Shimazu Tadakimi

Shimazu Tadayuki was a samurai of the Satsuma Domain during the Edo period, and the lord of the Shigetomi Region in Ichiro District. He was the fourth head of the Shigetomi Shimazu family, a branch of the main family of the daimyo of Satsuma, and was the maternal grandfather of Shimazu Tadayoshi, the daimyo of Satsuma.

Regarding his birth and family background, he was born on March 29, 1799, at the Satsuma Domain residence in Edo. His childhood name was Kanjiro. His father was the third son of Shimazu Nariakira, the lord of Satsuma, and his mother is said to be Oran, the daughter of hatamoto Nakane Masafusa. In the 12th year of Kansei (1800), Niwa, who was regarded as the adoptive mother of Nariakira, effectively became Tadayuki’s mother.

Oran, Tadayuki’s mother, refused to move to Satsuma in the 2nd year of Bunsei (1805), and afterward, citing illness, she returned to her family. By the 4th year of Bunsei (1807), she sought dissolution of the marriage; she obtained a divorce document and paid a settlement of 600 ryō to formally separate.

In the 6th year of Bunka (1809), Tadayuki’s younger brother, Buguō, returned to the main family as an adopted heir. Meanwhile, Tadayuki himself was adopted from Edo to the local family in Ichiro as a successor. In November of the 8th year of Bunsei (1825), due to concerns about Tadayuki's health, there was a request for an adoption from the head of the Shigetomi family, Tadayuki’s adoptive father, Tadanobu. Around this period, Tadayuki’s son-in-law, Matajirō (later Hisamitsu), was also brought in as a son-in-law.

On January 15, 1831 (the 2nd year of Tenpō), Tadayuki inherited the family headship of the Shigetomi family and became the head of the clan. In 1836 (the 7th year of Tenpō), Matajirō married Tadayuki’s second daughter, Ochihyaku. In November of the 10th year of Tenpō (1839), Tadayuki transferred the family headship to Tadayoshi and retired, taking the name Rakusui. At that time, the finances of the Shigetomi family were in collapse, and Tadayoshi was ordered by the domain lord, Shimazu Narioki, to reconstruct the family’s finances.

He died in 1892 (the 25th year of Meiji) at the age of 74. His descendants include his second daughter, Ochihyaku, whose mother was a daughter of Shimazu Tadayasu of Imazu, as well as Tadayoshi (Hisamitsu), Tadayuna, Shinahiko, and Tadayaki.

Among the reference materials are 'The Establishment of the Shimazu Clan Branch Families—Focusing on the Echizen (Shigetomi) Shimazu Family' by Masayoshi Hayashi and 'Marriage Alliances of the Shimazu Clan—Centered on the Families of Ie, Gō, Naga, and Yū' among others.