even the domain bills were changed. The reforms ended in failure.
In 1863, due to illness, he handed over the position of lord to Shigemasa, who was born as the ninth son and adopted heir of Nariaki Tokugawa, the lord of the Mito domain, and retired.
However, he lived a long life until 1891.

Shigemasa Ikeda, the 11th lord of the domain, was more deeply involved in national politics than in domain politics.
Strongly influenced by his father, he was a member of the Sonno-joi school, and visited the Imperial Palace with Yoshinori Ikeda, the lord of the Yonezawa domain, Sainori Uesugi, and Shigeo Hachisuka, the heir of the Tokushima domain.Iemochi Tokugawa advocated that the campaign against the Joi, which was planned by Izumi Maki and others at the time, should be canceled. There is also some uproar.

On the other hand, although he was friendly towards the Choshu clan, his attitude towards Choshu completely changed after the Kinmon Incident.
However, he was reluctant to conquer Choshu twice. Although they are sending troops, they are not actively engaged in combat.
Furthermore, Shigemasa Ikeda's older brother was Tokugawa Yoshinobu, who was also the last shogun.

Therefore, when he was asked by the Okayama domain to send out a punitive army in accordance with the imperial order issued in 1868 to hunt down and hunt down Yoshinobu Tokugawa, he did not comply with the request and retired due to illness.
In the Meiji period, he was appointed Danjo Daisuke by the new government and worked to revive Nohgaku.

Akimasa Ikeda, the last feudal lord, was born as the second son of Yoriyuki Sagara, the 13th lord of the Higo Hitoyoshi domain, and was adopted by Shigemasa.
Before becoming the lord of the Okayama domain, he was the adopted son of Masayoshi Ikeda, the lord of the Kamogata domain, and also served as the lord of the Kamogata domain. During the turbulent period at the end of the Edo period, he acted as an advocate of respecting the Emperor and banishing foreigners, and is said to have been highly respected by those within the domain.
In 1868, he took over as the lord of Okayama Domain, and during the Boshin War, he sided with the new government's army and sent the domain's army to Kanto, Ou, and Hakodate.
By the way, the eldest son is the successor of the Kamogata clan.

In the Meiji period, he was appointed governor of the domain due to the restoration of land ownership, and with the abolition of domains and establishment of prefectures, he resigned and moved to Tokyo. He was elevated to the rank of marquis in 1884.

Okayama clan summary

Although the Okayama clan was a Tozama daimyo, they had deep ties to the Tokugawa family, and at the end of the Edo period, they even adopted children from the three Tokugawa families.
The Ikeda family remained active as a noble family even after the Meiji era, and the 16th head of the family, Takamasa Ikeda, married Imperial Princess Atsuko, the fourth princess of Emperor Showa and the older sister of the current retired Emperor.