was a Japanese feudal lord (daimyō) of the Edo period, the 28th in the line of Shimazu clan lords of Satsuma Domain. He was renowned as an intelligent and wise lord, and was greatly interested in Western learning and technology. He was enshrined after death as the Shinto kami in May 1863. Early life and rise to power Shimazu Nariakira was born at the Satsuma domain's estate in Edo, on April 28, 1809. From his mother, he was descendant of Date Masamune, Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobunaga. He rose to power as daimyō of the domain of Satsuma only after surviving a gruesome and arduous war within his own family and domain, known as the Oyura Sōdō or the Takasaki Kuzure. He faced much opposition in Satsuma since he spent most of his life in Edo (and compulsory requirement as the heir of daimyo, set by the Shogunate); as such he was considered a stranger in his own domain. In his quest to prepare Satsuma for potential Western aggression, he also faced many opposing military schools of thought in Satsuma who disagreed with the Shimazu family's plan for strengthening coastal defense. Nariakira did not see eye to eye with his father, Shimazu Narioki, or his father's chief advisor, Zusho Hirosato. Both Narioki and Zusho were wary of the Tokugawa shogunate. Zusho also saw many similarities in Nariakira and his grandfather, Shigehide. Shigehide also had a great interest in Dutch studies as well as scientific and industrial projects, which promptly led to the deterioration of the domain's financial position. Having worked so hard to rehabilitate and strengthen the treasury of Satsuma, Zusho did not encourage Nariakira's ambitious and costly program for a military build-up. Narioki and Zusho's mutual disdain and mistrust for Nariakira led to their endeavoring to isolate Nariakira from Satsuma's affairs, which entailed withholding or all together ceasing the flow from all sources of information regarding Satsuma's officials or their dealings with the shogunate. Another formidable and dangerous obstacle for Nariakira in not only his plans to bolster the defenses of all of Japan but also his ascendancy to daimyō of Satsuma was Yura, the mother of his half-brother, Hisamitsu. By the time Nariakira had arrived in Satsuma to address a crisis related to the Ryūkyū Kingdom (a vassal state under Satsuma) in 1846, Yura had used her charm to thoroughly convince Narioki to promote the interests of her