Tadanari Matsudaira, born in 1850, was the older brother of Tadaatsu Matsudaira and the third son of Tadakata Matsudaira, Daimyo of the Ueda domain. In 1859, Tadanari was made the Daimyo of Ueda after the sudden death of his father. Due to his age, he faced much difficulty holding his clan together, as well as presiding over his domain.
With the abolition of the Han system in 1871, he and his brother relocated to Tokyo and four years later traveled with the Iwakura mission to America, studying at Rutgers College (now Rutgers University). A gifted student, Tadanari was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, graduating in 1879. Like his late-father had hoped, Tadanari used his education from Rutgers to serve in multiple high-ranking Japanese government positions. His career in the government was enriched by his newly broadened perspective of development and management. He died in 1895 at the age of 46 and was posthumously promoted to Third Rank.
Though accounts and records of the Matsudaira brothers’ lives contain conflicting information, it is clear that Tadanari Matsudaira brought new ideas from his travels with the Iwakura mission and his western education at Rutgers.
Sources:
Griffis, William Elliot. The Rutgers Graduates in Japan, an Address Delivered in Kirkpatrick Chapel, Rutgers College, June 16, 1885, by William Elliot Griffis .. Rutgers College, 1916.
“Matsudaira Tadanari.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Nov. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsudaira_Tadanari.