page_title: Ii Naosuke
section_title: Tairō
hierarchical_section_title: Ii Naosuke / Tairō
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: 『井伊直弼画像』。 作者：井伊直安（井伊直弼の三男。越後国与板藩第10代藩主）。所在：豪徳寺（東京都世田谷区）。伝・明治中期頃作。縦121.4cm×横91.1cm。世田谷区指定有形文化財（歴史資料）&#91;1&#93; English: Portrait of Ii Naosuke painted by Ii Naoyasu (Naosuke's son). He was a daimyō of Hikone Domain (1850–1860) and also Tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate (April 23, 1858 - March 24, 1860).
context_page_description: Ii Naosuke was daimyō of Hikone and also Tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan, a position he held from April 23, 1858, until his death, assassinated in the Sakuradamon Incident 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.
context_section_description: In 1858 after Hotta Masayoshi's disastrous attempt to obtain the emperor's approval for the Harris treaty the Tokugawa shōgun Tokugawa Iesada chose Ii Naosuke to be the Tairō (Great Elder); a decision influenced by the Kii Party.  The position of Tairō, a post traditionally held by members of the Ii family, was rarely filled; in fact there had only been three Tairō between 1700 and Ii Naosuke's rise to power 158 years later. Ii's promotion to the post of Tairō annoyed many of the shinpan daimyōs (daimyōs related to the shōgun, they were unable to be members of the bakufu, but in the event of the shōgun dying heirless the next shōgun would be chosen from one of the shinpan families) including Tokugawa Nariaki. As the Tairō Ii Naosuke had both prestige and power second only to the shōgun; Ii also enjoyed the full backing of the fudai daimyōs. An intelligent and capable politician Ii Naosuke was determined to restore the power of the bakufu in Japanese policy making, both in a domestic and a foreign role.
  Ii Naosuke regarded the Harris treaty, which Hotta Masayoshi had negotiated with the American envoy Townsend Harris as in Japan's best interests. In accordance with the protocol he asked the three house lords of the gosankyō for their views in writing. However Ii faced a problem in the form of an obstructionist policy from members of the Hitotsubashi faction led by Hitotsubashi Keiki's father Tokugawa Nariaki.
  Ii was unwilling to sign the Harris treaty without approval from Emperor Kōmei in Kyoto. However the daimyōs of the Hitotsubashi faction were preventing him from presenting the treaty to the emperor by withholding their approval. At this time Harris started putting pressure on the shogunal officials to sign the treaty. Ii decided not to risk aggravating the Americans and on 29 July 1858, encouraged by the full backing of the bakufu officials, Ii ordered the Harris treaty to be signed. Soon after this Ii negotiated a number of similar unequal treaties with the Dutch, the Russians, the British and the French. Bakufu critics considered the treaties signed by Ii Naosuke to have seriously compromised Japan’s sovereignty, and recovery of this power became the basis of a large part of the policies formed during the Meiji period.
  Due to the frail health of the shōgun Tokugawa Iesada, the members of the Hitotsubashi faction wanted to force Ii to support Hitotsubashi Keiki as the heir to the ailing shōgun. Hitotsubashi Keiki was the reformist candidate, supported by the reformist faction, headed by his father Tokugawa Nariaki; his supporters pointed to his experience and skill in handling policy decisions. Ii was aware that Japan needed strong leadership, but unlike the reformist daimyōs, Ii was not prepared to accept strong leadership from outside the traditional forms of government. The bakufu, led by Ii, wanted the 12-year-old daimyō of Kii, Tokugawa Yoshitomi, to ascend to the position of shōgun. The bakufu supported such a young candidate because they felt that it would be easier for them to influence and control a young and inexperienced shōgun.
  To end meddling in bakufu affairs, shortly after he signed the Harris treaty Ii settled the matter of the shogunal succession by claiming that the shogunal succession was a matter for the Tokugawa house alone and neither the shinpan daimyōs or the Emperor had the right to interfere. As head councilor of the Tokugawa house Ii was now free to influence the decision in favor of whichever candidate he preferred without any interference. In this way Ii was able to ignore the daimyōs who supported Hitotsubashi Keiki, the reformist candidate for the office of shōgun and crowned the fudai daimyō's candidate, Tokugawa Yoshitomi who changed his name to Tokugawa Iemochi, as the 14th Tokugawa shōgun.
  Ii's decision made him very unpopular with Imperial loyalists, especially with the Mito samurai. Towards the end of 1858 the reformists went to the emperor with the hopes of restraining Ii. In response to the attempt by Tokugawa Nariaki and his supporters to denounce him in the emperor's court I
caption: Portrait of Ii Naosuke, painted by his third son Ii Naoyasu. Echigo Province Yoita Domain 10th lord) Gotokuji (Setagaya-ku, Tokyo). Setagaya-ku designated tangible cultural property (historical material)
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