Matsuura Akira (11 November 1840 – 13 April 1908) was the 12th and final daimyo of the Hirado Domain of Hizen Province, Kyushu, in Japan. He supported the Emperor during the Boshin War, although he was an ally of the pro-Shogunate Oka Domain and an enemy of the pro-Emperor Satsuma Domain.
Biography[]
Matsuura Akira was born on 11 November 1840 in the city of Hirado, Hizen Province, in the Hirado Domain. The son of Matsuura Hiromu, Akira was the 12th daimyo of the clan when his brother Matsuura Terasu died in 1858. Matsuura was an enemy of the Satsuma Domain because of the Satsuma expansion in Kyushu after 1864, although they both supported the Emperor in the Boshin War against the Tokugawa Shogunate clans. Matsuura allied with the Oka Domain against the Satsuma, and declared war on them when the Satsuma attacked the Oka in autumn of 1864.