中山 忠能
He was the father of Nakayama Yoshiko (1834–1907) mother of the Emperor Meiji, who was born and brought up in Nakayama"s household. The second son of Nakayama Tadayori, a member of the Kuge, or court nobility, in 1821, at the age of eleven, Nakayama was named as Provisional Major-General of the Imperial Guard of the Left. Nakayama married Matsura Aiko (1818–1906), a daughter of Matsura Kiyoshi (1760–1841), ninth daimyō (or feudal ruler) of Hirado and a famous swordsman.
He had the rare honour of being awarded the Order of the Chrysanthemum while still alive. Nakayama received a series of court appointments in the service of the Emperor Ninkō (1800–1846) and his successor Kōmei (1831–1867). In 1844 he became a Provisional Middle Councillor, in 1847 a Provisional Grand Councillor, and the next year a Senior Second-rank Councillor.
From 1849 he was several times the Emperor Kōmei"s personal envoy and secretary.
In 1851 one of Nakayama"s daughters, Yoshiko, joined the court as a Provisional Lady-in-Waiting, and the next year she gave birth to the Emperor"s son. In the case of Mutsuhito, Nakayama was also officially his guardian.
Yoshihito was moved to Nakayama"s house on 7 December 1879, when barely three months old. He was a sickly infant, and Nakayama spent many days and nights with him.
In 1858, Nakayama was a leader of courtiers protesting against the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Japan and the United States, which opened the ports of Kanagawa, Kobe, Nagasaki, Niigata, and Hakodate to foreign trade and also to settlement by Americans.
In December 1862, Nakayama was appointed as the Emperor"s Special Consultant for National Affairs, but in 1864 he was sent away from court as a consequence of his involvement in the Kinmon Incident, an attempt to control the Emperor. However, this banishment was ended in January 1867 when Kōmei died unexpectedly and Nakayama"s grandson, a boy aged only fourteen, came to the imperial throne. On 3 January 1868, when Iwakura Tomomi arranged the seizure of the Kyoto Imperial Palace and initiated the Meiji Restoration, which resulted in the creation of the post-Shogun Empire of Japan, Nakayama was among the courtiers who supported this action.
According to Peter Kornicki, "Nakayama"s cooperation with Iwakura had been essential to the success of the coup d"etat".
Nakayama and Iwakura both became influential courtier-politicians in the Meiji period. This gave him a seat in the House of Peers, the upper house of the Imperial Diet.
Court ranks Titles Decorations.
Junior fifth rank (1810) Fifth rank (1812) Senior fifth rank, junior degree (1814) Junior fourth rank (1816) Fourth rank (1818) Senior fourth rank, junior degree (1820) Senior fourth rank (1834) Third rank (1841) Senior third rank (1843) Second rank (1845) Senior second rank (1848) First rank (1868) Marquess (1884).
