Ōta Sukemune

In this Japanese name, the family name is "Ōta ".
Ōta Sukemune
太田資宗
Born December 27, 1600
Died February 22, 1680 (aged 79)
Nationality Japanese
Other names Settsu-no-kami, Bitchu-no-kami
Occupation Daimyō

Ōta Sukemune (太田 資宗, December 27, 1600 February 22, 1680) was a daimyō during early-Edo period Japan. His courtesy title was Bitchu no Kami.

Biography

Ōta Sukemune was the second son of Ōta Shigemasa, a Sengoku period samurai descendent from Ōta Dōkan, who entered into the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu after the fall of the Go-Hōjō clan in 1590. Shigemasa’s elder sister, Eisho-in, later became one of Ieyasu’s concubines.

When Sukemune was seven years old in 1606, he was introduced to Tokugawa Ieyasu in a formal audience. On the death of his father in 1610, he was confirmed as head of the Ōta clan and inherited his father’s holdings of 5,600 koku in the Kantō region. In 1615, he received the courtesy title of Settsu-no-kami and lower 5th Court Rank. He continued in Ieyasu’s service, receiving various minor commissions within the hierarchy of the Tokugawa shogunate, and in 1633 became one of the first group of wakadoshiyori.

In 1635, Sukemune was rewarded with properties in Shimotsuke Province with an assessed value of 10,000 koku, which (when added to his existing 5,600 koku) enabled him to become daimyō of the newly created Yamakawa Domain. His courtesy title was changed at that time to Bitchu-no-kami. In 1638, Yamakawa Domain was suppressed when Sukemune was transferred to Nishio Domain in Mikawa Province with an increase in revenues to 35,000 koku. From 1641-1643, he was appointed a bugyō overseeing the work of noted Confucian scholar Hayashi Razan.

In 1644, Sukemune was transferred to Hamamatsu Domain, a more prestigious posting, but with the same revenue rating of 35,000 koku. He retired from public life in 1671, leaving the domain to his second son, Ōta Suketsugu.

Sukemune was married to an adopted daughter of Itakura Shigemune, the Kyoto Shoshidai.

References

Preceded by
Daimyō of Yamakawa
1635-1638
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Honda Toshitsugu
Daimyō of Nishio
1648-1644
Succeeded by
Ii Naoyoshi
Preceded by
Matsudaira Norinaga
Daimyō of Hamamatsu
1644-1671
Succeeded by
Ōta Suketsugu