Nitobe Jūjirō (新渡戸 十次郎, 1820 – 1868) ^[1] was a Japanese samurai and retainer of the Morioka Domain in the late Edo period. ^[1] His father was Nitobe Tsutō. ^{[1] [2]} He was the father of educator and diplomat Nitobe Inazō and Nitobe Shichirō. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Nitobe was born in Hanamaki on July 20, 1820. ^{[4] [5]} His father was Tsutō (傳). ^[1] His posthumous name was Tsunenori (常訓). ^[3] When Jūjirō was just born, Jūjirō's grandfather Koretami bought the anger of the Morioka Domain and Koretami was exiled to Tanabe. ^{[2] [6] [5]}

In 1857, Jūjirō was appointed Sanbongi Shinden Goyogakari (new rice field affairs official in Sanbongi). ^[4] He worked with his father to cultivate and successfully got water to flow into the irrigation canal called the Ina River. ^[4] In 1860, he planned a new town called Inaoi-chō (now part of Towada) using a four-way grid pattern, divided into 12 neighborhoods. This was the forerunner to modern city planning in Japan. ^{[4] [7]}

He died on January 18, 1868. ^[8] His death was mourned by his father, his family, and the townspeople. ^[8]

Depending upon the source, Nitobe Jūjirō and the entire Nitobe clan are descendants of either the Minamoto clan or the Taira clan (specifically, Chiba Tsunetane [ ja] ^[9]'s branch). ^{[2] [10]} Tsunetane's grandson, Tsunehide [ ja] (常秀, Tsunetane's son Tanemasa(胤正)'s son ^[11]) 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. ^[12]

During the Nanboku-chō period, Sadahiro and his son Hiromori both fought on the Southern Court side. ^[12] Sadahiro died in 1337. ^[2] Hiromori died in Shinano in 1351 during the war. ^{[2] [12]} Tsunetada and his son Tsunenobu both served Ashikaga Mitsukane and Mochiuji of the Kantō kubō. ^[12] After Tsunenobu's death, his son Nobumori returned to Nitobe. ^[12] Nobumori's daughter was Moriyori (盛頼)'s wife. ^[12] 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 retainer). ^[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 Jūjirō's great-grandfather. ^[2] Tsuneyoshi married Jūjirō's great-grandmother Oei (おゑい, daughter of Ōta Hidenori (太田秀典) of Hanamaki). ^[13] Tsuneyoshi Died in 1803. ^[2] Jūjirō's grandfather was Koretami (維民, heir to the reign of Nanbu Toshitaka.) ^[2] Jūjirō's father was Tsunezumi (常澄, Nitobe Tsutō). ^[2] Jūjirō's brother was Ōta Tokitoshi), and Jūjirō's sons were Shichirō (七郎) and Inanosuke (稲之助, Inazō). ^{[3] [2]}