Mizuno Tadayuki (水野忠之)
Tadayuki MIZUNO was a hereditary vassal to the Tokugawa family in the mid-Edo period as well as a member of the shogun's council of elders of the Edo bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun). He was the fourth lord of the Okazaki Domain in Mikawa Province (worth 50,000 koku of rice a year, later 60,000 koku). He was the fifth head of the Mizuno family in the Tadamoto line.
Biography
He was born in the Edo residence of Mizuno family about six o'clock in the morning on July 4, 1669. He was the fourth son of Tadaharu MIZUNO, who was the lord of the Okazaki Domain in Mikawa Province (50,000 koku).
He was adopted by his relative Tadachika MIZUNO (received a stipend of 2,300 koku), a direct vassal of the shogun, on August 10, 1674, and took over as the head of the family. He was promoted to the status of a person responsible for order and patrol in the battlefield called 'Otsukaiban' in February 1697, and allowed to wear the clothing for kuge, which meant that he was equivalent to Sixth Rank. He became the inspector of foot soldiers in Nikko on May 28, 1698, and on October 28, he became the shogunate administrator of activities by a community in Nikko.
He was adopted by his elder brother Tadamitsu MIZUNO, the lord of the Okazaki Domain, on February 10, 1699 and on October 19 he took over from Tadamitsu as the head of the family. He was appointed to Jushiinoge (Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade), the Daikenmotsu (Senior Inspector) on December 8.
When Naganori ASANO, the lord of the Ako Domain, had an affair involving bloodshed against Yoshinaka KIRA, a privileged family under the Tokugawa shogunate, on April 21, 1701, he went to the residence of the Ako Domain in Teppozu to settle the commotion.
Additionally, on January 31, 1703, after forty-seven Ako loyal retainers surrendered to the bakufu with Kira's head, he was ordered to take nine of them into custody. He had Jujiro HAZAMA, Sadaemon OKUDA, Emoshichi YATO, Sandayu MURAMATSU, Magokuro MASE, Wasuke KAYANO, Kanpei YOKOKAWA, Jirozaemon MINOMURA and Yogoro KANZAKI in custody at the second city residence in Mita.
Mizuno treated the royal retainers well in the style of Tsunatoshi HOSOKAWA (the lord of Kumamoto Domain, 540,000 koku), who had held Yoshio OISHI in custody. However, while Hosokawa met Oishi and other royal retainers right after they came to the Hosokawa residence, Mizuno met the royal retainers on February 6 at last, perhaps so as not to draw the attention of the bakufu. This didn't mean that hospitality to the royal retainers by the Mizuno family was inferior to that of the Hosokawa family, but Mizuno was slightly less enthusiastic than Hosokawa, by which one can assume that Mizuno was a relatively calm person. Of course, Mizuno also sent praise to the royal retainers at the meeting.
He was also praised by the common people in Edo, and comic waka poem remained as 'In Hosokawa, the flow of water (pronounced as mizuno in Japanese) is clear but often (Matsudaira Oki no kami (Matsudaira, the governor of Oki Province)) of the ocean (Mori Kai no kami (Mori, the governor of Kai Province)) is cloudy.'
It implied that the Hosokawa and Mizuno families treated the masterless samurai very well but the Mori and Matsudaira families did not. Subsequently, on March 20, 1703, MIZUNO made those nine gishi commit seppuku (suicide by disembowelment) in accordance with the bakufu.
He was appointed to an official in charge of ceremonies on January 25, 1705. He was appointed to Junior Councillor on January 30, 1712. He was appointed to Kyoto deputy on October 14, 1714. On that occasion, he was promoted to Jushiinoge (Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade), as a chamberlain, the governor of Izumi Province.
He became a member of shogun's council of elders of director of finance on October 31, 1717, and supported the Kyoho reform by Shogun Yoshimune TOKUGAWA. In 1725, 10,000 koku was added. He resigned from the member of shogun's council of elders on July 26, 1730, and retired on August 19.
After his retirement, he was tonsured and entered the priesthood, and took the Buddhist name Shogaku. He died on April 24, 1731. He died at the age of 63. Based on the will he had left, he was cremated in the Ushigome Hosen-ji Temple; his remains were sent to Bansho-ji Temple in Yamakawa of Shimosa Province and buried there on April 30, 1731. His posthumous Buddhist name was Koryu Inden Shogaku Genki Koji.