Okubo Tadanori (January 13, 1842 – August 10, 1897) was the 9th daimyo of Odawara Domain in Sagami Province (modern-day Kanagawa Prefecture) during the late Edo period. Before the Meiji Restoration, he held the courtesy title of Kaga no Kami.
Born as the fifth son of Matsudaira Yorihiro, daimyo of Takamatsu Domain in Sanuki Province, Tadanori was a nephew of Tokugawa Nariaki and thus a cousin of Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu. Following the death of Okubo Tadanao in 1859, he was adopted into the Okubo clan, becoming its 11th head and assuming the position of daimyo of Odawara Domain. He served in several important roles within the Tokugawa shogunate, including Soshaban (Master of Ceremonies) in November 1863. In 1864, he accompanied Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi on his visit to Kyoto. Briefly, from September to December 1867, he held the post of Kofu Jodai (Castellan of Kofu).
During the Boshin War of the Meiji Restoration, Tadanori initially allowed the pro-Imperial forces of the Satcho Alliance to cross the Hakone Pass unopposed. However, in May 1868, he met with Hayashi Tadataka and other pro-Tokugawa resistance leaders, signaling his willingness to support their cause. When Edo fell to the Imperial forces, he changed sides again and attempted to plead his case before the leaders of the Satcho Alliance. Perceived as a traitor, he was ordered to retire from public life, and his titles were transferred to Okubo Tadayoshi, daimyo of Ogino-Yamanaka Domain, a cadet branch of the Okubo clan.
Tadanori was later reinstated as head of the Okubo clan in July 1875, following Tadayoshi’s retirement. In 1884, with the establishment of the kazoku peerage system, he was granted the title of viscount (shishaku). He passed away on August 10, 1897, and was laid to rest at the clan’s temple, Saisho-ji, in Setagaya, Tokyo.
See also
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Tokugawa Iemochi
Tokugawa Iemochi (1846–1866) was the fourteenth shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate and ruled from 1858 until his death. His reign came during the turbulent final years of the shogunate, when Japan faced growing Western pressure and serious internal political conflict.
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Tokugawa Ienari
Tokugawa Ienari (1773–1841) was the eleventh shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate and ruled from 1787 to 1837, making him the longest-serving Tokugawa shōgun. He was a great-grandson of the eighth shōgun, Tokugawa Yoshimune.
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Matsudaira Nobuyasu
Matsudaira Nobuyasu was only twenty years old when his father ordered him to commit seppuku. The reason was not a defeat in battle, but a crisis inside the Tokugawa family that had become too dangerous to ignore.
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Yamagata Masakage
Masakage was one of Takeda Shingen’s most loyal and capable commanders. He was included in the famous list of the “Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen” and also belonged to the inner circle of four especially trusted warlords known as the Shitennō.
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Yagyu Munenori
Yagyū Munenori began his service under Tokugawa Ieyasu while his father, Yagyū Muneyoshi, was still at his side. In 1600, Munenori took part in the decisive Battle of Sekigahara. As early as 1601, he was appointed a kenjutsu instructor to Tokugawa Hidetada, Ieyasu’s son, who later became the second shogun of the Tokugawa clan.
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Yagyu Muneyoshi
A samurai from Yamato Province, he was born into a family that had been defeated in its struggle against the Tsutsui clan. Muneyoshi first took part in battle at the age of sixteen. Due to circumstances beyond his control, he was forced to enter the service of the Tsutsui house and later served Miyoshi Tōkei. He subsequently came under the command of Matsunaga Hisahide and in time became a vassal first of Oda and later of Toyotomi.
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Endo Naozune
Naozune served under Azai Nagamasa and was one of the clan’s leading vassals, renowned for his bravery and determination. He accompanied Nagamasa during his first meeting with Oda Nobunaga and at that time asked for permission to kill Nobunaga, fearing him as an extremely dangerous man; however, Nagamasa did not grant this request.
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Hosokawa Sumimoto
Sumimoto came from the Hosokawa clan: he was the biological son of Hosokawa Yoshiharu and at the same time the adopted son of Hosokawa Masamoto, the heir of Hosokawa Katsumoto, one of the principal instigators of the Ōnin War. Masamoto was homosexual, never married, and had no children of his own. At first he adopted Sumiyuki, a scion of the aristocratic Kujō family, but this choice provoked dissatisfaction and sharp criticism from the senior vassals of the Hosokawa house. As a result, Masamoto changed his decision and proclaimed Sumimoto as his heir, a representative of a collateral branch of the Hosokawa clan that had long been based in Awa Province on the island of Shikoku. Almost immediately after this, the boy became entangled in a complex and bitter web of political intrigue.
