Episodes of the Heads of the Ishiguro Family
The Ishiguro family was in charge of finances and audits in the Kakunodate district since the first-generation head of house Kakunodate-Satake, Yoshichika, entered the area in 1656.
Naoyuki, the fifth-generation head of the Ishiguro family, called himself a “Uma-nomi (meaning a ‘booze hound’),” and enjoyed haikai (17-syllable short poems) with the sixth-generation head of Kakunodate-Satake, Yoshimi.
The seventh-generation head, Naomasa, learned Japanese mathematics and astronomy at Ichinoseki. He traveled through Mount Koya to the Shikoku islands as a delegate of the Kakunodate-Satakes. With the experience and knowledge he gained during the trip, he published “Onko-shu” and “Naomasa Diary.”
In 1853, when Oriki-Naonobu was the eighth-generation head of the Ishiguro Family, the family moved into its current residence. After catching up on the changes from the reign of the Tokugawa shogunate to the Meiji era, he started a public school called “Kosui tei” and contributed to providing education for all. He also left behind Chinese-style poetry called “Kido-shishu” and visited Nagasaki Omura in 1884.
The ninth-generation head, Naomoto, was also an earnest scholar. He traveled to China in 1887 (while China was still ruled by the Qing dynasty) to broaden his perspective. In his later life, he was appointed the mayor of Kakunodate town.
The tenth-generation head, Naotoyo, valued secondary education and became the first director of the Kakunodate library.
