Matsudaira Sadanobu
| Matsudaira Sadanobu | |
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Portrait of Matsudaira Sadanobu
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| 3rd Lord of Shirakawa | |
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In office 1783–1812 |
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| Preceded by | Matsudaira Sadakuni |
| Succeeded by | Matsudaira Sadanaga |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 15, 1759 Edo, Japan |
| Died | June 14, 1829 (aged 70) |
| Nationality | Japanese |
Matsudaira Sadanobu (松平 定信?, January 15, 1759 – June 14, 1829) Japanese daimyō of the mid-Edo period, famous for his financial reforms which saved the Shirakawa Domain, and the similar reforms he undertook during his tenure as chief senior councilor (老中首座 rōjū shuza?) of the Tokugawa shogunate, from 1787 to 1793.
Sadanobu was born in Edo Castle on January 15, 1759, into the Tayasu branch of the Tokugawa house. The Tayasu was one of the gosankyō, the seniormost of the lesser cadet branches of the Shogun's family, which still bore the name Tokugawa (instead of the cadet branches which had the Matsudaira surname).
His father was Tayasu Munetake, the son of the reform-minded eighth shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune. The Tayasu house stood apart from the other cadet branches resident in Edo Castle, living a more austere lifestyle, following the example set by Yoshimune—in Munetake's words, the praise of manly spirit (masuraoburi) as opposed to feminine spirit (taoyameburi). It also set itself apart from the other branches due to its history of thwarted political ambition—the founder, Munetake, had hoped to become his father's heir but was passed over for Yoshimune's eldest son, Ieshige. As a result, Sadanobu was brought up from a very young age with the hopes of being placed as the next shogunal heir. His education was very thorough, being done along Confucian lines, and by his teens Sadanobu had already read and memorized much of the Confucian canon. As he matured, there was a further onus on Sadanobu for success as several members of the Tayasu house began to die young. Further attempts were made by the family to place Sadanobu as the next shogunal heir, but they were thwarted by the political clique of Tanuma Okitsugu, who was then in power as the chief rōjū.
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