Suzuki Yutetsu (鈴木由哲)
Yutetsu SUZUKI (the original family name was Kuramochi) was a Karo (chief retainer) served to the Kuze clan of Sekiyado domain who lived in the late Edo period. Kantaro SUZUKI, who held the positions of admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, Chairman of the Privy Council and Prime Minister of Japan, was his first son. He was commonly called Tamenosuke.
Career
The Suzuki family from Atsumi County in Mikawa had long served for the Tokugawa shogunate, many of whom as vassals of a hatamoto (direct retainers of the bakufu, which is a form of Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) or a fudai daimyo (a daimyo in hereditary vassal to the Tokugawa family), although none of the members became a daimyo (Japanese feudal lord).
He was a Karo (10,000 koku) of the Sekiyado domain that was ruled by the Kuze clan and yielded 58,000 koku, a gunnery expert, and fought in the Battle of Toba-Fushimi.
The Kuze family also owned land in Izumi Province other than Sekiyado, where Yutetsu stationed as a daikan (local governor), during which his first son, Kantaro SUZUKI was born. During the Edo period, Sekiyado was located at the fork of the Tone-gawa River and the Edo-gawa River, and was regarded as an important traffic point. His younger brother was a big Kengo (a great swordsman) who joined Shogitai (group of former Tokugawa retainers opposed to the Meiji government who fought in the Battle of Ueno) and killed many Imperial army soldiers in the Battle of Ueno. Because the Suzuki family didn't have any children, Yutetsu was adopted from the Kuramochi family. The Kuramochi family served as hikan (low-level bureaucrat) of the Ashikaga clan (the shogunate family of the Muromachi bakufu [Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun]) who had managed Ashikaga clan's shoryo (territory) since the Kamakura period, and owned a territory in Nukata County, Mikawa Province. He served as the mayor of Sekiyado Town in his last years.
Genealogy
The Suzuki clan: Because the Suzuki family didn't have any children, Yutetsu was adopted from the Kuramochi family (The Kuramochi family were vassals of the Ashikaga clan served as bunsho gakari [person in charge of documents]). Yutetsu's first son was Kantaro SUZUKI, who was the 42nd prime minister of Japan. Hajime, who was his grandson, successively worked as Director-General of Bureau of Forestry, Department of Agriculture and Commerce, Deputy Grand Chamberlain of the Imperial Household Agency, and Commissioner of Emigration and Immigration Agency, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and so on. Army General Takao SUZUKI, who worked as chief priest of Yasukuni-jinja Shrine, was his second younger brother. Saburo SUZUKI, who worked as chief of foreign affairs section, Kwantung Governor-general and Kuninomiya Goyogakari (a general affairs official of the Kuninomiya family, the Imperial Household), was his third younger brother. Lieutenant Colonel of army Shigeru NAGATA, who was his fourth younger brother, died from hard military service in his early 40th ("Nihon no meike, Meimon jinbutsu keifu soran" [Japanese famous family, genealogy disturbance of noted family]).