Shirakawa Domain
was the 7th Abe "daimyō" of Shirakawa Domain, and an important official in the Bakumatsu period Tokugawa shogunate. Masatō was the younger son of Abe Shōzō, a 3000 "koku" "hatamoto" retainer of Shirakawa Domain, and inherited this post when his elder brother Abe Masada was selected to become "daimyō" of Shirakawa. In 1859, he helped arrange for the wedding between Princess Kazunomiya and Shōgun Tokugawa Iemochi. In 1861, he became "Kanagawa bugyō", and the same year, he was promoted to "Gaikoku bugyō", and the following year to "Edo Kita Machi-bugyō". In 1864, on the death of Abe Masahisa, he became "daimyō" of Shirakawa, and a couple of months later was appointed both "sōshaban" and "Jisha-bugyō", and only days later was appointed a "rōjū". In this role, he played a leading role in the negotiations involving the creation of the port and foreign settlements at Yokohama, and Hyōgo. The opening of Hyōgō was vehemently opposed by Emperor Kōmei and the anti-treaty faction within the shogunate, and after Abe gave in to the foreign demands, he was fired from his office. placed under house arrest. The post of "daimyō" went to his son, Abe Masakiyo. He died in Tokyo in 1887.