Yonekura clan

The Yonekura clan (米倉氏, Yonekura-shi) was a cadet branch of the Takeda clan of Kai Province, some members of whom rose to positions of importance within the administration of the Tokugawa shogunate in mid-Edo period Japan.

The Yonekura clan claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji, branching from the Takeda clan in the early Muromachi period, and taking their name from a shōen in Kai Province. They continued to serve as hereditary retainers to the Takeda until the Takeda were destroyed by Oda Nobunaga, upon which time they changed their allegiance to Tokugawa Ieyasu. After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1603, they served as hatamoto within the administration of the Tokugawa shogunate. Yonekura Masatada (米倉昌尹) (1637-1699) was favored by Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, and rose rapidly through the ranks until he reached the post of wakadoshiyori in 1696. The additional revenues provided by this office qualified him to join ranks of the daimyō, and he became the first lord of Kanazawa Domain in Musashi Province. He was subsequently transferred to Minagawa Domain in Kōzuke Province. His line died out with his grandson Yonekura Masateru (米倉昌照) (1683-1712), but a son of Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu was selected to inherit the family name, taking the name Yonekura Tadasuke and was transferred back to Musashi-Kanazawa Domain in 1722.

During the Bakumatsu period, the 8th (and final) daimyō, Yonekura Masakoto, sided with the new Meiji government in the Boshin War of the Meiji Restoration. After the abolition of the han system, he became a viscount (shishaku) under the kazoku peerage system.

References

• Papinot, Edmund. (1906) Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du japon. Tokyo: Librarie Sansaisha...Click link for digitized 1906 Nobiliaire du japon (2003)