Shimotsuma Domain

In 1712, Inoue Tadanaga, a confidant and retainer of Tokugawa Ienobu from the time before he became Shōgun, had risen through the government hierarchy and through merit and inheritance, has achieved the 10,000 koku necessary for daimyō status.

Shimotsuma Domain was revived to become his fiefdom, and remained in the hands of the Inoue clan until the Meiji restoration.

However, ten of the 14 Inoue daimyō were adopted into the clan from other families due to the tendency of the rulers to die young and without heir.

Because of this, the Meiji government initially declared him to be a traitor and forfeit of his domain, but due to the strong arguments of his karō and the seppuku of leading pro-Tokugawa retainers, the decision was rescinded.

He was later elevated to the kazoku peerage with the title of viscount (shishaku) during the Meiji period.