Sakai Tadahiro
Sakai Tadahiro was the third Sakai clan lord of Himeji han, ruling as such from 1790 to 1814.
He is known, like Sakai Tadazumi, first Sakai clan lord of Himeji, for his patronage of Ming Dynasty music. Tadazumi had invited Gi Shimei, the preeminent Ming music expert of the time, to Himeji in the late 1760s or early 1770s, to teach Ming music to himself and to others in his court. In the first decades of the 1800s, Tadahiro had Ming music performed at gatherings at his Edo mansion, and elsewhere.
Tadahiro is also known for his financial reforms. In the early years of the 19th century, Himeji domain was in serious financial difficulties. Among other policies, Tadahiro ordered that paper currency printed in the domain (hansatsu) would be used to pay for cotton within the domain, thus helping to stem the outflow of coin from the domain.[1]
Later in the 19th century, the domain was assigned to take on responsibilities supplying troops for coastal defense and riot (ikki) suppression in the Kinai region.[1]
References
- Nakao Yukari 中尾友香梨, "Nihon ni okeru Mingaku no juyô" 「日本における明楽の受容」, in Kojima Yasunori 小島康敬 (ed.), Reigaku bunka 礼楽文化, Tokyo: Pelican-sha (2013), 348-349.
