Marquess Hachisuka Mochiaki (蜂須賀 茂韶; 28 September 1846 – 10 February 1918) was the 14th and final daimyō of Tokushima Domain, Awa Province, and the 2nd President of the House of Peers in Meiji period Japan.
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Early life
Hachisuka was born at the Hachisuka domain residence in Edo, as the eldest son of the 13th daimyō Hachisuka Narihiro (1821–1868). Hachisuka Narihiro was the 22nd child of shōgun Tokugawa Ienari, and was adopted into the Hachisuka clan as the 12th daimyō, Hachisuka Narimasa was childless. Thus, Mochiaki was the grandson of Tokugawa Ienari, nephew of Tokugawa Ieyoshi and cousin of Tokugawa Iesada and Iemochi.
However, when his father suddenly died in 1868 and he became heir, Japan was already in the midst of the Boshin War leading to the Meiji Restoration. Quick to see the direction in which the wind was blowing, he pledged loyalty to the Imperial forces, and led his troops against Tokugawa partisans in Mutsu Province. His forces were armed with western rifles and accompanied by British military advisors, giving him a much greater strength than their small numbers might have indicated.