Nishio Tadanao
Encyclopedia
was a daimyō
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 mid-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....

 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...

, who ruled Yokosuka Domain
Yokosuka Domain
' was a Japanese feudal domain of the Edo period, located in Tōtōmi Province. Yokosuka was a Fudai domain. It was centered at Yokosuka Castle in the Matsuo district of the city of Kakegawa in Shizuoka Prefecture.-History:...

 in Tōtōmi Province
Totomi Province
was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today western Shizuoka Prefecture. Tōtōmi bordered on Mikawa, Suruga and Shinano Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was .-History:...

. He also served as an official within the administration of 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...

, rising through the ranks first as Sōshaban
Sōshaban
were officials of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan. Conventional interpretations have construed this Japanese title as "master of ceremonies."...

,
Jisha-bugyō
Jisha-bugyo
was a "commissioner" or an "overseer" of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan. Appointments to this prominent office were always fudai daimyō, the lowest-ranking of the shogunate offices to be so restricted...

, Wakadoshiyori
Wakadoshiyori
The ', or "Junior Elders", were high government officials in 17th century Tokugawa Japan. The position was established around 1631, but appointments were irregular until 1662....

, and finally to the position of Rōjū
Roju
The ', usually translated as Elder, was one of the highest-ranking government posts in Tokugawa Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council as a whole; under the first two shoguns, there were only two Rōjū...

.

Biography

Tadanao was the fourth son of Nishio Tadanari
Nishio Tadanari
was a daimyō of the early to mid Edo period, Japan, who ruled the Tanaka and Komoro domains, and was finally transferred to Yokosuka Domain in Tōtōmi Province, where his descendents ruled until the Meiji Restoration.-Biography:...

, the first daimyō of the Nishio clan
Nishio clan
The was a Japanese clan claiming descent from the Kira clan, a branch of the Seiwa Genji line. Kira Yoshitsugu, a son of Kira Mochihiro, served under Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu adopted the family name of Nishio...

 at Yokosuka Domain. He was recognized as heir apparent in 1696 and granted courtesy rank and title of junior 5th court rank, lower grade (ju go i no ge 従五位下), and Harima no Kami in 1703. He became clan leader upon his father's retirement in 1713. In the same year, he received his father's former courtesy title, Oki no Kami.

Tadanao entered the service of the Tokugawa
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...

 administration in the spring of 1732, with his appointment to the offices of Sōshaban and Jisha-bugyō
Jisha-bugyo
was a "commissioner" or an "overseer" of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan. Appointments to this prominent office were always fudai daimyō, the lowest-ranking of the shogunate offices to be so restricted...

. After two years in these positions, he was promoted to wakadoshiyori
Wakadoshiyori
The ', or "Junior Elders", were high government officials in 17th century Tokugawa Japan. The position was established around 1631, but appointments were irregular until 1662....

. In 1745, his court rank was raised to junior 4th, lower grade (ju shi i no ge 従四位下), and his domain increased by 5,000 koku
Koku
The is a Japanese unit of volume, equal to ten cubic shaku. In this definition, 3.5937 koku equal one cubic metre, i.e. 1 koku is approximately 278.3 litres. The koku was originally defined as a quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year...

to 30,000 koku. The following summer, he was made a rōjū
Roju
The ', usually translated as Elder, was one of the highest-ranking government posts in Tokugawa Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council as a whole; under the first two shoguns, there were only two Rōjū...

in the service of Shogun
Shogun
A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...

 Tokugawa Ieshige
Tokugawa Ieshige
Tokugawa Ieshige; 徳川 家重 was the ninth shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan.The first son of Tokugawa Yoshimune, his mother was the daughter of Okubo Tadanao, known as Osuma no kata. His childhood name was Nagatomi-maru. He underwent the genpuku coming-of-age ceremony in 1725...

, and served in the position until 1747. His domains were further expanded by another 5,000 koku in 1749, bringing Yokosuka Domain to 35,000 koku in size.

Tadanao resumed his service as rōjū in 1751, but fell ill in the spring of 1760, while still serving as rōjū. He did not recover from his illness, and died at Tatsunokuchi, in Edo
Edo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...

, a few days later. He was 72 years old. His grave is located at the Nishio clan temple of Ryumin-ji in modern Kakegawa, Shizuoka
Kakegawa, Shizuoka
is a city in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the city had an estimated population of 117,858 and a population density of 444 persons per km². The total area was 265.63 km².-Geography:...

.

Tadanao's official wife was a daughter of Kyōgoku Takatoyo, the daimyō of Marugame Domain in Sanuki province
Sanuki Province
was an old province of Japan on the island of Shikoku, with the same boundaries as modern Kagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called .It faced the Inland Sea and bordered on Awa and Iyo Provinces. Across Naruto strait it bordered Awaji Province too. Administratively it was included as a part of...

, but he had no son. His adopted son Tadamitsu
Nishio Tadamitsu
was a daimyō in mid-Edo period Japan, who ruled Yokosuka Domain in Tōtōmi Province.Tadamitsu was the 2nd son of Kyōgoku Takatoyo, daimyō of Marugame Domain in Sanuki Province. As Nishio Tadanao, had no heirs, he adopted his nephew in 1729. In 1731, Tadamitsu received the courtesy title of Mondo no...

 succeeded him as daimyō of Yokosuka
Yokosuka Domain
' was a Japanese feudal domain of the Edo period, located in Tōtōmi Province. Yokosuka was a Fudai domain. It was centered at Yokosuka Castle in the Matsuo district of the city of Kakegawa in Shizuoka Prefecture.-History:...

 and head of the Nishio clan.

Tadanao, like his father Tadanari
Nishio Tadanari
was a daimyō of the early to mid Edo period, Japan, who ruled the Tanaka and Komoro domains, and was finally transferred to Yokosuka Domain in Tōtōmi Province, where his descendents ruled until the Meiji Restoration.-Biography:...

, is remembered as a patron of culture and the arts. The Enshu-Yokosuka San-Kumano Taisai festival, still held every year during a week in April, was started by Tadanao, who spent much time in Edo and wished to bring something of its culture to Yokosuka.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK