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...

 of 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:...

 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...

 (modern-day Kanagawa Prefecture

Kanagawa Prefecture

is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...

) in early-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...

. His courtesy title was Mino no Kami.

Biography

Inaba Masanori was the second son of the previous daimyō of Odawara, Inaba Masakatsu

Inaba Masakatsu

was a daimyō of early Edo period, Japan, who ruled Kakioka and Mōka , and was finally transferred to Odawara Domain in Sagami Province.-Biography:...

. As his mother died when he was still very young, he was raised by his grandmother, Kasuga no Tsubone, the wet nurse

Wet nurse

A wet nurse is a woman who is used to breast feed and care for another's child. Wet nurses are used when the mother is unable or chooses not to nurse the child herself. Wet-nursed children may be known as "milk-siblings", and in some cultures the families are linked by a special relationship of...

 to 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 Iemitsu

Tokugawa Iemitsu

Tokugawa Iemitsu was the third shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Iemitsu ruled from 1623 to 1651.-Early life :...

. On the death of his father in 1634, he became head of the 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...

, and inherited his father’s position as daimyō of Odawara. Due to the influence of his grandmother, he rose rapidly through the hierarchy of 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...

 and was appointed 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...

under Shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna

Tokugawa Ietsuna

was the fourth shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan who was in office from 1651 to 1680. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Iemitsu, thus making him the grandson of Tokugawa Hidetada and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu.-Early Life :...

 on December 8, 1681. On May 27, 1683 he retired from public life, turning his domain over to his son, Inaba Masamichi

Inaba Masamichi

was a daimyō of Odawara Domain in Sagami Province in early-Edo period Japan. He was later transferred to Takada Domain in Echigo Province, and then to Sakura Domain in Shimōsa Province...

.