Inoue Masaharu
Biography. Inoue Masaharu was the eldest son of the disgraced former "daimyō" of Hamamatsu, Inoue Masamoto, who had been demoted to Tanagura Domain in Mutsu Province. He inherited the leadership of the Inoue clan and the position of "daimyō" of Tanakura Domain on his father's death in 1820. In 1820, Masaharu was also appointed to the office of "Sōshaban" (Master of Ceremonies), and in 1834 to that of "Jisha-bugyō." In 1836, he was transferred to Tatebayashi Domain (60,000 "koku") in Kōzuke Province. In 1838, he was appointed "Osaka jōdai" (Castellan of Osaka) and in 1840, ascended  to the rank of " Rōjū" (Senior Councilor) in the service of "Shōgun" Tokugawa Ieyoshi. In 1845, with the resignation of head "Rōjū" Mizuno Tadakuni over the failure of the Tenpō Reforms and subsequent exile from Hamamatsu Domain to Yamagata Domain in Dewa Province, Inoue Masaharu was able to achieve the Inoue clan's goal of returning to Hamamatsu after an absence of 28 years. From his years in Tanakura in Mutsu, Masaharu brought back with him a considerable body of knowledge on cotton production as well as artisans to build new looms, thus developing a major new industry for Hamamatsu  and source of income for the domain. He died in 1847, only two years after the return of the clan to Hamamatsu, and his grave is at the clan temple of Jōshin-ji in Mukogaoka, Bunkyō, Tokyo Masaharu was married to a daughter of Abe Masakiyo, "daimyō" of Fukuyama Domain. He was succeeded by his fourth son Inoue Masanao. One of his daughters was the formal wife of Mizuno Tadakiyo, the son and heir of Mizuno Tadakuno.