Saga Domain
Encyclopedia
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Largely contiguous with Hizen Province
Hizen Province
was an old province of Japan in the area of Saga and Nagasaki prefectures. It was sometimes called , with Higo Province. Hizen bordered on the provinces of Chikuzen and Chikugo. The province was included in Saikaidō...
on Kyūshū
Kyushu
is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
, the domain was governed from Saga Castle
Saga Castle
is a Japanese castle located in Saga City, Saga Prefecture, Japan. It is a hiraijirō, a castle built on a plains rather than a hill or mountain, and is surrounded by a wall rather than being built above a stone base. Saga castle was home to the Nabeshima clan, daimyō of Saga Domain...
in the capital city of Saga
Saga, Saga
is the capital of Saga Prefecture, located on the island of Kyūshū, Japan.Saga was the capital of Saga Domain in the Edo period, and largest city of former Hizen Province....
by the Nabeshima clan
Nabeshima clan
The Nabeshima clan was a prominent Japanese samurai clan of Kyūshū which controlled Saga Domain from the late Sengoku period through the Edo period.The Nabeshima clan was a cadet branch of the Shōni clan and was descended from the Fujiwara clan...
of tozama
Tozama
A ' was a daimyo who was considered an outsider by the rulers of Japan. The term came into use in the Kamakura period and continued until the end of the Edo period.-Edo period:...
daimyō
Daimyo
is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
. Though the Dutch and Chinese trading posts in Nagasaki were overseen directly by officials of the Tokugawa shogunate
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...
, the domain was largely responsible for the military defense of the city and the port. The domain is also sometimes unofficially known as Hizen-han or Nabeshima-han.
The Nabeshima enjoyed an income of 357,000 koku
Koku
The is a Japanese unit of volume, equal to ten cubic shaku. In this definition, 3.5937 koku equal one cubic metre, i.e. 1 koku is approximately 278.3 litres. The koku was originally defined as a quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year...
throughout the Tokugawa period, including among their vassals the lords of the nearby Ogi
Ogi Domain
' was a tozama feudal domain of Edo period Japan, located in Hizen Province, Kyūshū. Its territory was roughly equivalent to the areas covered by modern-day Ogi District and portions of Saga District and Matsuura District in Saga Prefecture.-History:...
, Hasunoike
Hasunoike Domain
was a tozama feudal domain of Edo period Japan, located in Hizen Province, Kyūshū. Its territory extended over Kanzaki, Kishima and Fujitsu districts and portions of Matsuura, Saga districts: an area roughly equivalent to modern-day area of Hasunoike district of Saga city in Saga Prefecture,...
, and Kashima
Kashima Domain
was a tozama feudal domain of Edo period Japan, located in Hizen Province, Kyūshū. Its territory was roughly equivalent to modern-day city of Kashima in Saga Prefecture.-History:...
Domains.
The domain's location close to Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
and far from Edo
Edo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
, the shogunal capital, along with its trade connections, brought significant foreign influence to the area. The area was a center for ceramic production and techniques as a result of its connections with Korea, becoming famous for its Imari porcelain
Imari porcelain
Imari porcelain is the name for Japanese porcelain wares made in the town of Arita, in the former Hizen Province, northwestern Kyūshū. They were exported to Europe extensively from the port of Imari, Saga between latter half of 17th century and former half of 18 th century, Japanese as well as the...
which was a significant export good to Europe. The area also bore a considerable Christian peasant population, which erupted in protest in the famous Shimabara Rebellion
Shimabara Rebellion
The was an uprising largely involving Japanese peasants, most of them Catholic Christians, in 1637–1638 during the Edo period.It was one of only a handful of instances of serious unrest during the relatively peaceful period of the Tokugawa shogunate's rule...
(1637-8). Towards the end of the Tokugawa period, elements within Saga sided with groups from Tosa
Tosa Domain
The was a feudal domain in Tosa Province of Japan during the Edo period. Its official name is . Some from the domain played important roles in events in the late Tokugawa shogunate...
, Satsuma, and Chōshū against the shogunate. Saga leaders would later turn against the new Meiji
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
government, launching the Saga Rebellion
Saga Rebellion
The was an 1874 uprisings in Kyūshū against the new Meiji government of Japan. It was led by Etō Shimpei and Shima Yoshitake in their native domain of Hizen.-Background:...
in 1874, which ultimately failed.
The territory is today split between Saga
Saga Prefecture
is located in the northwest part of the island of Kyūshū, Japan. It touches both the Sea of Japan and the Ariake Sea. The western part of the prefecture is a region famous for producing ceramics and porcelain, particularly the towns of Karatsu, Imari, and Arita...
and Nagasaki Prefecture
Nagasaki Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. The capital is the city of Nagasaki.- History :Nagasaki Prefecture was created by merging of the western half of the former province of Hizen with the island provinces of Tsushima and Iki...
s.
History
The Nabeshima clan were originally vassals of the Ryūzōji clanRyuzoji clan
The was a Japanese clan which claimed descent from Fujiwara Hidesato. It came to prominence in the Sengoku period, in the fighting in northern Kyūshū. Their descendants became retainers of the Matsudaira clan of Aizu, and remained there until the Meiji Restoration...
who controlled the region. However, Ryūzōji Takanobu
Ryuzoji Takanobu
was a Japanese daimyo of the Sengoku period, who ruled a region in northern Kyūshū. He was the eldest son of Ryūzōji Chikaie, and upon headship, became the 19th head of the Ryūzōji clan. Takanobu's son, Masaie, would become the last head of the Ryūzōji....
was killed in battle with the Shimazu
Shimazu clan
The were the daimyō of the Satsuma han, which spread over Satsuma, Ōsumi and Hyūga provinces in Japan.The Shimazu were identified as one of the tozama or outsider daimyō clans in contrast with the fudai or insider clans which were hereditary vassals or allies of the Tokugawa clan,The Shimazu were...
and Arima clan
Arima clan
The was a Japanese feudal daimyo family dating to the Sengoku period. Its name "Arima," transliterates as "has horses," reflecting the samurai/cavalry origins of the family. Famous members include Arima Harunobu and Arima Naozumi....
s in 1584, and Nabeshima Naoshige
Nabeshima Naoshige
a retainer of the Ryūzōji clan during the Sengoku period of the 16th century. Naoshige was the son of Nabeshima Kiyosada and was known as Nobumasa throughout half of his career under the Ryūzōji. Naoshige proved himself as being one of the greatest generals under Ryūzōji Takanobu...
became the guardian of Takanobu's young heir, Ryūzōji Takafusa. Six years later, Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
was a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period. He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle...
granted approval for Nabeshima to overthrow Ryūzōji and seize the territory for his own lineage. Nabeshima supported Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea in the 1590s, and fought in the Western Army, against the Tokugawa clan
Tokugawa clan
The was a powerful daimyo family of Japan. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa and were a branch of the Minamoto clan by the Nitta clan. However, the early history of this clan remains a mystery.-History:...
in the fateful battle of Sekigahara
Battle of Sekigahara
The , popularly known as the , was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 which cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu...
in 1600. During this battle, however, he turned against and captured Western Army general Tachibana Muneshige
Tachibana Muneshige
, known in his youth as Senkumaru and alternatively called Tachibana Munetora , was a samurai during the Azuchi–Momoyama period and a Edo Period daimyo. He was the eldest biological son of Takahashi Shigetane, a retainer of Ōtomo clan...
, earning some degree of favor from Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu
was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan , which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but...
and being allowed to keep his fief.
Edo period
Remnants of the Ryūzōji continued to surface from time to time, however, and threatened the Nabeshima grip on power. Ryūzōji Takafusa died in 1607, and six years later an order was issued by the shogunate granting his brother, Ryūzōji Katsushige, control of the domain. Though officially bearing an income of 357,000 koku, the daimyō of Saga actually bore only 60,000 koku, the rest belonging to his vassals, the four branch families of the Ryūzōji (Taku, Takeo, Suko, Isahaya, and those of the Nabeshima (Shiroishi, Kubota, Murata, Kawakubō.The shogunate imposed upon Saga responsibility for defense of the port of Nagasaki and enforcement of the maritime restrictions
Sakoku
was the foreign relations policy of Japan under which no foreigner could enter nor could any Japanese leave the country on penalty of death. The policy was enacted by the Tokugawa shogunate under Tokugawa Iemitsu through a number of edicts and policies from 1633–39 and remained in effect until...
(kaikin). Though this burden was shared with the Fukuoka Domain
Fukuoka Domain
The ' was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in Chikuzen Province .-List of lords:*Kuroda clan, 1600-1871 #Nagamasa#Tadayuki#Mitsuyuki#Tsunamasa#Nobumasa...
, each domain bearing these responsibilities in alternate years, it nevertheless frequently strained Saga's finances. As a result, it was not unknown for Saga to seek to lessen its losses by reducing the number of samurai it sent to defend the port. In October 1808, when the HMS Phaeton created an incident, capturing Dutch merchants and threatening Japanese and Chinese ships in the harbor, only 100 Saga samurai were present to deal with the situation, rather than the obligatory one thousand. As no further troops could be summoned to the port in time, the shogunate was forced to submit to the demands of the British ship, and scolded Saga harshly for its failure to fulfill its obligations. The domain would be further weakened by a typhoon in 1828 which cost Saga approximately 10,000 lives.
Bakumatsu and Meiji Ishin
The tenth lord of Saga, Nabeshima Naomasa
Nabeshima Naomasa
was the 10th and final daimyō of Saga Domain in Hizen Province, Kyūshū, Japan. His honorary title was Hizen-no-Kami, and he was occasionally referred to as “Prince Hizen” in western accounts during the Bakumatsu period.-Biography:...
(r. 1830-61), established organizations for the research of Western technologies, including steel refining, steam engines and artillery, and turned the domain's efforts towards these pursuits, making it one of the most modern domains in this period. Saga thus began operations at the first Japanese iron refinery in 1849, and made the first use of reverberatory furnace
Reverberatory furnace
A reverberatory furnace is a metallurgical or process furnace that isolates the material being processed from contact with the fuel, but not from contact with combustion gases...
s three years later. In 1853, Russian Admiral Yevfimy Putyatin
Yevfimy Putyatin
Yevfimy Vasilyevich Putyatin was a Russian admiral noted for his diplomatic missions to Japan and China which resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Shimoda in 1855.-Early life:...
arrived in Nagasaki harbor, and provided the first demonstration of a steam locomotive to the Japanese. Ishiguro Hirotsugu, Nakamura Kisuke, and Tanaka Hisashige were among the first Japanese engineers, who attempted to manufacture their own steam locomotives and steamships.
When the shogunate relaxed the restrictions on the construction of large ships, an order was placed with the Dutch. Saga saw the revitalization of Japans' shipbuilding industry, and the launching of the first Japanese steamship, the Ryōfūmaru. The Nagasaki naval academy was established in 1855, its first students coming from Saga. By 1866, the incorporation of British Armstrong Whitworth
Armstrong Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. Headquartered in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles, and aircraft.-History:In 1847,...
cannon made the ships at Nagasaki into the first Japanese Western-style ("modern") navy. The defense batteries at Shinagawa were also supplied by cannon from Saga.
Meiji Restoration
The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...
, alongside the domains of Tosa, Satsuma, and Chōshū, and samurai from the domain fought the shogunate at the battle of Ueno
Battle of Ueno
The Battle of Ueno was a battle of the Boshin War, which occurred on July 4, 1868 , between the troops of the Shōgitai under Shibusawa Seiichirō and Amano Hachirō, and Imperial "Kangun" troops....
and in other clashes of the Boshin War
Boshin War
The was a civil war in Japan, fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the imperial court....
. As a result, the new Meiji government which emerged afterwards featured a number of figures from Saga, including Etō Shinpei, Ōkuma Shigenobu
Okuma Shigenobu
Marquis ; was a statesman in the Empire of Japan and the 8th and 17th Prime Minister of Japan...
, Ōki Takatō
Oki Takato
, was a Japanese statesman during the early Meiji period. He was Governor of Tokyo in 1868 and a member of the Privy Council in 1889.Ōki was born into a samurai family in Saga, in Hizen province . He studied at the domain school Kodokan, and promoted reform of the domain administration...
, and Sano Tsunetami
Sano Tsunetami
Count was a Japanese statesman and founder of the Japanese Red Cross Society. His son, Admiral Sano Tsuneha, was a leading figure in the establishment of the Scout Association of Japan.-Biography:...
. Etō resigned from the government, however, along with a number of others in 1873 as the result of extensive disputes over invading Korea
Seikanron
The Seikanron debate was a major political conflagration which occurred in Japan in 1873....
, an action which he, Saigō Takamori
Saigo Takamori
was one of the most influential samurai in Japanese history, living during the late Edo Period and early Meiji Era. He has been dubbed the last true samurai.-Early life:...
and others supported, but which was ultimately rejected by the council. Etō then organized the Saga Rebellion
Saga Rebellion
The was an 1874 uprisings in Kyūshū against the new Meiji government of Japan. It was led by Etō Shimpei and Shima Yoshitake in their native domain of Hizen.-Background:...
the following year, leading 3000 men in an assault against the new government which was quickly suppressed.
The feudal domains were abolished
Abolition of the han system
The was an act, in 1871, of the new Meiji government of the Empire of Japan to replace the traditional feudal domain system and to introduce centralized government authority . This process marked the culmination of the Meiji Restoration in that all daimyo were required to return their authority...
in 1871, and the Nabeshima clan given the title "marquis" (kōshaku) under the new kazoku
Kazoku
The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan that existed between 1869 and 1947.-Origins:Following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the ancient court nobility of Kyoto regained some of its lost status...
peerage system.
Lords of Saga
- Nabeshima KatsushigeNabeshima Katsushige' was a Japanese daimyo of the early Edo period. Born to Nabeshima Naoshige, he became lord of Saga-han.-Biography:...
(鍋島 勝茂, 1607-1657) - Nabeshima MitsushigeNabeshima Mitsushigewas a Japanese daimyo of the early Edo period. Famed for his forbidding of junshi, the form of traditional suicide whereby a retainer followed his lord in death. It was because of this dislike for junshi that one of his favorite retainers Yamamoto Tsunetomo would go on after his death to pen the...
(鍋島 光茂, 1657-1695) - Nabeshima Tsunashige (鍋島 綱茂, 1695-1706)
- Nabeshima Yoshishige (鍋島 吉茂, 1707-1730)
- Nabeshima Muneshige (鍋島 宗茂, 1730-1738)
- Nabeshima Munenori (鍋島 宗教, 1738-1760)
- Nabeshima Shigemochi (鍋島 重茂, 1760-1770)
- Nabeshima Harushige (鍋島 治茂, 1770-1805)
- Nabeshima Narinao (鍋島 斉直, 1805-1830)
- Nabeshima NaomasaNabeshima Naomasawas the 10th and final daimyō of Saga Domain in Hizen Province, Kyūshū, Japan. His honorary title was Hizen-no-Kami, and he was occasionally referred to as “Prince Hizen” in western accounts during the Bakumatsu period.-Biography:...
(鍋島 直正, 1830-1861) - Nabeshima NaohiroNabeshima Naohiro (Saga)- External links :*...
(鍋島 直大, 1861-1871)
Other notable Saga natives
- Ōkuma ShigenobuOkuma ShigenobuMarquis ; was a statesman in the Empire of Japan and the 8th and 17th Prime Minister of Japan...
(大隈 重信) - Etō Shinpei (江藤 新平)
- Shima YoshitakeShima Yoshitakewas a samurai from Saga domain. He later became a chamberlain and later a governor for Akita Prefecture.-External links:*...
(島 義勇) - Ōki TakatōOki Takato, was a Japanese statesman during the early Meiji period. He was Governor of Tokyo in 1868 and a member of the Privy Council in 1889.Ōki was born into a samurai family in Saga, in Hizen province . He studied at the domain school Kodokan, and promoted reform of the domain administration...
(大木 喬任) - Sano TsunetamiSano TsunetamiCount was a Japanese statesman and founder of the Japanese Red Cross Society. His son, Admiral Sano Tsuneha, was a leading figure in the establishment of the Scout Association of Japan.-Biography:...
(佐野 常民) - Nabeshima Shigeyoshi (鍋島 茂義)
- Tanaka Hisashige (田中 久重)
See also
- HagakureHagakureHagakure , or is a practical and spiritual guide for a warrior, drawn from a collection of commentaries by the samurai Yamamoto Tsunetomo, former retainer to Nabeshima Mitsushige, the third ruler of what is now the Saga prefecture in Japan...
- treatise on bushidoBushido, meaning "Way of the Warrior-Knight", is a Japanese word which is used to describe a uniquely Japanese code of conduct and a way of the samurai life, loosely analogous to the concept of chivalry. It originates from the samurai moral code and stresses frugality, loyalty, martial arts mastery, and...
written by Saga retainer Yamamoto TsunetomoYamamoto Tsunetomo, also read Yamamoto Jōchō was a samurai of the Saga Domain in Hizen Province under his lord Nabeshima Mitsushige. For thirty years Yamamoto devoted his life to the service of his lord and clan...