Sekiyado Domain
Encyclopedia
Han (Japan)
The or domain was the name of the estate belonging to a warrior in Japan after the 17th century. The fiefs of the daimyos of the samurai class of Japan during the Edo period were called han.-Edo period:...
of the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
, located in Shimōsa Province (the northern portion of modern-day Chiba Prefecture
Chiba Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region and the Greater Tokyo Area. Its capital is Chiba City.- History :Chiba Prefecture was established on June 15, 1873 with the merger of Kisarazu Prefecture and Inba Prefecture...
), Japan
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...
. It was centered on Sekiyado Castle
Sekiyado Castle
is a Japanese castle located in Noda, northwestern Chiba Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Sekiyado Castle was home to the Kuse clan, daimyō of Sekiyado Domain.- History :...
in what is now the city of Noda, Chiba
Noda, Chiba
is a city located in the far northwestern corner Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As of February 2011, the city had an estimated population of 155,431 and a population density of 1500 persons per km²...
.
Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Japan
The is the head of government of Japan. He is appointed by the Emperor of Japan after being designated by the Diet from among its members, and must enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office...
Baron Suzuki Kantarō
Kantaro Suzuki
Baron was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, member and final leader of the Taisei Yokusankai and 42nd Prime Minister of Japan from 7 April-17 August 1945.-Early life:...
was born as the son of a samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
of Sekiyado Domain.
History
Sekiyado is located at the confluence of the Tone RiverTone River
The is a river in the Kantō region of Japan. It is in length and has a drainage area of...
and the Edogawa River, and was thus a strategic location controlling river traffic in the northern Kantō region
Kanto region
The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa. Within its boundaries, slightly more than 40 percent of the land area is the Kantō Plain....
, as well as the northeastern approaches to 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...
. Following the Battle of Odawara in 1590, the Kantō region
Kanto region
The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa. Within its boundaries, slightly more than 40 percent of the land area is the Kantō Plain....
by was assigned to 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...
, who appointed his half-brother Matsudaira (Hisamatsu) Yasumoto as 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...
of Sekiyado, with revenues of 20,000 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...
. His revenues were increased to 40,000 koku in 1591. The domain passed from Matsudaira control to various other clans over its history: however, as an indication of the importance the Tokugawa shogunate placed on Sekiyado, of the 22 daimyō who ruled the domain, 22 held the post of Rōjū
Roju
The ', usually translated as Elder, was one of the highest-ranking government posts in Tokugawa Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council as a whole; under the first two shoguns, there were only two Rōjū...
and three held the post of Kyoto Shoshidai
Kyoto Shoshidai
The was an important administrative and political office in the early modern government of Japan. However, the significance and effectiveness of the office is credited to the third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu, who developed these initial creations as bureaucratic elements in a consistent and...
.
From 1669 (with an interruption from 1683-1705), the domain remained in the hands of the Kuze clan. Kuze Hirochika
Kuze Hirochika
was a Japanese daimyo of the late Edo period, who ruled the Sekiyado Domain. He served as a rōjū in the Tokugawa shogunate, and briefly as chief rōjū .-References:...
played an important role in the Bakumatsu period. As Rōjū, he opposed the Ansei Purge
Ansei Purge
The Ansei Purge was a purge, in 1858 and 1859, of over 100 people from the bakufu, various han, and the Japanese Imperial court...
conducted by Ii Naosuke
Ii Naosuke
was daimyo of Hikone and also Tairō of Tokugawa Shogunate, Japan, a position he held from April 23, 1858 until his death on March 24, 1860. He is most famous for signing the Harris Treaty with the United States, granting access to ports for trade to American merchants and seamen and...
. He was a key supporter of the Kōbu gattai
Kōbu Gattai
Kōbu gattai was a policy in Bakumatsu Japan aiming at obtaining a political coordination between the Bakufu and the Imperial Court....
policy of supporting the Shogunate through marriage ties to the Imperial family, and one of the prime signatories to treaties ending Japan’s national isolation policy
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...
.
During 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....
, the domain officially remained a supporter of the Shogunate, and contributed many samurai to the Shōgitai
Shōgitai
The Shōgitai was an elite corps of the Shogunate during the Bakumatsu period in Japan. The Shōgitai took a large part in the battles of the Boshin war, especially at the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, and the Battle of Ueno, where they were nearly exterminated....
; however, many of its younger retainers supported the Sonnō jōi
Sonno joi
is a Japanese political philosophy and a social movement derived from Neo-Confucianism; it became a political slogan in the 1850s and 1860s in the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa bakufu, during the Bakumatsu period.-Origin:...
movement and defected to the Satchō Alliance
Satcho Alliance
The ', or Satchō Alliance was a military alliance between the feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū formed in 1866 to combine their efforts to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan....
. After 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....
, the final daimyō of Sekiyado, Kuze Hironari, submitted to the new Meiji government. He was appointed domain governor under the new administration, until the abolition of the han system
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 July 1871 and subsequently became a viscount
Viscount
A viscount or viscountess is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count .-Etymology:...
under the 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. The former Sekiyado Domain was absorbed into the new Chiba Prefecture.
List of daimyō
- Matsudaira clanMatsudaira clanThe was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Minamoto clan. It first originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province . Over the course of its history, the clan produced many branches, most of which also centered around Mikawa Province...
(Hisamatsu) (fudai) 1590-1616# Name Tenure Courtesy title Court Rank revenues 1 1590–1603 Inaba-no-kami Lower 5th (従五位下) 22,700 koku 2 1603–1616 Kai-no-kami Lower 5th (従五位下) 22,700 koku
- Nomi-Matsudaira clanMatsudaira clanThe was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Minamoto clan. It first originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province . Over the course of its history, the clan produced many branches, most of which also centered around Mikawa Province...
(fudai) 1617-1619# Name Tenure Courtesy title Court Rank revenues 1 1617–1619 Osumi-no-kami Lower 5th (従五位下) 26,000 koku
- Ogasawara clanOgasawara clanThe was a Japanese samurai clan descended from the Seiwa Genji. The Ogasawara acted as shugo of Shinano province in the medieval period The was a Japanese samurai clan descended from the Seiwa Genji. The Ogasawara acted as shugo (governors) of Shinano province in the medieval period The was a...
(fudai) 1619-1640# Name Tenure Courtesy title Court Rank revenues 1 1619–1640 Saemon-no-suke Lower 4th (従四位下) 22,700 koku 2 1640–1640 Tosa-no-kami Lower 5th (従五四位下) 22,700 koku
- Hōjō clanLate Hojo clanThe ' was one of the most powerful warrior clans in Japan in the Sengoku period and held domains primarily in the Kantō region.The clan is traditionally reckoned to be started by Ise Shinkurō, who came from a branch of the prestigious Ise clan, a family in the direct employment of the Ashikaga...
(tozama) 1640-1644# Name Tenure Courtesy title Court Rank revenues 1 1640–1644 Dewa-no-kami Lower 4th Lower 5th (従五位下) 20,000 koku
- Makino clanMakino clanThe are a daimyō branch of the samurai Minamoto clan in Edo period Japan.In the Edo period, the Makino were identified as one of the fudai or insider daimyō clans which were hereditary vassals or allies of the Tokugawa clan, in contrast with the tozama or outsider clans.-Makino clan branches:The...
(fudai) 1644-1656# Name Tenure Courtesy title Court Rank revenues 1 1644–1647 Hizen-no-kami Lower 4th Lower 4th (従四位下) 17,000 koku 2 1647–1656 Sado-no-kami Lower 4th (従四位下) 17,000-->27,000 koku
- Itakura clanItakura clanThe ' is a Japanese clan which came to prominence during the Sengoku period. The family claimed descent from Shibukawa Yoshiaki, the son of Ashikaga Yasuuji, a relative of the Ashikaga shoguns...
(fudai) 1656-1669# Name Tenure Courtesy title Court Rank revenues 1 1656–1656 Suo-no-kami Lower 4th (従四位下) 50,000 koku 2 1656–1661 Awa-no-kami Lower 5th (従五位下) 50,000-->45,000 koku 3 1661–1669 Yamato-no-kami Lower 4th (従四位下) 50,000 koku>-
- Kuze clan (fudai) 1669-1683
# Name Tenure Courtesy title Court Rank revenues 1 1669–1679 Yamato-no-kami Lower 4th (侍従) 50,000 koku 2 1679–1683 Yamato-no-kami Lower 4th (侍従) 50,000 koku
- Makino clanMakino clanThe are a daimyō branch of the samurai Minamoto clan in Edo period Japan.In the Edo period, the Makino were identified as one of the fudai or insider daimyō clans which were hereditary vassals or allies of the Tokugawa clan, in contrast with the tozama or outsider clans.-Makino clan branches:The...
(fudai) 1683-1705# Name Tenure Courtesy title Court Rank revenues 1 1683–1695 Bizen-no-kami Lower 4th (侍従) 53,000-->73,000 koku 2 1695–1705 Bizen-no-kami Lower 4th (侍従) 73,000 koku
- Kuze clan (fudai) 1705-1871
# Name Tenure Courtesy title Court Rank revenues 1 1705–1720 Yamato-no-kami Lower 4th (従四位下) 50,000 koku 2 1720–1748 Sanuki-no-kami/Jiju Lower 5th (従五位下) 50,000-->60,000 koku 3 1748–1785 Yamato-no-kami Lower 5th (従五位下) 60,000-->58,000 koku 4 1785–1817 Yamato-no-kami Lower 5th (従五位下) 58,000-->68,000 koku 5 1817–1830 Nagato-no-kami Lower 5th (従五位下) 68,000 koku 6 1830–1862 Yamato-no-kami Lower 4th (従四位下) 68,000 koku 7 1862–1868 Oki-no-kami Lower 5th (従五位下) 68,000-->48,000 koku 8 1868–1871 x Lower 5th (従五位下) 48,000 koku