Japanese han (domain) belonging to one of the three branches of the Tokugawa family from which the shogun was chosen during the Tokugawa period .
During the 19th century, nationalists from Mito adopted the slogan "Sonnō jōi" ("Revere the emperor, expel the barbarians"). Tokugawa Nariaki (1800–60), daimyo of Mito at the time of Commodore Ii Naosuke ; Meiji Restoration ; Yoshida Shōin .