Iro (old retainers) in the Kansei era (寛政の遺老)
Iro (old retainers) in the Kansei era refers to politicians who led the bakufu such as Nobuaki MATSUDAIRA (the lord of the Mikawa-Yoshida domain), who were chosen by Sadanobu MATSUDAIRA after his downfall.
When Sadanobu MATSUDAIRA resigned as roju (senior councilor) in 1793, Nobuaki MATSUDAIRA became the head of roju. As the shogunate Ienari TOKUGAWA was too young, the next bakufu was led by roju who were hired by Sadanobu during the Kansei Reform, such as Saneakira, Ujinori TODA, Tadakazu HONDA, Tadakiyo MAKINO, Sukeyoshi OTA, and Nobunari ANDO.
However, Saneakira died in 1817, and other roju such as Tadakiyo MAKINO left bakufu for the reason of old age. As a result, bakufu was governed by the close adviser of Ienari TOKUGAWA, Tadaakira MIZUNO, however, bribes became rampant during his government; Ienari's luxury was also added to that, which unstabilized the bakufu government and brought about its corruption.