Satake Yoshitaka

Marquess was the 12th (and final) daimyō of Kubota Domain in Dewa Province, Japan (modern-day Akita Prefecture), and is ranked as the 30th and 32nd hereditary chieftain of the Satake clan.

Biography

Satake Yoshitaka was the third son of Sōma Masatane of Sōma Nakamura Domain and received the name of Sōma Munetake (相馬宗胤) upon his genpuku (coming of age ceremony) in 1839. As the Sōma clan and Satake clan often adopted each other's sons as heirs, he was adopted by Satake Yoshizumi as heir to Iwasaki Domain in 1849 and changed his name to Satake Yoshizane (佐竹義核). He married Yoshizumi's daughter, and was received in formal audience by Shōgun Tokugawa Ieyoshi the same year. He became daimyō on his adopted father's retirement later the same year. the alliance of northern domains led by the Sendai Domain. The Satake clan's delegation at Shiroishi, the alliance's headquarters, was led by the clan elder (karō) Tomura Yoshiari. However, the Satake had political difficulties with the alliance, which culminated in the murder, in Akita, of a delegation from Sendai on August 21, 1868, and the display of the messengers' gibbeted heads at Kubota Castle. The delegation, led by Shimo Matazaemon, was dispatched to request Kubota Domain to hand over Kujō Michitaka and other officials of an imperial delegation that had been originally sent to the region to gather support for the imperial cause. The Satake then backed out of the alliance and supported the imperial army; eleven days later, on September 1, 1868 the Tsugaru clan of the neighboring Hirosaki Domain followed suit. In response, the pro-alliance domains of Morioka and Ichinoseki Domains sent troops to attack Kubota. Kubota forces were hard-pressed to defend their territory, with the result that the alliance troops had made serious advances by the time the war ended in northern Honshū. In early 1869, Satake Yoshitaka formally gave up the domain's registers to the imperial government, and was made imperial governor of Akita (han chiji). In mid-1869, the imperial government rewarded Kubota by raising its kokudaka by 20,000 koku.

Satake Yoshitaka relocated to Tokyo in 1871 after the abolition of the han system and subsequently received the kazoku peerage title of koshaku (Marquess).

Family

Father: Sōma Masatane First wife: Taki (daughter of Satake Yoshizumi) Second wife: Some (daughter of Todo Takayori of Hisai Domain) Third wife: daughter of Aoyama Tadanaga of Sasayama Domain