Soma Tomotane (相馬誠胤)
Tomotane SOMA (September 18, 1852 - February 22, 1892) was a daimyo (Japanese feudal lord) of the Edo period. He was a lord of the Soma-nakamura Domain of Mutsu Province. He was the second son of Michitane SOMA, the former lord of the domain. His original name was Suetane. His common name was Kichijiro or Kichitaro. His last official rank and post in the Edo period was Jugoinoge (Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade) Inaba-no-kuni-no-kami (the governor of Inaba Province). In the Meiji period, he was given the title of viscount and given posthumously the rank of Shoshii (Senior Fourth Rank).
On September 18, 1852, he was born. On May 18, 1865, he succeeded the reigns of the family due to his father Michitane's retirement. During the unsettled days of the end of the Edo period, he couldn't take any independent action because of his small domain. In February 1868, he sent a chief retainer to Kyoto (the hub of the Imperial Court and the New Government) in response to the defeat of the army of the old Shogunate (the last shogunate, Tokugawa clan and the followers) in the Battles of Toba and Fushimi. Afterward, however, he took part in the Ouetsu-reppan Alliance to follow the movements of the domains of Tohoku region, and fought against the New Government. On September 21, they gave in to the New Government, and on September 24, together with his father Michitane, he shut themselves into Chosho-ji Temple on their best behavior. On July 30, 1869, Tomotane was appointed governor of the Nakamura Domain. On August 29, 1871, he was dismissed from the office as governor due to Haihan-chiken (abolition of feudal domains and establishment of prefectures).
On April 14, 1879, his family asked permission of the Imperial Household Ministry to confine Tomotane at home because of his mental disease, and on the following day, they were granted. However, on December 10, 1885, Takekiyo NISHIGORI, who had served the Nakamura clan as retainer, requested the family to release Tomotane, claiming that he had been confined for no reason by his younger paternal brother Aritane and his fellows who planned to embezzle Tomotane's property. This was the beginning of so-called Soma Jiken (Soma Incident). Nishigori sued the Soma family for illegal confinement and embezzlement of property. On the other hand, the Soma Family hired a lawyer Toru HOSHI and sued Nishigori for false charge.
On February 22, 1892, Tomotane died during the lawsuit was prolonged and approaching chaos. Nishigori claimed that Tomotane had been murdered with poison, and an autopsy was held. However, the autopsy proved that he had not been poisoned, therefore, Nishigori was sentenced to four years' imprisonment for a definite term for false charge. By the way, Tomotane SOMA had been given the title of viscount in 1884, and the title was succeeded by his younger brother Aritane.
His legal wife was a daughter of Mitsuhisa MATSUDAIRA. His oldest son Hidetane was adopted as a child of Nobutoshi ODA, a lord of the Tendo Domain of old Dewa Province, and changed his name to Nobutsune ODA who also became an author of the comic 'Adventures of Sho-chan' under the penname of Shosei ODA. It is considered that the adoption was arranged because the wife of Nobumichi ODA, the father of Nobutoshi ODA, had come from the Soma family.