was a daimyo

Daimyo

is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...

 in early 19th-century Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 during the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

. Masanobu's family was descended from Masanari, a younger son of Konō Michitaka, daimyō from Mino province

Mino Province

, one of the old provinces of Japan, encompassed part of modern-day Gifu Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Mino Province bordered Echizen, Hida, Ise, Mikawa, Ōmi, Owari, and Shinano Provinces....

 who had been a vassal of Oda Nobunaga

Oda Nobunaga

was the initiator of the unification of Japan under the shogunate in the late 16th century, which ruled Japan until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was also a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. His opus was continued, completed and finalized by his successors Toyotomi...

 and later Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

was a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period. He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle...

. Thunberg

Carl Peter Thunberg

Carl Peter Thunberg aka Carl Pehr Thunberg aka Carl Per Thunberg was a Swedish naturalist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. He has been called "the father of South African botany" and the "Japanese Linnaeus"....

's trip from Dejima to Edo passed through Yamashiro, and his account reports that Masanobu was daimyō of Yodo .

In the Edo period, the Inaba were identified as one of the fudai

Fudai

was a class of daimyo who were hereditary vassals of the Tokugawa in Edo period Japan. It was primarily the fudai who filled the ranks of the Tokugawa administration.-Origins:...

or insider daimyō clans which were hereditary vassels or allies of the Tokugawa clan

Tokugawa clan

The was a powerful daimyo family of Japan. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa and were a branch of the Minamoto clan by the Nitta clan. However, the early history of this clan remains a mystery.-History:...

, in contrast with the tozama

Tozama

A ' was a daimyo who was considered an outsider by the rulers of Japan. The term came into use in the Kamakura period and continued until the end of the Edo period.-Edo period:...

or outsider clans.

Inaba clan genealogy

The fudai Inaba clan

Inaba clan

The were a samurai kin group which rose to prominence during the Sengoku and Edo periods. In the Edo period, the Inaba were identified as one of the fudai or insider daimyō clans which were hereditary vassals or allies of the Tokugawa clan, in contrast with the tozama .-Clan branches:The fudai...

 originated in Mino province

Mino Province

, one of the old provinces of Japan, encompassed part of modern-day Gifu Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Mino Province bordered Echizen, Hida, Ise, Mikawa, Ōmi, Owari, and Shinano Provinces....

. They claim descent from Kōno Michitaka (d. 1374), who claimed descent from Emperor Kammu (736–805).

Masanobu was part of the cadet branch of the Inaba which was created in 1588. This branch is descended from Inaba Masanari

Inaba Masanari

, sometimes known as Mino-no-kami, was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi-Momoyama period through early Edo period. He served the Oda, Toyotomi, and Tokugawa clans, and became a daimyo in the early Edo period....

 (+1628), 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

Echigo Province

was an old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It was sometimes called , with Echizen and Etchū Provinces. Today the area is part of Niigata Prefecture, which also includes the island which was the old Sado Province. This province was the northernmost part of the...

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

Shimotsuke Province

is an old province of Japan in the area of Tochigi Prefecture in the Kanto region. It was sometimes called or .The ancient capital of the province was near the city of Tochigi, but in feudal times the main center of the province was near the modern capital, Utsunomiya.-History:Different parts of...

. Masanari's descendants resided successively at Odawara Domain

Odawara Domain

was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in western Sagami Province. It was centered on Odawara Castle in what is now the city of Odawara.-History:...

 (105,000 koku) in Sagami province

Sagami Province

was an old province in the area that is today the central and western Kanagawa prefecture. It was sometimes called . Sagami bordered on Izu, Musashi, Suruga provinces; and had access to the Pacific Ocean through Sagami Bay...

 from 1632 through 1685; at Takata Domain in Echigo province

Echigo Province

was an old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It was sometimes called , with Echizen and Etchū Provinces. Today the area is part of Niigata Prefecture, which also includes the island which was the old Sado Province. This province was the northernmost part of the...

 from 1685 through 1701; at Sakura Domain

Sakura Domain

was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in Shimōsa Province , Japan. It was centered on Sakura Castle in what is now part of the city of Sakura...

 in Shimōsa province from 1701 through 1723.

Masanobu's heirs and others who were also descendants of Inaba Masanari settled at Yodo Domain

Yodo Domain

The ' was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, and the only domain located in Yamashiro Province. Its castle was located within modern-day Fushimi, Kyoto....

 (115,000 koku) in Yamashiro province

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....

 from 1723 through 1868.

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

Tokugawa official

Masanobu was the Tokugawa shogunate

Tokugawa shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...

's Kyoto shoshidai

Kyoto Shoshidai

The was an important administrative and political office in the early modern government of Japan. However, the significance and effectiveness of the office is credited to the third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu, who developed these initial creations as bureaucratic elements in a consistent and...

in the period spanning March 4, 1804 through October 5, 1806.