Kanamori Yorikane (金森頼錦)
Yorikane KANAMORI was the second lord of Yawata domain in Mino Province. His father was Yoshihiro KANAMORI. His mother was a daughter of the Iwakami clan. He did not have a lawful wife but had concubines. His official court rank was Jugoinoge (Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade). He was Wakasa no kuni no kami (governor of Wakasa Province). Also, he served as Hyobu shoyu (junior assistant minister of the Hyobusho Ministry of War).
He was born on December 2, 1713. As his father, Yoshihiro, who was an heir of the first lord Yoritoki KANAMORI, died young at age 37, Yorikane as a legitimate grandchild took over as head of the family when his grandfather died. Although Yorikane is said to have been incapable, he showed his competence: he was appointed as sojaban (an official in charge of the ceremonies) in 1747 while in the domain, he set up the complaints box and built an astronomical observatory in tenshu (main keep or tower of a castle), etc.. Also, he compiled "Hakuunshu," proving himself as a man of culture. In this book, the achievements of the forerunners were collected.
However, the appointment as a sojaban turned his fate. The position of sojaban was a starting point as an elite in the cabinet officials of the Shogunate, and if one were to seek more promotions, it required a certain amount of expenditure. Therefore, to increase the income from his domain, he tried to change the way of calculating nengu (land tax) to kenmi ho (annual crop inspections) (the fact that he resorted to an easy tax raise to increase the domain's income may show his ability or lack of ability). Naturally, this led to an uprising (Gujo ikki) by farmers who were against the policy. In addition, the Itoshiro disturbance in which the leadership within a shrine became an issue occurred, plunging the domain into chaos. This disturbance continued until the bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) ordered to forfeit Yorikane's rank of Samurai and properties, and he was left in the care of Toshikatsu NANBU of the Morioka Domain. He died on July 16, 1763. Died at the age of 51. His Buddhist name is Kakujuinden Hozanseiran Daikoji.
His five sons, such as the heir Yorimoto, who had been Izumo no kami (chief of the Izumo Province), were deprived of their Samurai ranks: Izumo no kami Yorimoto and the third son Iori were forced to forfeit their ranks and properties while the fifth son Kumazo, the sixth son Takekuro as well as the seventh son Mitsuyoshi were left in the care of relatives until they became 15. As the second son Masatatsu had been adopted by the Inoue family of the Shimotsuma Domain in 1753, he was not sanctioned. The sixth son Yorioki was pardoned in 1766, and succeeded the family name with 1,500 bales. His family continued as hatamoto (direct retainers of the bakufu). Although Yorikane was buried in Hosen-ji Temple in Morioka when he died, Yorioki got the remains of Yorikane in 1789, a year after the restoration of the Kanamori family, and reburied him in the family's burial ground in Daitoku-ji Temple in Kyoto after cremation.
As for the branch family, the Kanamori Sakyo family which started with Shigekatsu KANAMORI, who was the fifth son of Arishige KANAMORI, was left with a crop yield of 3000 koku, and after the head family's forfeit their territory was transferred to Shirosaki, Nanjo County of the Echizen Province but continued to exist as a Hatamoto of Yoriai (a family status of samurai warriors in the Edo period).