Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu

Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu (柳沢吉保) (1658 – 1714) was a Japanese daimyo of the Edo period, who served as an official in the Tokugawa shogunate. He served Tokugawa Tsunayoshi from an early age, becoming his wakashu and eventually rising to the position of soba yōnin. He was the daimyo of the Kawagoe han, and later of the Kofu han; he retired in 1709. Having previously been named Yasuakira, he received a kanji from the name of the shogun, and came to call himself Yoshiyasu.

Yanagisawa played a pivotal role in the matter of the 47 Ronin.

Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu in popular culture
Yanagisawa appears as a character in most of the novels by American mystery writer Laura Joh Rowland set in Genroku-era Japan as the antagonist to the books' main character Sano Ichiro. Rowland's chronology differs from history by having Yanagisawa exiled in disgrace in 1694 and being replaced by Sano as Tsunayoshi's chief advisor. Other details of Yanagisawa's life, however, are portrayed fairly accurately, including his relationship to the shogun.