Yūki-Matsudaira clan (Echizen)

Main articles: Fukui Domain and Tsuyama Domain
The Yūki-Matsudaira clan was founded by Tokugawa Ieyasu's son Yūki Hideyasu.^[10] Several branches of the Yūki-Matsudaira came into existence during the Edo period. Though the Yūki-Matsudaira retained control of Kitanoshō (later renamed Fukui), the main Yūki line was not there, but in Tsuyama instead. Branches of the family ruled the Fukui, Hirose, Mori, Matsue, Tsuyama, Akashi, Itoigawa, and Maebashi domains. Famous Yūki-Matsudaira include Matsudaira Naritami^[11] and Matsudaira Yoshinaga, two daimyo of the late Edo period. Matsudaira Yoshinaga in particular was very important to Japanese politics of the early Meiji period, and his leadership put the Fukui Domain on the side of the victors in the Boshin War (1868-69).

Hisamatsu-Matsudaira clan

The Hisamatsu-Matsudaira clan was founded by Tokugawa Ieyasu's half-brother Hisamatsu Sadakatsu. Due to his close relation to Ieyasu, Sadakatsu was allowed the use of the Matsudaira surname. Eventually, some of the branches of the Hisamatsu-Matsudaira were also allowed the use of the Tokugawa family crest, as well as being formally recognized as Tokugawa relatives (shinpan), rather than simply being a fudai family. Branches of the Hisamatsu-Matsudaira ruled the Kuwana,^[12] Imabari,^[13] and Iyo-Matsuyama domains.^[14] Famous Hisamatsu-Matsudaira include the political reformer Matsudaira Sadanobu, the final Kyoto Shoshidai Matsudaira Sadaaki, and shogunate politican Itakura Katsukiyo. In the Meiji era, the heads of all the Hisamatsu-Matsudaira branches received titles in the new nobility.

Ochi-Matsudaira clan

The Ochi-Matsudaira clan was founded by Matsudaira Kiyotake, the younger brother of the 6th shogun Tokugawa Ienobu.^[16] The Ochi-Matsudaira ruled the Hamada Domain. The family lost most of its territory in 1866, when the castle town was occupied by Chōshū Domain forces under Ōmura Masujirō during the Chōshū War. Matsudaira Takeakira, the last daimyo, escaped Hamada and went to Tsuruta, one of the domain's non-contiguous territories; there he set up the Tsuruta Domain, which existed until the abolition of the domains in 1871. In the Meiji era, Takeakira's son Matsudaira (Ochi) Takenaga received the title of viscount.

Hoshina-Matsudaira clan (Aizu)

The Hoshina-Matsudaira clan was founded by Hoshina Masayuki. Masayuki, a son of the second shogun Tokugawa Hidetada, was adopted by Hoshina Masamitsu, the lord of the Takatō Domain. Masayuki was recognized as a relative of the Tokugawa family by his half-brother Tokugawa Iemitsu; after Iemitsu's death, Masayuki served as a regent for his nephew, the underaged shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna, thus effectively running the shogunate. It was at this time that Masayuki received rulership of the fief of Aizu (with an income of 230,000 koku). Two generations later, during the reign of the 3rd lord Masakata, the family was allowed the use of the Matsudaira surname and crest. The family remained prominent in shogunate affairs and in security duty in Ezo (Hokkaido). It also sponsored several schools of martial arts, as well as working to develop and spread the production of local crafts. In the Bakumatsu period, the 8th lord Matsudaira Katataka assisted with security duties during and after the arrival of Matthew C. Perry's US Navy vessels; Katataka's successor, 9th lord Matsudaira Katamori served as Kyoto Protector, but his clan was later defeated in the Boshin War. The Aizu-Matsudaira survived the Meiji Restoration, and were ennobled with the title of viscount.^[15] Katamori's son Matsudaira Morio served as an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy. The family survives to the present day. Isao Matsudaira, who was governor of Fukushima Prefecture in the 1980s, was a descendant of this family. Princess Chichibu Setsuko, the wife of Emperor Hirohito's brother Prince Chichibu Yasuhito, was another.

Matsudaira as an honorific

Over the course of the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate granted the use of the Matsudaira surname to certain families as an honorific. These families included both fudai and tozama daimyo families. The Date clan of Sendai,^[17] the Shimazu clan of Satsuma,^[18] the Mōri clan of Choshu, the Maeda clan of Kaga (and its branches at Daishōji and Toyama), the Yamanouchi clan of Tosa, the Kuroda clan of Fukuoka, the Asano clan of Hiroshima (and its branch at Hiroshima-shinden), the Nabeshima of Saga, the Ikeda of Tottori (as well as its branches of Okayama, Shikano, Wakazakura, Hirafuku, as well as hatamoto-level Ikeda), and the Hachisuka of Tokushima were all tozama families that had the use of the Matsudaira surname. The Yanagisawa clan of Yamato^[19] and Honjō clan of Miyazu were two fudai families among those who had the right to use the Matsudaira surname. In addition, if a Tokugawa princess married into another family, her husband had the right to use the Matsudaira surname and the Tokugawa crest for one generation.

Matsudaira in the present day

Prominent Matsudaira in the present day include Matsudaira Ryūmon (actor) and Matsudaira Sadatomo (anchor for NHK), among others.