Mito Kōmon
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After the battle of Sekigahara (関ヶ原) in October 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川家康) became the most powerful warrior leader in Japan and, three years later, with the approval of the emperor, assumed the ancient title of seii-tai-shōgun (征夷大将軍; Barbarian-Subduing General). The Tokugawa family held this title for the next fifteen generations.
Tokugawa had several sons, three of which headed the Gosanke (御三家). One of the families was the Tokugawa family of Mito. It was headed by Tokugawa Yorifusa (徳川頼房), the first daimyō (大名), or lord of the Mito domain. The Mito Domain covered parts of present day Ibaraki and Tochigi prefectures.
In 1628, Tokugawa Yorifusa' third son, Tokugawa Mitsukuni (徳川光圀) was born. Tokugawa Mitsukuni (1628-1700) had no intention of succeeding his father's title and estate because he was not the eldest son. Torifusa, however, nominated Mitsukuni to succeed him because his other sons were not strong enough to become a daimyō. So in 1661, at the age of 33, Mitsukuni became the second daimyō of the Mito Domain, a position he held until 1691 when he stepped down, and the emperor bestowed the title of Chūnagon (中納言) on him. Chunagon was equivalent to the title Kōmon (黄門) which was used by the government of China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) for the person who was second in charge of the Ministry of Finance. Since Tokugawa Mitukuni was both Chūnagon and the Lord of the Mito Domain, he was respectfully called Mito Kōmon (水戸黄門), and has been remembered as such ever since.
Mito Kōmon went to great efforts to show the people of his domain that he was not above them, but rather, that he was equal to them; He lived in a simple country house instead of a fortified castle, carried his own weight by single handedly working a 5000 square meter rice paddy and, moreover, he gave 780 kg of rice as land tax each year to the local tax office just like ordinary farmers did, even though he did not have to. His country home, including a small part of the original rice paddy that he worked, still exists in the quiet hills of Hitachiōta. The home is called Seizan-zō (西山荘).
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Mito Kōmon was a scholar as well. He wrote and published a pharmacological book on herbs, and in 1657 established the editorial office of the Dai Nihon Shi (大日本史), the Great History of Japan, a 397 volume history that was entirely written in Chinese characters. Unfortunately, Mito Kōmon did not live to see the Dai Nihon Shi completed, and that is because it was not completed until 1906, 249 years after the project began.
For those of you who watch TV regularly, you'll also recognize Mito Kōmon as a Jidaigeki (時代劇; samurai drama) hero. With his two samurai sidekicks, Suke-san (助さん) and Kaku-san (角さん), Mito Kōmon travels Japan righting wrings with the Shōgun's authority (usually involving a chaotic melee which ends when the Kōmon pulls out his official seal and humbles the bad guys). It's on Monday nights from 8 p.m. on TBS
(Channel 6).