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Narioki was born in [[Edo]], and was raised in part by his adoptive mother, a younger sister of [[Satake Yoshikazu]], lord of [[Akita han]]. In his childhood, he was known by a number of names, including Kennosuke, Torajumaru, and Matasaburô Tadayoshi. Narioki became lord of Satsuma in [[1809]], at age 19, following his father's forced retirement. Narioki's grandfather, the former Satsuma ''daimyô'' [[Shimazu Shigehide]], served as his formal regent for only the first year of his administration, but for the following 13 years, until Shigehide's death in [[1833]], Narioki consulted Shigehide on occasion, on matters of particular import.

Narioki was born in [[Edo]], and was raised in part by his adoptive mother, a younger sister of [[Satake Yoshikazu]], lord of [[Akita han]]. In his childhood, he was known by a number of names, including Kennosuke, Torajumaru, and Matasaburô Tadayoshi. Narioki became lord of Satsuma in [[1809]], at age 19, following his father's forced retirement. Narioki's grandfather, the former Satsuma ''daimyô'' [[Shimazu Shigehide]], served as his formal regent for only the first year of his administration, but for the following 13 years, until Shigehide's death in [[1833]], Narioki consulted Shigehide on occasion, on matters of particular import.

[[Zusho Shozaemon|Zusho Shôzaemon]], who Narioki appointed as one of his top advisors in [[1827]] (possibly at the recommendation of Shigehide), is remembered today as one of the most influential Shimazu retainers of the Edo period. Zusho helped Narioki to implement a number of significant financial reforms which eliminated the domain's massive 5,000,000 ''[[currency|ryô]]'' debt, which had accumulated over the previous 250 years without any interest being paid up to that time. Zusho accomplished this in part through strengthening monopolies on sugar, rapeseed, and other medicinal plant products, intensifying the exploitation of the [[Amami Islands]], and revising the patterns of trade with [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Ryûkyû]]. By the end of this, the domain not only paid down its debt, but developed a savings of 500,000 ''ryô'' in its coffers. Some scholars have called this one of the "miracles" of Japanese history, that Satsuma should come back so successfully from such a dire financial situation.<ref>''Honjin ni tomatta daimyô tachi'', Toyohashi, Aichi: Futagawa-juku honjin shiryôkan (1996), 29.</ref> Zusho also guided Narioki in taking steps to begin building a Western-style military for Satsuma, and to enhance the military defense of the Kingdom of Ryûkyû against Western encroachment. Along similar lines, Narioki also established in the 1840s the Nakamura ''seiyakusho'', a center for researching Western sciences and medicine, and made efforts to implement Western techniques or technologies.

[[Zusho Shozaemon|Zusho Shôzaemon]], who Narioki appointed as one of his top advisors in [[1827]] (possibly at the recommendation of Shigehide), is remembered today as one of the most influential Shimazu retainers of the Edo period. Zusho helped Narioki to implement a number of significant financial reforms which eliminated the domain's massive 5,000,000 ''[[currency|ryô]]'' debt, which had accumulated over the previous 250 years without any interest being paid up to that time. Zusho accomplished this in part through strengthening monopolies on sugar, rapeseed, and other medicinal plant products, intensifying the exploitation of the [[Amami Islands]], and revising the patterns of trade with [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Ryûkyû]]. By the end of this, the domain not only paid down its debt, but developed a savings of 500,000 ''ryô'' in its coffers. Some scholars have called this one of the "miracles" of Japanese history, that Satsuma should come back so successfully from such a dire financial situation.<ref>''Honjin ni tomatta daimyô tachi'', 29.</ref> Zusho also guided Narioki in taking steps to begin building a Western-style military for Satsuma, and to enhance the military defense of the Kingdom of Ryûkyû against Western encroachment. Along similar lines, Narioki also established in the 1840s the Nakamura ''seiyakusho'', a center for researching Western sciences and medicine, and made efforts to implement Western techniques or technologies.

Incidents of Western incursions into Japanese waters began to become more frequent in the late 1830s and 1840s; combined with news of the [[Qing Dynasty|Qing Dynasty's]] humiliation at the hands of the British in the [[Opium War]], among other events, these developments spurred discussions within the governments of many domains, which soon grew into factionalism and political tensions. Narioki's eldest son Shimazu Nariakira began to vie for influence within the domain government by this time as well, however, eventually developing a powerful faction against his father both within the domain government, and among allies in the shogun's court. For a brief time, Narioki's power at home ebbed and waned significantly whenever he was forced to travel to Edo as part of his ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' obligations, unavoidably leaving Nariakira to pursue his own aims in Narioki's absence; thus, for a number of years, Nariakira and Zusho worked to develop the domain's economic and military efforts separately from one another; while not entirely at cross-purposes, this was at the very least terribly inefficient.<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 160-161.</ref>

Incidents of Western incursions into Japanese waters began to become more frequent in the late 1830s and 1840s; combined with news of the [[Qing Dynasty|Qing Dynasty's]] humiliation at the hands of the British in the [[Opium War]], among other events, these developments spurred discussions within the governments of many domains, which soon grew into factionalism and political tensions. Narioki's eldest son Shimazu Nariakira began to vie for influence within the domain government by this time as well, however, eventually developing a powerful faction against his father both within the domain government, and among allies in the shogun's court. For a brief time, Narioki's power at home ebbed and waned significantly whenever he was forced to travel to Edo as part of his ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' obligations, unavoidably leaving Nariakira to pursue his own aims in Narioki's absence; thus, for a number of years, Nariakira and Zusho worked to develop the domain's economic and military efforts separately from one another; while not entirely at cross-purposes, this was at the very least terribly inefficient.<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 160-161.</ref>