Fujita Toranosuke

• Other Names: 彪 (Takeki), 誠之進 (Seinoshin)
• Japanese: 藤田 虎之助 (Fujita Toranosuke)

Fujita Toranosuke was a notable Mito han karô (House Elder) of the Bakumatsu period.

He was placed under house arrest by the shogunate along with former lord of Mito Tokugawa Nariaki and fellow karô Toda Ginjirô; Toda and Fujita were released, however, on 1846/12/28, while Nariaki remained confined for a time. Fujita then joined a number of other Mito retainers in actively pushing for Nariaki's exoneration and release.

By 1853, following Nariaki's eventual release, Toda and Fujita were actively engaged in petitioning the shogunate to allow for Nariaki's involvement in discussions or policy decisions regarding foreign relations and coastal defense; they were eventually successful, and Nariaki was formally brought into policy discussions.

In 1854, Fujita was invited alongside Hagura Geki and Shionoya Kôzô to the Edo mansion of Yamauchi Toyoshige to discuss current affairs.

References

• Ishin Shiryô Kôyô 維新史料綱要, vol 1 (1937), 54, 106, 112, 435, 448, 450, 506, 639.