1. Marquess Nakayama Tadayasu was a Japanese nobleman and courtier of the Edo period and then one of the Kazoku of the post-1867 Empire of Japan.
10 Facts About Nakayama Tadayasu
1. 2.
Nakayama Tadayasu was the father of Nakayama Yoshiko, mother of the Emperor Meiji, who was born and brought up in Nakayama's household.
3.
Nakayama Tadayasu had the rare honour of being awarded the Order of the Chrysanthemum while he was still alive.
4.
Nakayama Tadayasu married Matsura Aiko, a daughter of Matsura Kiyoshi, ninth daimyo of Hirado and a famous swordsman.
5.
Nakayama Tadayasu received a series of court appointments in the service of the Emperor Ninko and his successor Komei.
6.
Nakayama Tadayasu was entrusted with the upbringing of his grandson, Mutsuhito, the future Emperor Meiji, and many years later with that of his great-grandson Yoshihito, another future emperor.
7.
Nakayama Tadayasu was a sickly infant, and Nakayama spent many days and nights with him.
8.
In 1858, Nakayama Tadayasu was a leader of courtiers protesting against the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Japan and the United States, which opened the ports of Kanagawa, Kobe, Nagasaki, Niigata, and Hakodate to foreign trade and to settlement by Americans.
9.
In December 1862, Nakayama Tadayasu was appointed as the Emperor's Special Consultant for National Affairs, but in 1864 he was sent away from court as a consequence of his involvement in the Kinmon Incident, an attempt to control the Emperor.
10.
On 3 January 1868, when Iwakura Tomomi arranged the seizure of the Kyoto Imperial Palace and initiated the Meiji Restoration, which resulted in the creation of the post-Shogun Empire of Japan, Nakayama Tadayasu was among the courtiers who supported this action.