Tsuruga Domain

Sakai Tadashige (酒井忠稠, April 27, 1653 – July 12, 1706) was the 1st daimyō of Tsuruga Domain in Echizen Province under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. Tadashige born at the Sakai clan residence in Edo, and was the second son of Sakai Tadanao of Obama Domain. His childhood name was Senchiyō. In 1682, on the death of his father, he received an estate with a kokudaka of 10,000 koku in Echizen Province. This marked the start of Tsuruga Domain. He later served as an Ōbangashira in the administration of the Tokugawa shogunate. His courtesy title was Ukyō-no-suke. His wife was the daughter of Doi Toshifusa of Ōno Domain. He died in 1706 and his grave is at the temple of Seisho-ji in Atago, Tokyo.

Sakai Tadakiku (酒井忠菊, October 26, 1679 – March 22, 1722) was the 2nd daimyō of Tsuruga Domain in Echizen Province under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. Tadakiku was the eldest son of Sakai Tadashige. He became daimyō of Tsuruga on the death of his father in 1706. He was an Ōbangashira in 1714 and died in 1722. His first wife was a daughter of Hotta Masayasu of Omi-Miyagawa Domain, and he later remarried the daughter of Aoyama Tadashige of Kameyama Domain. His courtesy title was Hida-no-kami.

Sakai Tadatake (酒井忠菊, February 3, 1709 – September 21, 1731) was the 3rd daimyō of Tsuruga Domain in Echizen Province under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. Tadatake was the third son of Sakai Tadagiku. He was received in formal audience by Shōgun Tokugawa Yoshimune in 1715 and became daimyō on the death of his father in 1722. His courtesy title was Ukyō-no-suke. However, he was relieved of office due to a fire which burned down the clan residence in 1723. He died without heir in 1731.

Sakai Tadaka (酒井忠香, 1715 – December 3, 1791) was the 4th daimyō of Tsuruga Domain in Echizen Province under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. Tadaka was the 8th son of Sakai Tadagiku. He was posthumously adopted as heir to his brother Tadatake and became daimyō in 1731. In 1745, he served as Ōbangashira and in 1758 became a Sōshaban. He rose to the post of Jisha-bugyō in 1761 and wakadoshiyori in 1765. He retired in 1788 and died in 1791. His courtesy title was Harima-no-kami, later Hida-no-kami. His wife was a daughter of Mizuno Tadasada of Hōjō Domain.

Sakai Tadanobu (酒井忠言, February 13, 1756 – March 27, 1799) was the 5th daimyō of Tsuruga Domain in Echizen Province under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. Tadanobu was the fourth son of Sakai Tadaka, and became daimyō on the retirement of his father in 1788 as all three of his elder brothers died in infancy. He served as Ōbangashira. In 1797 he retired, and died in 1799 at the age of 44. His wife was a daughter of Miura Akitsugu of Mimasaka-Katsuyama Domain. His courtesy title was Sagami-no-kami.

Sakai Tadae (酒井忠藎, February 20, 1781 – July 8, 1833) was the 6th daimyō of Tsuruga Domain in Echizen Province under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. Tadae was the eldest son of Sakai Tadanobu. His courtesy title was initially Ukyō-no-suke, later Hida-no-kami. He became daimyō on the retirement of his father in 1797. His wife was a granddaughter of Arima Takasumi of Echizen-Maruoka Domain. He served as Ōbangashira and Osaka-johan. He died in 1833 at the age of 53.

Sakai Tadamasu (酒井忠毗, July 26, 1815 – February 12, 1876) was the 7th daimyō of Tsuruga Domain in Echizen Province under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. Tadamasu was the fourth son of Sakai Tadae. His wife was a daughter of Sakai Tadamichi of Dewa-Matsuyama Domain; he later remarried to a daughter of Nagai Naosuke of Kano Domain. He became daimyō on the death of his father in 1833. He served as wakadoshiyori in the administration of the Tokugawa shogunate during three critical occasions.

In 1859, Russian general Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky led a fleet of seven vessels into Edo Bay, and demanded that Japan officially recognize Russian sovereignty over all of Sakhalin. Sakai and Endō Tanenori (of Mikami Domain) served as negotiators on the Japanese side, claiming that not only was Sakhalin Japanese territory, but so were the Kurile Islands, including Kamchatka peninsula. The second time was in 1861, when he met with British minister Rutherford Alcock and French minister Gustave Duchesne de Bellecourt over the murder of Henry Heusken. The third time was from 1863-1864, during negotiations with the British Chargé d'affaires Edward St. John Neale over reparation demanded due to the Namamugi incident, and with the French, British, Dutch and American delegations over the Shimonoseki Campaign. Although a strong supporter of the shogunate during the Bakumatsu period, he resigned his posts at the time of the Taisei hōkan and after the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, the domain submitted to the new Meiji government.

Sakai Tadatsune (酒井忠経, September 26, 1848 – December 5, 1884) was the 8th (and final) daimyō of Tsuruga Domain in Echizen Province. Tadatsune was the fourth son of Sakai Tadamasu. His wife was a daughter of Itakura Katsuaki of Fukushima Domain. He became daimyō in 1867 when his father submitted to the Meiji government and served as imperial governor in 1869. When the domain was merged with Obama Domain in 1870, he subsequently served as imperial governor of Obama until the abolition of the han system in 1871.