Nitobe Jūjirō (新渡戸 十次郎, 1820 – 1868)[1] was a Japanese samurai and retainer of the Morioka Domain in the late Edo period.[1] His father was Nitobe Tsutō.[1][2] He was the father of educator and diplomat Nitobe Inazō and Nitobe Shichirō.[1][2][3]
Nitobe was born in Hanamaki on July 20, 1820.[4][5] His father was Tsutō (傳).[1] His posthumous name was Tsunenori (常訓).[3] When Jūjirō was just born, Jūjirō's grandfather Koretami bought the anger of the Morioka Domain and Koretami was exiled to Tanabe.[2][6][5]
In 1857, Jūjirō was appointed Sanbongi Shinden Goyogakari (new rice field affairs official in Sanbongi).[4] He worked with his father to cultivate and successfully got water to flow into the irrigation canal called the Ina River.[4] In 1860, he planned a new town called Inaoi-chō (now part of Towada) using a four-way grid pattern, divided into 12 neighborhoods. This was the forerunner to modern city planning in Japan.[4][7]
He died on January 18, 1868.[8] His death was mourned by his father, his family, and the townspeople.[8]
Depending upon the source, Nitobe Jūjirō and the entire Nitobe clan are descendants of either the Minamoto clan or the Taira clan (specifically, Chiba Tsunetane [ja][9]'s branch).[2][10] Tsunetane's grandson, Tsunehide [ja] (常秀, Tsunetane's son Tanemasa(胤正)'s son[11]) took over Nitobe in Shimotsuke Province.[2] Tsunehide continued inheritance with Tsunechika (常親), Yasutane (泰胤), Tsunesato (常邑), Tsunesada (常貞)、Sadatsuna (貞綱), Sadahiro (貞広), Hiromori (広盛), Tsunemochi (常望) Tsunetada (常忠), Tsunenobu (常信), and Nobumori (信盛) from generation to generation.[2] Sadatsuna lived in Nitobe and died in 1309.[12]
During the Nanboku-chō period, Sadahiro and his son Hiromori both fought on the Southern Court side.[12] Sadahiro died in 1337.[2] Hiromori died in Shinano in 1351 during the war.[2][12] Tsunetada and his son Tsunenobu both served Ashikaga Mitsukane and Mochiuji of the Kantō kubō.[12] After Tsunenobu's death, his son Nobumori returned to Nitobe.[12] Nobumori's daughter was Moriyori (盛頼)'s wife.[12] As for the inheritor, Nobumori welcomed the clan, Motoyoshi Narizumi (元良成澄)'s child, Moriyori (盛頼) as an adopted child, and became Nitobe for the first time.[2] Moriyori continued inheritance with Yoritane (頼胤), Yoshitane (良胤), Tanemochi (胤望), Yorinaga (頼長), Taneshige (胤重), and Tokiharu (春治) from generation to generation.[2] Tokiharu's third son Tsunetsuna (常綱, popular name was Densuke(伝助)) split up and became a Hanamaki Kyūjin (upper class retainer).[2] Before Tsunetsuna became Kyūjin, Tsunetsuna served Nanbu Masanao.[2] After Tsunetsuna's death, Tsunetsuna's second son Sadaaki (貞紹, popular name was Denzō(伝蔵)) inherited.[2] After Sadaaki, Yoshiaki (義紹, popular names were Kyūsuke (九助), Densuke (伝助), and Heizo (平蔵)) inherited.[2] After Yoshiaki's death, Yoshiaki's nephew (Yoshiaki's brother Tsunekatsu(常佸)'s son) Tsunemochi (常以) inherited.[2] After Tsunemochi's death, Tsunemochi's brother Tsunetoki (常言, popular name was Denzō (伝蔵)) inherited.[2] After Tsunetoki, Tsuneyoshi (常贇, popular name was Densuke (伝助)) inherited.[2]
Tsuneyoshi was Jūjirō's great-grandfather.[2] Tsuneyoshi married Jūjirō's great-grandmother Oei (おゑい, daughter of Ōta Hidenori (太田秀典) of Hanamaki).[13] Tsuneyoshi Died in 1803.[2] Jūjirō's grandfather was Koretami (維民, heir to the reign of Nanbu Toshitaka.)[2] Jūjirō's father was Tsunezumi (常澄, Nitobe Tsutō).[2] Jūjirō's brother was Ōta Tokitoshi), and Jūjirō's sons were Shichirō (七郎) and Inanosuke (稲之助, Inazō).[3][2]
