was a Japanese 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...

 of the late 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....

.

Biography

Nagatomi, known in his childhood as Kakuzō (覚蔵) and later Bankichi (蕃吉), was born in his family's Edo residence in 1803. He was the eldest son of the previous daimyo, Niwa Nagaaki

Niwa Nagaaki

' was a Japanese daimyo of the late Edo period who ruled Nihonmatsu han.-Biography:Nagaaki, first known by his childhood name of Nabetarō , was the eldest son of Niwa Nagataka, the preceding daimyo of Nihonmatsu. On June 17, 1796, he succeeded to family headship, following the death of his father...

. At age 11, due to the death of his father, he inherited the family headship, becoming 10th generation lord of Nihonmatsu han. Nagatomi relied heavily on his karo

KARO

KARO is a radio station licensed to serve Nyssa, Oregon, USA. The station is owned by the Educational Media Foundation.It broadcasts a Contemporary Christian music format as part of the Air 1 network.-History:...

, the famed Niwa Takaaki. He encouraged his retainers to excel in the martial and literary arts, and to that end, sponsored the opening of the domain's official school, Keigakukan (敬学館). He also helped with reviving the domain's economic situation following a 7 year string of famines during the Tenpo

Tenpo

was a , also known as Tempō, after Bunsei and before Kōka. The period spanned the years from December 1830 through December 1844...

 era. In 1822, during economic issues prior to that, he deployed domain forces to put down a peasant uprising. His domain, together with Aizu

Aizu

is an area comprising the westernmost third of Fukushima Prefecture in Japan. The principal city of the area is Aizuwakamatsu.During the Edo period, Aizu was a feudal domain known as and part of Mutsu Province.-History:...

 han, was in charge of security at the Futtsu artillery emplacement during the Perry Mission.

Citing health reasons, Nagatomi stepped down from headship in 1858, and was succeeded by his sixth son Nagakuni

Niwa Nagakuni

Viscount ; was a Japanese daimyo of the late Edo period who ruled Nihonmatsu han and was famous for his leadership of the domain during the Boshin War.-Biography:...

 in 1858.

Nagatomi's children went on to become famous in the Bakumatsu period. Inaba Masakuni, lord of Yodo and member of the roju

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...

 council, was one of his sons; Mizuno Katsutomo

Mizuno Katsutomo

; - Japanese daimyo of the late Edo period. Held the title of Hyūga no Kami . Born the 8th son of Niwa Nagatomi, daimyo of Nihonmatsu , he was adopted by Mizuno Katsutō, the 14th generation daimyo of Yūki han . He succeeded to the family headship in 1862...

 of Yūki han was another.

Nagatomi held the title of Sakyō-dayū (左京太夫), and the junior 4th court rank, lower grade (jū shi-i no ge 従四位下).

Further reading

• Nihonmatsu-han shi 二本松藩史. Tokyo: Nihonmatsu-hanshi kankōkai 二本松藩史刊行会, 1926 (republished by Rekishi Toshosha 歴史図書社, 1973)
• Sugeno Shigeru 菅野与. Ōshū Nihonmatsu-han nenpyō 奥州二本松藩年表. Aizu-Wakamatsu shi 会津若松市: Rekishi Shunjūsha 歴史春秋社, 2004.

External links

• Genealogy of the Niwa clan of Nihonmatsu (in Japanese)
• Biography of Nagatomi (in Japanese)