was the 7th 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...

of Tanaka Domain

Tanaka Domain

' was a tozama Japanese feudal domain of the Edo period, located in Suruga Province, centered on what is now Fujieda City, Shizuoka Prefecture...

 in Suruga Province

Suruga Province

was an old province in the area that is today the central part of Shizuoka prefecture. It was sometimes called . Suruga bordered on Izu, Kai, Sagami, Shinano, and Tōtōmi provinces; and had access to the Pacific Ocean through Suruga Bay.-History:...

, 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...

 (modern-day Shizuoka prefecture

Shizuoka Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshu island. The capital is the city of Shizuoka.- History :Shizuoka prefecture was formed from the former Tōtōmi, Suruga and Izu provinces.The area was the home of the first Tokugawa Shogun...

) and 9th head of the branch of the Honda clan

Honda clan

The ' is a Japanese family that claims descent from the medieval court noble Fujiwara no Kanemichi. The family settled in Mikawa and served the Matsudaira clan as retainers. Later, when the main Matsudaira family became the Tokugawa clan, the Honda rose in prestige. The clan includes thirteen...

 descended from Honda Tadashige. His courtesy title was Kii-no-kami, later changed to Hōki-no-kami.

Biography

Honda Masamori was born as the 7th son of the 5th daimyō of Tanaka Domain (Honda Masaoki). In 1860, upon the death of his elder brother Honda Masahiro, he became daimyō on Tanaka Domain. With the
Meiji Restoration

Meiji Restoration

The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...

 of 1868, the final Tokugawa Shōgun

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...

, Tokugawa Yoshinobu

Tokugawa Yoshinobu

was the 15th and last shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful...

, surrendered his title to Emperor Meiji

Emperor Meiji

The or was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 3 February 1867 until his death...

, and relocated from 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...

 to Sumpu, with the provinces of Suruga, Izu

Izu

Izu may refer to:*Izu Province, a part of modern-day Shizuoka prefecture in Japan**Izu, a city in Shizuoka prefecture**The Izu Peninsula, near Tokyo***The Izu Islands, located off the Izu Peninsula...

 and Mikawa

Mikawa

Mikawa may refer to:Places in Japan* Mikawa Province, an old province of Japan* Mikawa, Yamagata, a town in Yamagata Prefecture* Mikawa, Ishikawa, former town in Ishikawa Prefecture* Mikawa, Kumamoto, former town in Kumamoto Prefecture...

 as his personal domains. Tanaka Domain was included with in area of the new Shizuoka Domain, and in September 1868, Honda Masamori was ordered to relocate to the newly-created Nagao Domain

Nagao Domain

' was a Japanese feudal domain of the early Meiji period, located in Awa Province. It was centered at what is now the Shirahama area of the city of Minamibōsō, Chiba in Chiba Prefecture.-History:...

 in Awa province

Awa Province

Awa Province may refer to:* Awa Province in modern-day Chiba Prefecture* Awa Province in modern-day Tokushima Prefecture...

, with the same nominal revenue of 40,000 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...

. In February 1869, he moved the domainal academy from Tanaka to Nagao. In June of the same year, the title of daimyō was abolished, and he became domain governor.

On December 14, 1870, he turned Nagao Domain over to his adopted son, Honda Masanori, and retired from public life.