Nobuharu FUSEHARA (commonly, FUSHIHARA) (伏原宣明)

Nobuharu FUSEHARA (or FUSHIHARA) (May 14, 1790 - April 1, 1863) was a Confucian and Kugyo (high court noble) who lived in the late Edo period. He served at the Imperial Court under the reigns of three emperors who were Emperor Kokaku (the 119th), Emperor Ninko (the 120th) and Emperor Komei (the 121st), and was promoted to as high as Shonii (Senior Second Rank) Myogo Hakase (Professor of Confucian Classics).

His father was a Kugyo named Nobutake FUSHIHARA (Junii, Shuri gon no daibu [Assistant Master in the Office of Palace Repairs]). The Fushihara family was a branch of the Kuge noble's house of the Funabashi family that had traditionally produced Confucianists serving at the Imperial Court, and the Fushihara family also hereditarily studied Confucianism. He was the 7th head of the Fushihara family.

In 1798 he was conferred a peerage and an official court rank of Jugoinoge (Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade). In 1803 he was celebrated his coming of age and became Jugoinojo (Junior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade) Bizen no kuni Kokushi (Governor of the Bizen Province). In 1806 he was appointed Mondo no sho (Chief of the Water Office). In 1807 he was raised to Shogoinoge (Senior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade). In 1811 he was raised to Jushiinoge (Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade) Jiju (Chamberlain). In 1815 he was promoted to Jushiinojo (Junior Fourth Rank, Upper Grade). In 1819 he was appointed Shoshiinoge (Senior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade) Myogyo Hakase (Professor of Confucian Classics). He was raised to Jusanmi (Junior Third Rank) in 1823, Shosanmi (Senior Third Rank) in 1827, Junii (Junior Second Rank) in 1843, and Shonii (Senior Second Rank) in 1854. His position of the family head was succeeded by his son Nobusato FUSHIHARA, and at the time of his great-grandson named Nobusada FUSHIHARA, the Fushihara family was conferred viscountcy.

As an attendant Confucian scholar at the imperial court in the late Edo period, he taught Confucianism to a number of the youth in the imperial family and the nobility, who were active from the Bakumatsu period (the last days of the Tokugawa shogunate) through to the Meiji period. Young Emperor Meiji and young Tomomi IWAKURA also studied under him.

[Original Japanese]