Niwa Nagakuni

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Lord of Nihonmatsu
Niwa Nagakuni
Niwa Nagakuni
In office 1858 – 1868
Preceded by	Niwa Nagatomi
Succeeded by	Niwa Nagahiro

Born	May 22, 1834(1834-05-22) Nihonmatsu, Japan
Died	January 15, 1904 (aged 69), aged 69
Nationality	Japanese

Niwa Nagakuni (丹羽長国, Niwa Nagakuni^?); (May 22, 1834-January 15, 1904) 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.

1 Biography
2 Notes
3 Further reading
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Nagakuni, known in his childhood as Hōzō (保蔵) was born in Nihonmatsu on May 22, 1834, the 6th son of Niwa Nagatomi. On November 15, 1858^[1] he succeeded to the family headship upon his father's retirement. He continued the joint coastal defense mission at Tomitsu (together with Aizu han) begun by his father.^[2] In 1860, he sent forces for security duty in Kyoto, and was faced with a fire in his castle town, which seriously drained his resources. These expenses were compounded by the issues of the existing dire economic straits the domain was in following the Tenpo famines, as well as bureaucratic corruption. As a result, Nihonmatsu was utterly economically paralyzed by the end of the Edo period. However, it joined the Northern Confederation of Allied Domains in 1868, and fought bravely against the forces of the Meiji Government. However, Nihonmatsu was defeated, and forced to give up 50,000 koku of its holdings. Also, as per the government's conditions, Nagakuni retired, and his adopted son Niwa Nagahiro (brother of the Yonezawa han daimyo Uesugi Mochinori) succeeded him.

Nagakuni held the title of Sakyō-dayū (左京大夫) and the junior 4th court rank, lower grade (jū shi-i no ge 従四位下).^[3]

During the Meiji era, Nagakuni lived to see the Niwa clan recover some of its fortunes in society, receiving the title of viscount (子爵 shishaku). He died in 1904

[edit] Notes

^ 11 October by the lunar calendar.
^ 歴史の勉強・丹羽氏
^ 歴史の勉強・丹羽氏

Preceded by Niwa Nagatomi	Daimyō of Nihonmatsu 1858-1868	Succeeded by Niwa Nagahiro

[edit] 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)
Onodera Eikō 小野寺永幸. Boshin Nanboku Sensō to Tōhoku Seiken 戊辰南北戦争と東北政権. Sendai: Kita no Sha 北の杜, 2004.
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.