Nabeshima Naomasa

  • Born: 1814
  • Died: 1871
  • Other Names: 斉正 (Narimasa)
  • Japanese: 鍋島 直正 (Nabeshima Naomasa)

Nabeshima Naomasa was the final lord of Saga domain.

He was married to Kuniko (Morihime), a daughter of Shogun Tokugawa Ienari; Kuniko died on 1867/3/10.[1]

He met with Yevfimy Vasilyevich Putyatin on at least one occasion, receiving the Russian in his own private gardens in Saga.[2]

Later, when the newly-formed Meiji government was debating whether to abandon Sakhalin Island to the Russians, Naomasa was among those advocating an expansion of Japanese defense of the island - to defend it, and Japan, from Russian encroachment.[3]

A statue of him was erected and unveiled in Saga in March 2017.[4]

References

  1. Ishin Shiryô Kôyô 維新史料綱要, vol 1 (1937), 65.
  2. Plaques on the history of railroads in Japan at Sakuragichô Station in Yokohama.[1]
  3. Jordan Walker, "Archipelagic Ambiguities: The Demarcation of Modern Japan, 1868-1879," Island Studies Journal 10:2 (2015), 210.
  4. Sven Saaler, "Public Statuary and Nationalism in Modern and Contemporary Japan," Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus 15:20:3 (Oct 15, 2017), 8.