Ōta Tokitoshi (太田 時敏, 16 January 1839 – 20 January 1915) was a samurai of Morioka and a Sanbongi Shinden Goyogakari (new rice field affairs official in Sanbongi) of the late Edo period.[1] He was Nitobe Inazō's uncle.[1] He was named Renhachiro (練八郎) in his youth.[2]
Ōta Tokitoshi was born on January 16, 1839. His father was Tsutō (傳), a chief retainer of Shichinohe Domain.[1] His paternal grandfather was Koretami (維民), atactician.[1] He was adopted by Ota Kingoro (太田金五郎), a chief retainer of Morioka Domain.[1] In 1863, he was appointed Sanbongi Shinden Goyogakari (new rice field affairs official in Sanbongi).[1] In 1868, he participated in the Boshin War as the shogunate side.[3] After that, he adopted Nitobe Inazō.[1] He managed a clothing store called “Tokitoshido（時敏堂）” in Tokyo.[4] Inazō used his uncle Tokitoshi as a model for his book “Bushidō”, and the book's door had a dedication from Inazō to Tokitoshi.[5] [6] He also served as the Metropolitan Police Department.He also served as the decree for the Nanbu (南部) family.On January 18, 1915, he became ill and some came to visit him.[7] He died on January 20, 1915.
Depending upon the source, Ōta Tokitoshi and the entire Nitobe clan are descendants of either the Minamoto clan or the Taira clan (specifically, [8] 's branch).[2] [9] Tsunetane's grandson, (常秀, Tsunetane's son Tanemasa(胤正)'s son[10]) took over Nitobe in Shimotsuke Province.[2] Tsunehide continued inheritance with Tsunechika (常親), Yasutane (泰胤), Tsunesato (常邑), Tsunesada (常貞)、Sadatsuna (貞綱), Sadahiro (貞広), Hiromori (広盛), Tsunemochi (常望) Tsunetada (常忠), Tsunenobu (常信), and Nobumori (信盛) from generation to generation.[2] Sadatsuna lived in Nitobe and died in 1309.[11] During the Nanboku-chō period, Sadahiro and his son Hiromori both fought on the Southern Court side.[11] Sadahiro died in 1337.[2] Hiromori died in Shinano in 1351 during the war.[2] [11] Tsunetada and his son Tsunenobu both served Ashikaga Mitsukane and Mochiuji of the Kantō kubō.[11] After Tsunenobu's death, his son Nobumori returned to Nitobe.[11] Nobumori's daughter was Moriyori(盛頼)'s wife.[11] As for the inheritor, Nobumori welcomed the clan, Motoyoshi Narizumi(元良成澄)'s child, Moriyori (盛頼) as an adopted child, and became Nitobe for the first time.[2] Moriyori continued inheritance with Yoritane (頼胤), Yoshitane (良胤), Tanemochi (胤望), Yorinaga (頼長), Taneshige (胤重), and Tokiharu (春治) from generation to generation.[2] Tokiharu's third son Tsunetsuna (常綱, popular name was Densuke(伝助)) split up and became a Hanamaki Kyūjin (upper class retainers).[2] Before Tsunetsuna became Kyūjin, Tsunetsuna served Nanbu Masanao.[2] After Tsunetsuna's death, Tsunetsuna's second son Sadaaki (貞紹, popular name was Denzō(伝蔵)) inherited.[2] After Sadaaki, Yoshiaki (義紹, popular names were Kyūsuke(九助), Densuke(伝助), and Heizo(平蔵)) inherited.[2] After Yoshiaki's death, Yoshiaki's nephew (Yoshiaki's brother Tsunekatsu(常佸)'s son) Tsunemochi (常以) inherited.[2] After Tsunemochi's death, Tsunemochi's brother Tsunetoki (常言, popular name was Denzō(伝蔵)) inherited.[2] After Tsunetoki, Tsuneyoshi (常贇, popular name was Densuke(伝助)) inherited.[2] Tsuneyoshi was Tokitoshi's Great-grandfather.[2] Tsuneyoshi married Tokitoshi's great-grandmother Oei (おゑい, daughter of Ōta Hidenori (太田秀典) of Hanamaki).[12] Tsuneyoshi Died in 1803.[2] Tokitoshi's grandfather was Koretami (維民, Inheritance to the reign of Nanbu Toshitaka.)[2] Tokitoshi's father was Tsunezumi (常澄, Nitobe Tsutō).[2] Tokitoshi's brother was Tsunenori (常訓, Jūjirō), and Tokitoshi's nephew were Shichirō (七郎) and Inanosuke (稲之助, Inazō).[13] [2]