Naotora was born as the 7th son of
Nabeshima Naomasa, the
daimyō of
Saga Domain. As the 10th
daimyō of Ogi,
Nabeshima Naosuke had no son, he adopted Naotora, who married his only daughter Haruko. Naotora became
daimyō on the death of his father-in-law in 1864. The
Boshin War of the
Meiji Restoration began only four years later, and he was called upon to lead Ogi’s forces against the
Tokugawa remnants at
Akita in northern Japan. For his loyalty to the new government and efforts in the war, the revenues of Ogi domain were raised by 5,000
koku in August 1869. However, this reward was only nominal, as with the
abolition of the han system, the title of
daimyo had been abolished and Naotora became "domain governor". This title was abolished as well in 1871, when Ogi domain became part of the new
Saga Prefecture. Naotora departed Japan with his elder brother
Nabeshima Naohiro in 1873 for studies in
Great Britain, returning to Japan only in 1882. During his stay in England, many of his former retainers perished in the
Saga Rebellion and he found himself in disfavor with the new Meiji government. However, through the efforts of his brother Naohiro after his return to Japan, he was awarded the peerage title of
viscount (
shishaku) under the
kazoku system. He later served as an advisor to the Foreign Ministry and as a member of the
House of Peers in the
Diet of Japan. In 1922, he was granted the courtesy title of junior second rank (
ju ni-i, 従二位). == References ==