Asano Naganori

Asano Naganori (浅野 長矩^?, September 28, 1667 – April 21, 1701) was the daimyo of the Akō Domain in Japan (1675 - 1701). His title was Takumi no Kami (内匠頭). He is known as the person who triggered a series of incidents retold in a story known as Chūshingura, one of the favourite themes of kabuki, jōruri, and Japanese books and films.

He was born in Edo as the eldest son of Asano Nagatomo. His family was a branch of the Asano family whose main lineage was in Hiroshima. His grandfather Naganao was appointed to the position of daimyo of Ako with 50 thousand koku. After Naganao died in 1671, Nagatomo succeeded to the position, but died after three years in 1675. Naganori succeeded his father at the age of nine.

In 1680, he was appointed to the office of Takumi no Kami, the head of carpentry at the imperial court, but this office was nominal, as were other offices granted to samurai at that time, and only had an honorific meaning. As a daimyo with a small fief, he was appointed several times to temporary minor offices of the Tokugawa shogunate. In 1683, he was first appointed one of two officials to host the emissaries from the imperial court to the Shogunate. It was the first time he met Kira Yoshinaka, the highest-ranking koke, the head of ceremonial matters at the Shogunate, who instructed officials in the manner of hosting noble guests from Kyoto.

In 1694, he suffered from a serious illness. He had no children, thus no heir at that time. When a daimyo died without a determined heir, his house would be abolished by the Shogunate, and his lands confiscated; his retainers would become rōnin. To prevent this, he adopted his younger brother Asano Nagahiro, titled Daigaku, who was accepted as his heir by the Shogunate.

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