Iwakitaira Domain

Andō Nobunari (安藤信成, March 18, 1743-June 15, 1810) was the 6th hereditary chieftain of the Andō clan and daimyō of Kanō Domain. He served in a number of posts within the Tokugawa shogunate. His courtesy title was Tsushima-no-kami, and Jijū, and his Court rank was Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade. Nobunari was the younger son of Andō Nobutada and became daimyō in 1755 at age 12 when his father was sentenced to house arrest over misgovernment of his domain. However, the following year, the Andō clan was ordered to relocate to Iwakitaira, with a reduction in their kokudaka from 65,000 to 50,000 koku. Nobunari subsequently served as jisha-bugyō (1781), wakadoshiyori (1784) and rōjū (1793), so that by 1793 he had increased his kokudaka back to 67,000 koku. He is also noted for establishing a han school in the domain, teaching kanji, the Four Books and Five Classics, Japanese language, calligraphy, military science and rangaku. His wife was the daughter of Matsudaira Takachika of Tanagura Domain. He died in 1810.

Andō Nobukiyo (安藤信馨, December 5, 1768-November 25, 1812) was the 7th hereditary chieftain of the Andō clan and 2nd Andō daimyō of Iwakitaira. His courtesy title was Tsushima-no-kami, and his court rank was Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade. Nobukiyo was the younger son of Andō Nobunari. He became daimyō in 1810 on the death of his father, but died less than two years later in 1812 at the age of 45. His wife was the daughter of Kuze Hiroyasu of Sekiyado Domain. As his only surviving son, Nobuyori, was still an infant, the domain went to Nobuyoshi, a grandson of Nobunari and thus Nobuyoshi’s uncle. His grave is at the temple of Seigan-in, in what is now Suginami, Tokyo.

Andō Nobuyoshi (安藤信義, October 6, 1785-February 13, 1844) was eldest son of Andō Nobuatsu, the eldest son of Andō Nobunari. On the death of Nobukiyo, he became the 8th hereditary chieftain of the Andō clan and 3rd Andō daimyō of Iwakitaira, as Nobukiyo’s heir Nobuyori was still an infant. In 1816, he served as a sōshaban in the shogunal administration. In 1829, he adopted Nobuyori as his heir to restore the family lineage, and retired the same year. He died in 1843. His wife was a daughter of Tsugaru Yasuchika of Tsugaru Domain. His grave is at the temple of Seigan-in, in what is now Suginami, Tokyo.

Andō Nobuyori (安藤信由, November 16, 1801-July 16, 1847) was eldest son of Andō Nobukiyo. He became the 9th hereditary chieftain of the Andō clan and 4th Andō daimyō of Iwakitaira on the retirement of his uncle Nobuyoshi in 1829. In 1831, he served as a sōshaban in the shogunal administration. From 1833-1836, the Tenpō famine struck the domain, killing over 3000 people and ruining the domain's finances. Nobuyori died in 1847 at the age of 46. His wife was a daughter of Matsudaira Nobuakira of Yoshida Domain. His grave is at the temple of Seigan-in, in what is now Suginami, Tokyo.

Andō Nobumasa (安藤信正, January 10, 1820-November 20, 1871) was eldest son of Andō Nobuyori and 10th hereditary chieftain of the Andō clan. He was known most of his life as Andō Nobuyuki, taking the name of Nobumasa only after he became a rōjū. He became daimyō in 1847 on the death of his father. In 1848, he was promoted to the post of sōshaban. In 1858, he rose to the post of jisha-bugyō, and subsequently was appointed a wakadoshiyori under the Tairō Ii Naosuke. In 1860 he was appointed a rōjū, and placed in charge of foreign affairs. In 1860, Ii Naosuke was assassinated in the Sakuradamon Incident and Nobumasa became a leading councilor of state together with Kuze Hirochika[6].He was a supporter of the kobu-gattai policy to strengthen relations between the imperial court and the shogunate and was instrumental in arranging for Kazunomiya, the younger sister of Emperor Kōmei, to marry Shōgun Tokugawa Iemochi. Andō himself was the target of an assassination attempt in 1862 by six former Mito Domain samurai outside the Sakashita Gate of Edo Castle. Soon afterwards he was forced from office due to accusations of improper conduct in arranging for an heir to succeed Ii Naosuke and due to allegations that he had accepted bribes from American consul Townsend Harris. The kokudaka of Iwakitaira Domain was also reduced by 20,000 koku in 1863. However, his son and heir Andō Nobutami was still underage, so he continued to rule the domain from behind-the-scenes. Andō Nobutami died in 1863 and was replaced by an adopted heir, Andō Nobutake. In 1868, during the Boshin War, Nobumasa took the domain into the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei. The domain was overrun and Iwakitaira Castle was burned during the Battle of Iwakitaira, and the victorious Meiji government placed Nobumasa under permanent house arrest in 1868. He was released in 1869 and died in 1871.

Andō Nobutami (安藤信由, November 10, 1859-September 22, 1863) was eldest son of Andō Nobumasa. He became the 11th hereditary chieftain of the Andō clan and 6th Andō daimyō of Iwakitaira on the forced retirement of Nobumasa in 1862 in what is known as the "Bunkyu Purge". In addition, the kokudaka of the domain was reduced to 30,000 koku. As Nobutami was only three years old at the time, Nobumasa continued to rule behind-the-scenes. He died two years later at the age of five. His grave is at the temple of Seigan-in, in what is now Suginami, Tokyo.

Andō Nobutake (安藤信勇, November 24, 1849-May 24, 1908) was third son of Naitō Masayoshi of Iwamurada Domain in Shinano Province. He was adopted a posthumous heir to Nobutami as his mother was a daughter of Andō Nobuyori. He became the 12th hereditary chieftain of the Andō clan and 7th (and final) Andō daimyō of Iwakitaira in 1863. During the Boshin War, Andō Nobumasa supported the pro-Tokugawa Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei; however, Nobutake supported the pro-Meiji forces and visited Kyoto, where he secretly pledged fealty to the Meiji government. Nevertheless, Iwakitaira Castle was destroyed during the Battle of Iwakitaira, and much to his disappointment, he was reassigned by the new government to a newly-created 34,000 koku holding in former Nanbu territory in Rikuchū Province. He was able to recover Iwakitaira in August 1869 only after paying the government a massive 70,000 ryō fine. Less than two years later, with the abolition of the han system, he was forced to surrender Iwakitaira again, and relocate to Tokyo. He retired in 1872, turning the chieftainship of the clan to Nobutami's younger brother, Nobumori, and later worked as a professor at the Gakushūin Peer's School. He died in 1908.