“Satake Yoshimasa (1775〜1815)
The ninth lord of Akita (or Kubota). His child name was Naomaru, but he also had various pen names. Yoshimasa became the lord in 1785 aged 11 years, and died in 1815. His reign coincided with cultural development in Edo. He opened a dominical school, Meitokukan, in 1790, stimulating interest in education in the Akita (Kubota) domain. He also opened ten branch schools, one of which—Kodo Shoin in Kakunodate—was opened in 1793. Among those involved in the schools were Murase Kotei, Yamamoto Hokuzan, and Okubo Shibutus. At the time, the Akita domain produced Confucianists such as Hitomi Shou, Kikkawa Gomei, Masudo Soshu, Nakayama Seiga, Kurosawa Shijo, Hiramoto Kinsai, Sato Nobuhiro, and Hirata Atsutane. Yoshimoto was one of four great lords at the time, alongside Uesugi Harunori (better known as Uesugi Yozan) of the Yonezawa domain, Tokugawa Harusada of the Kii domain, and Hosokawa Shigetaka of the Kumamoto domain. His dominical policy based on the four pillars of agriculture, the mining industry, forestry, and science was successful, thanks to the good advice of his ministers. He died aged 41 years.”
