Ii Naosuke
| Ii Naosuke | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Lord of Hikone | |
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In office 1846–1860 |
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| Preceded by | Ii Naoaki |
| Succeeded by | Ii Naonori |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
November 29, 1815 Edo, Japan |
| Died | March 24, 1860 (aged 44) Edo, Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
Ii Naosuke (井伊 直弼?, November 29, 1815 – March 24, 1860) was daimyō of Hikone (1850–1860) and also Tairō of Tokugawa shogunate, Japan, a position he held from April 23, 1858 until his death on March 24, 1860. He is most famous for signing the Harris Treaty with the United States, granting access to ports for trade to American merchants and seamen and extraterritoriality to American citizens. He was also an enthusiastic and accomplished practitioner of the Japanese tea ceremony, in the Sekishūryū style, and his writings include at least two works on the tea ceremony.
Under Ii Naosuke’s guidance, the Tokugawa shogunate navigated past a particularly difficult conflict over the succession to the ailing and childless Tokugawa Iesada. Ii Naosuke managed to coerce the Tokugawa Shogunate to the last brief resurgence of its power and position in Japanese society before the start of the Meiji period. Ii was assassinated in the Sakuradamon incident by a group of 17 Mito and 1 Satsuma samurai on March 24, 1860.
Ii Naosuke was born on November 29, 1815 as the 14th son of Ii Naonaka, the daimyō of Hikone by his concubine. Since Naosuke was the 14th son, he was not in line for a prominent position and early in his life was sent to a Buddhist temple where he lived on a small stipend from his family. Fortunately for Ii, even though he was sent to the monastery, his 13 elder brothers were either adopted into other families who needed an heir, or died before they succeeded their father. Accordingly, when his father died in 1850, Ii was called back from the monastery and became the daimyo of Hikone, a fudai domain, and took the family name of Ii. As the daimyō of Hikone, Ii was one of the daimyo who were eligible for a position in the bakufu, the council of the Shogun’s advisors.
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