Tokudaiji Kinmura (徳大寺公城)
Kinmura TOKUDAIJI (December 7, 1729 - August 19, 1782) was Kugyo (a Court Noble) in the middle Edo period. He served for the four sovereigns: the 115th Emperor Sakuramachi, the 116th Emperor Momozono, the 117th Emperor Gosakuramachi and the 118the Emperor Gomomozono. He was promoted up to Junii (Junior Second Rank) Gon Dainagon (Provisional Chief Councilor of State); He was given the title Juichii (Junior First Rank) after he died. His father was Gon Dainagon Sanenori TOKUDAIJI. His mother was a daughter of Yasutsune KATO (who was the lord of the Ozu Domain). He married a daughter of Yoritaka MATSUDAIRA (who was the lord of the Takamatsu Domain). He had an adopted child, Sanemi TOKUDAIJI who became Udaijin (Minister of the Right).
He was conferred a peerage in 1740. Since then, as the head of the Seiga family (the second highest family status for the court noble in Japan at that time), he was successfully promoted in the Imperial Court in a short period; In 1748, he achieved to become Jusanmi (Junior Third Rank), which gave him the title Kugyo; This happened after he experienced the positions of Chamberlain, Sakone no Shosho (Minor Captain of the Left Division of Inner Palace Guards), Ukone no Chujo (Middle Captain of the Right Division of Inner Palace Guards) and Sagami no Gon no Suke (provisional vice governor of Sagami Province). Later, he was appointed Dainagon (Chief Councilor of State) in 1754 after he served as Gon Chunagon (Provisional Vice-Councilor of State) and Toka no sechie Geben (Court Noble who conducted Toka no Sechie [a ceremony held at the Imperial Court in January] outside the Jomei Gate). He became the chief of Outadokoro (Folk Music Office) in 1756. However, in 1757, the Edo bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) put pressure on him for his misconduct that he appointed Shikibu TAKENOUCHI the tutor of the Emperor Momozono; For, Shikibu TAKEUCHI, who was a vassal of the Tokuraiji family, supported a theory that the Imperial Court should retrieve their political power; This incident forced Kinmura TOKUDAIJI to resign the position and to be suspended (the Horeki Incident). He was forgiven by the Edo bakufu in 1778; However, he no longer took any positions.
However, his honor was officially retrieved in 1891when the Tokugawa shogunate was collapsed. He was given the title Juichii after he died.