Toshitsura Doi - Toshitsura Doi

He was the lord of the Koga domain and a senior councilor in the late Edo period. He is famous for being the author of "Snow Crystal Illustrations." He was the fourth son of Doi Toshinari (1748-1813), the lord of Mikawa and Kariya domains, and was adopted by Doi Toshiatsu (1759-1822), the head lord of the main family, Koga domain. In 1822 (Bunsei 5), he became the 11th lord of the domain and was appointed Oinokami. He loved learning and worked hard to promote the domain's academic institution, but he also studied Dutch studies with Takami Senseki, a famous Dutch studies scholar and chief retainer. He continued to observe snow crystals under a microscope for 30 years, and published a collection of precise sketches, "Snow Crystal Illustrations," in 1832 (Tenpo 3), and a sequel in 1840. As a politician, Toshitsugu started out as a sojaban (court attendant), then served as a temple and shrine magistrate, before becoming the lord of Osaka Castle in 1835, and putting down the Oshio Heihachiro Rebellion, which broke out in the wake of a famine in 1837. He became Kyoto shoshidai in the same year, Nishinomaru rōjū in 1838, and promoted to Honmaru rōjū in 1839. During the Tenpo Reforms, he came into conflict with Mizuno Tadakuni, and after Tadakuni's downfall in 1843, he became the chief rōjū, but retired the following year in 1844 (Kōka 1).

[Teisaku Kobayashi and Kiichi Maeno]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸後期の古河(こが)藩主、老中。『雪華図説』の著者として有名。三河(みかわ)・刈屋藩主土井利徳(としなり)（1748―1813）の四男に生まれ、本家の古河藩主土井利厚（1759―1822）の養子となった。1822年（文政5）11代藩主となり大炊頭(おおいのかみ)に任官した。学問を好み、藩学館の興隆にも力を尽くしたが、家老の著名な蘭学(らんがく)者鷹見泉石(たかみせんせき)とともに蘭学を修めた。30年にわたって顕微鏡による雪の結晶の観察を続け、精密なスケッチ集『雪華図説』正編を1832年（天保3）に、続編を1840年に刊行した。政治家としての利位は奏者番(そうじゃばん)を振り出しに寺社奉行(ぶぎょう)を経て1835年に大坂城代となり、1837年飢饉(ききん)をきっかけに起こった大塩平八郎の乱を鎮定した。同年京都所司代、1838年に西の丸老中に就任、1839年に本丸老中に進んだ。天保(てんぽう)の改革では水野忠邦(ただくに)と対立し、1843年の忠邦失脚後は老中首座となったが翌1844年（弘化1）に引退した。

［小林禎作・前野紀一］

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