{{short description|Japanese socialite}} {{Infobox person | name = Nobuko Matsudaira | image = Nobuko Matsudaira 01.jpg | alt = An older Japanese woman, seated indoors, wearing a kimono, hands clasped in her lap | caption = Matsudaira from a 1956 magazine | other_names = {{ubl|Nobuko Nabeshima Matsudaira|Nobu Matsudaira}} | birth_name = Nobuko Nabeshima | birth_date = 15 July 1886 | birth_place = Japan | death_date = {{death date and age|1969|5|8|1886|7|15|df=y}} | death_place = | occupation = | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse = Tsuneo Matsudaira | children = 3, including Setsuko, Princess Chichibu | parents = {{ubl|Nabeshima Naohiro (Saga)|Nabeshima Nagako}} | relatives = {{ubl|Nabeshima clan|Tsunenari Tokugawa (grandson)}} }}
'''Nobuko Matsudaira''' (松平信子, 15 July 1886 – 8 May 1969), also known as '''Madame Matsudaira''', was a Japanese socialite. As the wife of a Japanese ambassador based in Washington, D.C. and London, she was well known as a political hostess in the West in the 1920s and 1930s.
== Early life == Nabeshima was born in 1886, the daughter of politician and college president Nabeshima Naohiro and Nabeshima Nagako, who was president of the Oriental Women's Association (東洋婦人会). She was a member of the powerful Nabeshima family. Nabeshima attended the Gakushuin Women's School, and was later president of the school's alumnae association.
== Career == Nabeshima was an aide and translator to Empress Teimei,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gleaves |first=Albert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Usd6HyZhNb0C&dq=Madame+Matsudaira&pg=PA178 |title=The Admiral: The Memoirs of Albert Gleaves, USN |date=1985 |publisher=Hope Publishing House |isbn=978-0-932727-02-2 |pages=158 |language=en}}</ref> whose son later married Nabeshima's daughter.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Vaughn |first=Miles W. |date=1928-03-29 |title=Japanese Heir's Nuptials Marks Second in his Family |pages=4 |work=The Danville Morning News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112368653/japanese-heirs-nuptials-marks-second/ |access-date=2022-11-01 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She lived in Washington, D.C. as a political hostess,<ref>{{Cite news |date=1925-01-17 |title=Washington Sees New Additions to its Society |pages=2 |work=Worcester Democrat and the Ledger-Enterprise |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112368475/washington-sees-new-additions-to-its/ |access-date=2022-11-01 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Jarvis |first=Jean |date=1925-04-05 |title=Washington Society Greets New Envoy from Japan Beneath Cherry Blossoms |pages=15 |work=Sunday News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112369665/washington-society-greets-new-envoy/ |access-date=2022-11-01 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and traveled with her daughters from 1925 to 1928, while her husband was the Japanese Ambassador to the United States.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=April 1925 |title=Japan's New Ambassador Welcomed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eMA3AQAAIAAJ&dq=Madame+Matsudaira&pg=PA9 |journal=Japan Society |pages=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=August 1927 |title=Notes from Boston: Distinguished Guests Feted |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iXMgAQAAMAAJ&dq=Mrs%20Matsudaira&pg=PP644 |journal=Japan: Overseas Travel Magazine |volume=15 |pages=36–37}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gn9IAQAAMAAJ&dq=Madame+Matsudaira&pg=PA10 |title=Diplomatic List |date=1925 |publisher=Department of State |pages=10 |language=en}}</ref> She gave a public speech of gratitude in Boston in 1927.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1927-06-10 |title=Welcome Japanese Ambassador Here |pages=15 |work=The Boston Globe |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112370368/welcome-japanese-ambassador-here/ |access-date=2022-11-01 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Her gowns were described in newspaper accounts of state dinners and other events.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1934-05-16 |title=Dresses at the First Court |pages=13 |work=Western Mail |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112370632/dresses-at-the-first-court/ |access-date=2022-11-01 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1928-07-01 |title=Oriental Women Adopt European Clothes--but Have Their Looks Improved? |pages=107 |work=The San Francisco Examiner |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112390420/oriental-women-adopt-european/ |access-date=2022-11-01 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The family lived in London in 1909 (when daughter Setsuko was born)<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Yoshitarō |first=Takenobu |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CJFKAAAAMAAJ&dq=Mrs+Matsudaira&pg=PA4 |title=The Japan Year Book |date=1887 |publisher=Japan Year Book Office |pages=22 |language=en}}</ref> and from 1929 to 1935,<ref>{{Cite news |date=1935-07-19 |title=Ambassador Forgets Care in Mountains |pages=8 |work=The Edmonton Bulletin |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112370497/ambassador-forgets-care-in-mountains/ |access-date=2022-11-01 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> when her husband was the Japanese Ambassador to the Court of St. James.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Nish |first=Ian |url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004213456/B9789004213456-s017.xml |title=Matsudaira Tsuneo (1877-1949). Diplomat and Courtier (London, 1929-35) |chapter=16. MATSUDAIRA TSUNEO (1877-1949). Diplomat and Courtier London, 1929-35 |date=2007-01-01 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-21345-6 |pages= 153–162|language=en |doi=10.1163/9789004213456_017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Nish |first=Ian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rfV5DwAAQBAJ&dq=Madame+Matsudaira&pg=PA4 |title=Japanese Envoys in Britain, 1862-1964 |date=2007-05-10 |publisher=Global Oriental |isbn=978-90-04-21345-6 |pages=4, 157–158 |language=en}}</ref> She welcomed and promoted an international touring display of Japanese ceremonial dolls.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Murray |first=Nell |date=1932-11-29 |title=Japanese Ceremonial Dolls |work=Herald |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article242982656 |access-date=2022-11-01 |via=Trove}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1928-01-07 |title=Hails Japanese Dolls as Goodwill Envoys; Ambassador Matsudaira Is Honor Guest at Luncheon Given by S.W. Reyburn to Greet Them |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/01/07/archives/hails-japanese-dolls-as-goodwill-envoys-ambassador-matsudaira-is.html |access-date=2022-11-01 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gordon |first=Bill |title=1927 Doll Exchange - Receipt of Dolls in US |url=http://www.bill-gordon.net/dolls/exch1927/receiptus/index.htm |access-date=2022-11-01 |website=Friendship Dolls}}</ref>
Madame Matsudaira wrote poetry.<ref name=":2" /> She assisted American writer Elizabeth Gray Vining, who described her as "grey-haired, serene, humorous, and wise."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Elizabeth Gray Vining |url=http://archive.org/details/windowsforthecro008722mbp |title=Windows For The Crown Prince |date=1952 |publisher=J.B.Lippincott Company |others=Universal Digital Library |pages=27}}</ref> She was mentioned in two of Eleanor Roosevelt's "My Day" columns in May 1953, when Roosevelt was traveling in Japan.<ref>{{Cite web |title=My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, May 27, 1953 |url=https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/myday/displaydoc.cfm?_y=1953&_f=md002547 |access-date=2022-10-31 |website=The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, May 28, 1953 |url=https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/myday/displaydoc.cfm?_y=1953&_f=md002548 |access-date=2022-10-31 |website=The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition}}</ref> alt=A Japanese family of five, posed outdoors together: the father is standing, wearing and glasses; the two daughters are standing, wearing hats and coats; the mother is seated, wearing a dark hat, holding a baby boy|thumb|The Matsudaira family in 1925; Nobuko Nabeshima is seated holding her son; her husband and two daughters stand behind them
== Personal life == In 1906, Nabeshima married diplomat Tsuneo Matsudaira.<ref name=":1" /> Their son was Ichiro Matsudaira. One of their daughters was Setsuko, who became a princess in the Imperial House of Japan.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Hart |first=Margaret Poe |date=1928-06-02 |title=Mlle. Matsudaira Will Take American Ideas to Japan |pages=3 |work=Evening Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112367416/mlle-matsudaira-will-take-american/ |access-date=2022-11-01 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Frantz |first=Harry W. |date=1928-04-08 |title=Miss Matsudaira WIll Gain Great International Prestige When She Weds Prince Chichibu |pages=2 |work=The Honolulu Advertiser |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112369563/miss-matsudaira-will-gain-great/ |access-date=2022-11-01 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> One of the Matsudairas' grandchildren is Tsunenari Tokugawa, the 18th head of the Tokugawa clan, and one of their great-grandchildren is writer and translator Iehiro Tokugawa, who succeeded his father Tsunenari to the {{ill|Tokugawa main line|ja|徳川宗家}} headship on 1 January 2023. Her husband died in 1949 and she lived with her widowed daughter after 1953; she eventually expired in 1969 at the age of 82.
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * [https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp62888/nobu-matsudaira-nee-nabeshima Nobu Matsudaira as a sitter in four portraits] made in 1922 by Bassano Ltd, in the National Portrait Gallery (UK) * A newsreel collection that includes a shot of Madame Matsudaira at a fashion event in 1926, at Internet Archive
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Matsudaira, Nobuko}} Category:1886 births Category:1969 deaths Category:20th-century Japanese women Category:Japanese socialites Nobuko Nobuko