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*''Born: [[1834]]''
*''Born: [[1834]]''
*''Died: [[1912]]''
Nishimiya Hide was a lady-in-waiting to Yoshiko, wife of [[Tokugawa Nariaki]], lord of [[Mito han]].
Nishimiya Hide was a lady-in-waiting to Yoshiko, wife of [[Tokugawa Nariaki]], lord of [[Mito han]].
==Edo==
==Edo==
Nishimiya was born in [[1834]] inside the Mito han [[Mito Edo mansion|mansion]] in the Koishikawa neighborhood of [[Edo]]<ref>Today, the site of the Tokyo Dome, and of the [[Koishikawa Korakuen|Koishikawa Kôrakuen]].</ref>. Her father was a low-ranking retainer in service to the domain, who had been granted a position in the personal retinue of the lord of Mito han, Tokugawa Nariaki, in recognition of his work as a [[Mito school]] scholar & researcher in Japanese history.
Nishimiya was born in [[1834]] inside the Mito han [[Mito Edo mansion|mansion]] in the Koishikawa neighborhood of [[Edo]]<ref>Today, the site of the Tokyo Dome, and of the [[Koishikawa Korakuen|Koishikawa Kôrakuen]].</ref>. Her father [[Nishino Nobuaki]] was a low-ranking retainer in service to the domain, who had been granted a position in the personal retinue of the lord of Mito han, Tokugawa Nariaki, in recognition of his work as a [[Mito school]] scholar & researcher in Japanese history. His [[stipends|stipend]] was a mere 10 ''[[koku]]'', plus an allotment of four men (servants).
Her upbringing within the Mito domain's Edo mansion, perhaps indicative of that of other samurai women of similar circumstances, included training in reading and writing, [[tea ceremony]], ''[[naginata]]'' (halberd), and a variety of aspects of formal etiquette. She began these lessons formally at age six. Records relating to her childhood also mention fine clothing given her as a gift by an aunt, and being required to wear only plainer clothes in public due to calls for austerity in the wake of serious famines. Her family, for a time, as an act of charity (similarly in the wake of these famines), hired three or four additional maids, providing these three or four women with housing and meals, though there was little extra work for them to do. Hide is also known as a child to have spent considerable time visiting temples and shrines and sightseeing and traveling otherwise within the city of Edo.
Her upbringing within the Mito domain's Edo mansion, perhaps indicative of that of other samurai women of similar circumstances, included training in reading and writing, [[tea ceremony]], ''[[naginata]]'' (halberd), and a variety of aspects of formal etiquette. She began these lessons formally at age six. Records relating to her childhood also mention fine clothing given her as a gift by an aunt, and being required to wear only plainer clothes in public due to calls for austerity in the wake of serious famines. Her family, for a time, as an act of charity (similarly in the wake of these famines), hired three or four additional maids, providing these three or four women with housing and meals, though there was little extra work for them to do. Hide is also known as a child to have spent considerable time visiting temples and shrines and sightseeing and traveling otherwise within the city of Edo.
==Meiji==
==Meiji==
In [[1869]], Lady Yoshiko dramatically reduced the size of her staff, and Hide returned briefly to her father's residence at the Koishikawa mansion in [[Tokyo]]. Before long, they had to move again, and find a property of their own to rent, as the [[Mito Tokugawa clan]] could no longer afford to maintain their Tokyo mansion. Her father, though seventy years old at this time, was able to find work in the new [[Meiji government]], his expertise as a scholar of Japanese imperial history helping him obtain a position as assistant in charge of managing imperial tombs. In [[1872]], he retired from that position. He and Hide were summoned to Mito, and were obliged to re-settle there in order to maintain their family's ''[[shizoku]]'' (former samurai) status. They agreed, but ''shizoku'' stipends were cut severely by the Tokyo government shortly afterward.
In [[1869]], Lady Yoshiko dramatically reduced the size of her staff, and Hide returned briefly to her father's residence at the Koishikawa mansion in [[Tokyo]]. Before long, they had to move again, and find a property of their own to rent, as the [[Mito Tokugawa clan]] could no longer afford to maintain their Tokyo mansion. Her father, though seventy years old at this time, was able to find work in the new [[Meiji government]], his expertise as a scholar of Japanese imperial history helping him obtain a position as assistant in charge of managing imperial tombs. In [[1872]], he retired from that position. He and Hide were summoned to Mito, and were obliged to re-settle there in order to maintain their family's ''[[shizoku]]'' (former samurai) status. Her father's stipend had been increased dramatically to 150 ''koku'' in [[1867]], and in order to maintain their status, and income, they agreed to relocate to Mito; unfortunately, ''shizoku'' stipends were cut severely by the Tokyo government shortly afterward.
Hide, meanwhile, had she been able to remain in Yoshiko's service, might have been able to retire with a comfortable pension. Since she was not able to do that, she, her father, and her stepmother had to figure out some way to support the family, and to secure an heir. Her father adopted a man for her to marry, and after their son Nobutaka was born in [[1873]], the couple were divorced. After that, the family tried a number of things to make money to support themselves. They rented out futons for a brief time, then gave that up and tried raising chickens, but a fox destroyed their flock. For a few years after that, she found considerable, though brief, success establishing and running a [[geisha]] house. She recruited several geisha from Tokyo, and brought them to Mito, finding enough success that she was able to recruit several more shortly afterward. However, in [[1882]] after the geisha house burned down for the third time, she gave up on this endeavor as well, in part because of concerns of the negative impact of the geisha house upon her son's moral education. Her father died later that year.
Hide, meanwhile, had she been able to remain in Yoshiko's service, might have been able to retire with a comfortable pension. Since she was not able to do that, she, her father, and her stepmother had to figure out some way to support the family, and to secure an heir. Her father adopted a man for her to marry, and after their son Nobutaka was born in [[1873]], the couple were divorced. After that, the family tried a number of things to make money to support themselves. They rented out futons for a brief time, then gave that up and tried raising chickens, but a fox destroyed their flock. For a few years after that, she found considerable, though brief, success establishing and running a [[geisha]] house. She recruited several geisha from Tokyo, and brought them to Mito, finding enough success that she was able to recruit several more shortly afterward. However, in [[1882]] after the geisha house burned down for the third time, she gave up on this endeavor as well, in part because of concerns of the negative impact of the geisha house upon her son's moral education. Her father died later that year.
Nobutaka had not done well in school, but around this time, when he was around nine years old, he expressed interest in learning how to make shoes, and so Hide managed to apprentice him to a shoemaker in Tokyo, returning herself to Mito. She worked briefly at a clothing store, and briefly helping a geisha to start her career, while simultaneously doing a little moneylending here and there.
Nobutaka had not done well in school, but around this time, when he was around nine years old, he expressed interest in learning how to make shoes, and so Hide managed to apprentice him to a shoemaker in Tokyo, returning herself to Mito. She worked briefly at a clothing store, and briefly helping a geisha to start her career, while simultaneously doing a little moneylending here and there.
In [[1887]], she returned to Tokyo, apprenticing Nobutaka to a new shoemaker, and rented rooms from a former shogunal retainer, which she then rented out in turn, taking on boarders and looking after them. She attempted to teach tea ceremony, but found no interested students. The following year, her nephew Kumeo who had been staying with her, stole her savings and disappeared. She gave up on the boardinghouse soon afterward. For a brief time in [[1889]], she then stayed with her niece's husband, following her niece's death, and was treated warmly by the husband's new wife.
In [[1887]], she returned to Tokyo, apprenticing Nobutaka to a new shoemaker, and rented rooms from a former shogunal retainer, which she then rented out in turn, taking on boarders and looking after them. She attempted to teach tea ceremony, but found no interested students. The following year, her nephew Kumeo who had been staying with her, stole her savings and disappeared. She gave up on the boardinghouse soon afterward. For a brief time in [[1889]], she then stayed with her niece's husband, following her niece's death, and was treated warmly by the husband's new wife. In the wake of an assassination attempt upon the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs|foreign minister]] that year, however, the government cracked down on cohabitation, and the police forced her to move.
Hide then worked briefly as a live-in cook for some teachers, and then as a personal attendant to a member of the military. When her employer died in [[1892]], his family helped her find a new position. Borrowing money from Yoshiko, she opened a shoe repair shop with Nobutaka, who had by now finished his apprenticeship. Yoshiko fell severely ill shortly afterwards, and Hide was there with her at Yoshiko's Tokyo residence when she died; Hide attended the funeral, and saw off the funeral train which carried Yoshiko's coffin up to Mito.
She then found a wife for Nobutaka, who was then 29, in a woman named Ogawa Teru. The three lived together for about five months, supporting themselves through the struggling shoe store, until Nobutaka was [[military conscription|conscripted]] into the army, where he was put to work making boots. Hide and Teru continued to run the store, and before long, Teru gave birth to a son. Men they hired to help run the shop caused problems. During the [[Sino-Japanese War]] of [[1894]]-[[1895]], Hide and Teru were provided rations by the army to help them get by. Eventually, Nobutaka was able to return to civilian life, and worked long shifts at a clothing store to help provide for the family. They paid off their loans, and bought sewing machines to expand/improve the shoe store, and even with Teru giving birth to a second child, a daughter, they soon were financially stable enough that Nobutaka felt he could afford to do something to repay his mother for all the difficulties; he financed her to go on a number of trips, the first of which was to pay a visit to the family graves, and old family friends, in Mito. This was to be Hide's last trip there, however. Two years later, she traveled by [[railroads|train]] for the first time, on a day trip to [[Nikko|Nikkô]] alongside Teru's mother and a third woman. Some time later, she visited Kyoto, Osaka, and Ise along with Nobutaka and his former master; another trip was to [[Fujisawa]], [[Enoshima]], and [[Kamakura]] with her grandson.
When the [[Russo-Japanese War]] broke out in [[1904]], Nobutaka was drafted into the army again, being let go two months later, but recalled once again in [[1905]]. He missed the birth of his second daughter.
Nishimiya Hide died in [[1912]] at the age of 78, seven years after her memoirs end.
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