Matsudaira Daini (松平 大弐; 1823 – 11 September 1864), also known as Matsudaira Yasumasa (松平 康正), was a Japanese samurai of the Kaga Domain during the Bakumatsu period (the final years of the Edo period). He served as a karō (chief retainer) to the Maeda clan.
Biography
Matsudaira Daini was born in 1823 as the second son of Matsudaira Kyūbee (松平 久兵衛), himself a karō of the Kaga Domain. The Matsudaira family, retainers to the Maeda clan, held a fief of 4,000 koku within Kaga. His common names included Tetsukichirō (鉄吉郎) and Genba (玄蕃).
From 1856, Daini oversaw Komatsu Castle. In 1860, he became a bugyō (commissioner) to Maeda Yoshiyasu, the heir to the Kaga Domain. He was promoted to karō in 1863 and traveled to Kyoto in 1864.
Role in the Kinmon Incident
As a soba yōnin (side attendant), Daini accompanied Maeda Yoshiyasu to Kyoto in an attempt to mediate between the Chōshū samurai and the Tokugawa shogunate during the Kinmon Incident (Forbidden Gate Incident) of 1864. The mediation failed, and in the ensuing battle, Yoshiyasu fled Kyoto. Maeda Nariyasu, Yoshiyasu's father, placed Yoshiyasu under house arrest.
Daini took full responsibility for Yoshiyasu's role in the incident and was ordered to commit seppuku (ritual suicide). Sagawa Yoshisuke served as his kaishakunin (the second who beheads the condemned) and later recorded the circumstances of Daini's death in his diary.
Burial
Daini's body is interred at Shōgyōin (正行院) in Makino, Shiga, while his head is enshrined at Myōkei-ji (妙慶寺) in Kanazawa, Ishikawa.
References
- Japanese Biographical Index. Walter de Gruyter. 2013. p. 489. ISBN 9783110947984.
- "松平大弐" [Matsudaira Daini]. Kotobank (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-05-05.
