Manabe Akikatsu
Biography. Akikatsu was born at the Sabae Domain's Edo residence as the fifth son of Manabe Akihiro. He became "daimyō" on the death of his uncle Manabe Akisane in 1814. Under Shōgun Tokugawa Ieharu he served in a variety of positions in the Tokugawa shogunate, including "Sōshaban", "Jisha-bugyō", "Osaka jōdai", "Kyoto Shoshidai" and became "rōjū" in 1840. However, due to political disagreements with Mizuno Tadakuni, he was forced from office in 1843. In 1858, he was restored to the post of "rōjū" by the "Tairō" Ii Naosuke, and quickly was seen as Ii's right-hand  man, taking a leading role in difficult situations, such as the Ansei Purge, the ratification of the Ansei Treaties, and the opposition to Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu from becoming "shōgun". In particular, his heavy-handed approach to forcing Emperor Kōmei to accept the ratification of the Harris Treaty and his suppression of pro-"Sonnō jōi" samurai in Kyoto drew the wrath of Yoshida Shōin in particular, who made many inflammatory speeches and writings urging Manabe's assassination. After the assassination of Ii Naosuke and accession of Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu as Shōgun Tokugawa Yoshinobu, Akikatsu quickly fell from favour. He was dismissed as "rōjū" and  forced to retire as "daimyō" in 1862. Furthermore, Sabae Domain was reduced in "kokudaka" by 10,000 "koku". Akikatsu remained under house arrest to 1865. He was placed under house arrest again by the new Meiji government for suspicion of collaboration with Aizu Domain from 1868–1869. He died in 1884 and his grave is at the temple of Hokekyō-ji in Ichikawa, Chiba. Family. His wife was a daughter of Matsudaira Yasutō of Hamada Domain, and his son and heir was Manabe Akizane. He had several other children, including Ōkōchi Nobuhisa ("daimyō" of Yoshida Domain), Ōkōchi Masatada ("daimyō" of Ōtaki Domain ), and Manabe Akimichi, the final "daimyō" of Sabae Domain. Masatoshi Ōkōchi, the third president of RIKEN, was the son of Ōkōchi Masatada.