Tokugawa Nariaki

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Tokugawa Nariaki (徳川 斉昭 Tokugawa Nariaki, April 4, 1800 - September 29, 1860) was a prominent daimyo in the Mito domain, now Ibaraki prefecture, who contributed to the rise of nationalism and the Meiji restoration.

He was the father of Tokugawa Yoshinobu or Keiki, the final Tokugawa Shogun, and was a member of the Mito branch of the Tokugawa family and daimyo of Mito.

Nariaki was put in charge of bakufu efforts to defend the country against encroaching foreigners. His own view was that the bakufu should strengthen its military and fight the foreigners, and was at odds with Ii Naosuke on the issue.

He was pro-emperor and favored Restoration.

He wrote a document entitled "Japan, Reject the Westerners" in 1853. in this document, he stated ten reasons why Japan should stay isolated from the rest of the world. He said that the Japanese people had a choice between war and peace, but clearly to him, the Japanese people should choose war so that Westerners would not intrude into Japan's affairs.

Nariaki and Naosuke fought over who would succeed the Shogun Iesada, with Nariaki championing his son Keiki. Naosuke, who eventually prevailed, favored Iemochi.

The article incorporates text from OpenHistory.