Background
Masahiko Abe was born in 1819. He was the son of Abe Masakiyo, lord of the domain of Fukuyama in the province of Bingo. His childhood name was Gozo, but he was later known as Kazue; his literary name was Yuken.
Masahiko Abe was born in 1819. He was the son of Abe Masakiyo, lord of the domain of Fukuyama in the province of Bingo. His childhood name was Gozo, but he was later known as Kazue; his literary name was Yuken.
In 1836 he succeeded his elder brother Masayasu as lord of the domain, which received a revenue of 100,000 k°hi of rice a year, and was given the honorary title of Isc-no-kami. In 1840 he becamejisha-bugyo, official in charge of temples and shrines for the shogunate. During his term in office, he succeeded in disciplining Nikkei, a priest of the Chiscn-in, a subtemple of Hokekyo-ji at Nakayama in Shimosa. Nikkei as a man of religion had enjoyed special confidence with the women of the shogun’s private quarters and had taken advantage of this fact to secure improper advantages. Masahiro won widespread renown by having him banished to a distant island, a daring move, since Nikkei’s close connections with the women of the shogun's household had previously protected him from disciplinary measures.
In 1843, at the age of twenty-four, Masahiro became a roju, or councilor of state.
In 1855 he recommended Hotta Masayoshi to the position of roju and stepped down himself.
He died in the seventh month of 1857 at the age of thirty-eight.