Mito Domain (2/2)One of the three Tokugawa families

Due to the abolition of a type of donation known as the donor goshi system, the feudal government became increasingly unstable, and when a feudal lord assumed the position of feudal lord, he cut the retainer's salary by 50%.

From this period, foreign ships began to appear in the waters near Matsukawa, Kashima District, which was part of the Moriyama domain, a branch domain, and there was a need to strengthen coastal defenses.
Haruki Tokugawa suddenly died at the age of 44 in a difficult situation where he was faced with no luck.

The 8th feudal lord, Tokugawa Saishu, was an intelligent man, but he was physically weak and never set foot in Mito in his life. By making Minehime, the seventh daughter of Shogun Ienari Tokugawa, his legal wife, he was able to receive aid from the shogunate, and his financial difficulties were temporarily alleviated.

However, due to his innate physical weakness, he died at the young age of 33.
When he was the lord of the Mito domain, an incident occurred in which 12 foreigners landed in Otsu, the northernmost part of the Mito domain, where the Nakayama clan, the chief retainers of the clan, lived.

The shogunate gave them vegetables, chicken, and water and sent all the sailors back to the ship, but this attitude of the shogunate aroused criticism in the Mito domain, and is said to have triggered the spread of the Joi ideology in the Mito domain.

Nariaki Tokugawa, the 9th lord of the domain, was the biological father of Yoshinobu Tokugawa, the last shogun.
He studied Mito studies under Shoshisai Aizawa, and after becoming the lord of the domain, he established Kodokan, the building of which still stands today, gathered a wide range of talented people from within the domain, and embarked on reforming the domain's administration.

They also showed a desire to domestically produce Western weapons, collecting metals such as temple bells to make cannon bullets.
This behavior was severely criticized as persecuting Buddhism, and led to him being asked to retire in 1844.
However, there was also a movement by low-ranking samurai seeking the reinstatement of Nariaki Tokugawa, and after being released from suspension in 1846, he became involved in the shogunate administration in 1849. .

Although he became a military system reform advisor in 1855, he did not give up on his hard-line theory of eliminating Joi, and came into conflict with Naosuke Nakai, the elder statesman who was pressing for the opening of the country.
In the end, Tokugawa Nariaki was defeated by Ii Naosuke, and in 1859 he was ordered to live in seclusion forever, ending his political career.
The following year, he suddenly passed away at the age of 61, before the restraint order was lifted.

Yoshiatsu Tokugawa, the 10th lord of the domain, was the older brother of Yoshinobu Tokugawa. He became the lord of the domain at a young age due to his father's hostage, and after growing up, during the Sakashita Mongai Incident in 1862, he appointed Kounsai Takeda and others to try to placate the Emperor-Respecting Joi faction, and was responsible for the Namamugi Incident. We will play an effective role as a mediator, including in matters involving compensation issues.

On the other hand, in the Mito domain, the ``Tenguto'', which was born when the 8th lord of the Mito domain, Naishun Tokugawa, passed away without deciding on a successor, gained strength and finally in 1864 cause a disturbance.
Yoshiatsu Tokugawa initially sided with the Tenguto, but when the shogunate decided to subjugate the Tenguto, he changed his mind and decided to punish the Tenguto.

Due to this change of heart of the feudal lord, the domain government was thrown into confusion, and for several years afterward, the conservative Chosei Party took control of the Mito domain.
In addition, the Tenguto were also feudal retainers, and many people were executed, so this rebellion left a deep grudge within the domain.

Later, in 1868, based on an imperial edict entrusted to the Mito feudal retainers and Honkokuji group in Tokyo, Yoshiatsu Tokugawa decided to subjugate the Shoseito Party, which was in control of the clan's experiments. To do.

As a result, the Sonjo faction took control of the Edo residence of the Mito domain, and the Mito Tokugawa family was no longer considered an enemy of the Imperial Court.
However, this subjugation triggered a fierce retaliation by the Tenguto in the Mito domain, resulting in numerous casualties, not only from the Shoseito but also by neutralists.
During this turmoil, Yoshiatsu Tokugawa died at the age of 37.

The last lord of the domain, Akitake Tokugawa, was the half-brother of Yoshinobu Tokugawa.
Before becoming the lord of the domain, he was sent to Europe as a representative of Shogun Yoshinobu during the Paris Universal Exposition, and after completing his duties as representative, he went straight to Paris to study.
During this period, the Edo Shogunate was abolished due to the Restoration of Imperial Government.

Immediately after returning to Japan after many twists and turns, he was informed of the death of his older brother, Yoshiatsu Tokugawa, and became the lord of the domain.
Around that time, the Mito domain was unable to control the division of its retainers, and the Kodokan War broke out.
During his time as a feudal lord, he participated in the Hakodate War, but when the Meiji government was established, he became governor of the domain, and after he was dismissed from his post due to the abolition of the domain and establishment of prefectures, he became an instructor at the Army Toyama School.

After that, I studied abroad in France again, toured Europe, stayed in London for half a year, and returned to Japan a year later.
In his later years, he had a variety of hobbies, including cycling, hunting, photography, and gardening, and the photographs he took remain valuable materials to this day.

Mito domain summary

The Mito Tokugawa family became the Matsudo Tokugawa family in the Meiji period and still exists today.
The head of the family was a scholar and contributed greatly to Japanese culture.
On the other hand, the feudal government was suffering, and there were frequent uprisings and desertions.