Framing Late Tokugawa Japan

Aizu, particularly through its daimyō, played an important role during the Bakumatsu years and remained consistently present, yet often discreet, in the unfolding of events. In 1852, Matsudaira Katamori, having been adopted by his uncle Matsudaira Katataka, became the new daimyō of Aizu at only sixteen. His fate would become intrinsically linked to the Tokugawa clan due to the closeness of their family ties: the Matsudaira of Aizu were a branch family of the Tokugawa, but more importantly, Katamori was the illegitimate son of the daimyō of Takasu Domain, himself a member of the Gosanke house of Owari. The  Gosanke  (Three Noble Houses) were the most powerful branch families of the Tokugawa clan (Owari, Kii, and Mito) which all descended from Tokugawa Ieyasu’s younger sons. Matsudaira Katamori was educated at the  Nisshinkan in Aizu , where he studied reading, calligraphy, ethics, etiquette, religion, astronomy, physiology, horseback riding, archery, swordsmanship, and eve...