was a feudal domain under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

Japan, located in

Kōzuke Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today Gunma Prefecture. Kōzuke bordered by Echigo, Shinano, Musashi and Shimotsuke Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . Under the '' Engishiki'' classification system, Kōzuke was r ...

(modern-day

Gunma Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fuku ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. It was centered on Annaka Castle in what is now the city of

Annaka, Gunma 240px, Edo-period Usui Magistrate’s office in Annaka is a city located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 47,911 in 24,749 households, and a population density of 210 persons per km². The total area of t ...

History

Ii Naomasa was a general under the Sengoku period ''daimyō'', and later ''shōgun'', Tokugawa Ieyasu.Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fello ...

's most trusted Four Generals, and was made ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominall ...

'' of Hikone Domain, with revenues of 180,000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. 1 koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about . It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1000 gō. One ''gō'' is the volume of the "rice cup", the plastic measuring cup that is supplied ...

''. After his death in 1603, he was succeeded by his son,

Ii Naotsugu was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Edo period who served the Tokugawa clan. He was also known as Ii Naotsugu. His childhood name was Manchiyo (万千代). Naokatsu succeeded to family headship following his father's death in 1602. Under Tokugawa I ...

, who was in poor health. Naotsugu sent his younger brother,

Ii Naokatsu was a Japanese '' daimyō'' of the Edo period who served the Tokugawa clan. He was also known as Ii Naotsugu. His childhood name was Manchiyo (万千代). Naokatsu succeeded to family headship following his father's death in 1602. Under Tokugaw ...

to the

Siege of Osaka The was a series of battles undertaken by the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate against the Toyotomi clan, and ending in that clan's destruction. Divided into two stages (winter campaign and summer campaign), and lasting from 1614 to 1615, the sie ...

, where he served with great distinction. As a reward, Tokugawa Ieyasu gave Hikone to Naokatsu, and reassigned his elder brother to the much smaller holding (30,000 ''koku'') of Annaka in 1615. This marked the start of Annaka Domain. After beginning work on Annaka Castle and the surrounding castle town, Naotsugu retired in favor of his son, Ii Naoyoshi, who was transferred to

Nishio Domain was a feudal domain of the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in former Mikawa Province, in what is now the modern-day city of Nishio in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It was centered on Nishio Castle. History When Tokugawa Ieyasu becam ...

in Mikawa Province in 1643. The Ii clan was replaced by Mizuno Mototsugu from Shinjō Domain in Mikawa, and the domain was reduced to 20,000 ''koku''. He turned the domain over to his son Mizonu Mototomo in 1663; however after Mototomo went insane and attempted to murder his wife in 1667, he was relieved of his post. The shogunate then assigned Hotta Masatomo to the domain. Masatomo also served as '' rōjū'' to ''

Shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamaku ...

Tokugawa Ietsuna was the fourth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan who was in office from 1651 to 1680. He is considered the eldest son of Tokugawa Iemitsu, which makes him the grandson of Tokugawa Hidetada and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. E ...

from 1679–80. He left Annaka on his appointment to ''

Tairō ''Tairō'' (, "great elder") was a high-ranking official position in the Tokugawa shogunate government of Japan, roughly comparable to the office of prime minister. The ''tairō'' presided over the governing '' rōjū'' council in the event of an ...

'' under

Tokugawa Tsunayoshi was the fifth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan. He was the younger brother of Tokugawa Ietsuna, as well as the son of Tokugawa Iemitsu, the grandson of Tokugawa Hidetada, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu.Nussbaum, Louis-Fr ...

in 1681. A ''

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as '' gokenin.'' Howev ...

'', Itakura Shigekata, was then raised to the ranks of daimyo, and assigned to Annaka. His son, Itakura Shigeatsu was reassigned to Izumi Domain in

Mutsu Province was an old province of Japan in the area of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori Prefectures and the municipalities of Kazuno and Kosaka in Akita Prefecture. Mutsu Province is also known as or . The term is often used to refer to the co ...

in 1702, exchanging places with Naitō Masamori. The

Naitō clan is a Japanese samurai kin group. The clan claims its descent from Fujiwara no Hidesato. The Naitō became ''daimyōs'' during the Edo period. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, ...

ruled for three generations until their transfer to Komori Domain in

Shinano Province or is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture. Shinano bordered on Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, w ...

in 1749. The

Itakura clan The is a Japanese clan which came to prominence during the Sengoku period.Meyer, Eva-Maria"Gouverneure von Kyôto in der Edo-Zeit." Universität Tübingen (in German). The family claimed descent from Shibukawa Yoshiaki, the son of Ashikaga Ya ...

then returned to Annaka in the form of

Itakura Katsukiyo was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the late Edo period. Famed for his tenure as rōjū, Itakura later became a Shinto priest. Biography Itakura, born to the Hisamatsu-Matsudaira of the Kuwana Domain, was adopted by Itakura Katsutsune, the lord of ...

, formerly of Sagara Domain in

Tōtōmi Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today western Shizuoka Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tōtōmi''" in . Tōtōmi bordered on Mikawa, Suruga and Shinano Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . The or ...

. The Itakura continued to rule Annaka until the end of the Edo period. During their rule, Annaka came to be known as an educational center after the 4th Itakura daimyo, Itakura Katsunao, established a domain academy in 1808. His heir, Itakura Katsuakira, was also fond of study and encouraged his vassals to study. The meiji-era educator

Joseph Hardy Neesima (born ; 12 February 1843 – 23 January 1890), better known by his English name Joseph Hardy Neesima, was a Japanese Protestant missionary and educator of the Meiji era who founded Doshisha English School (later Doshisha University). He ...

was born in his reign as the son of a retainer of the domain. Hearing he had talent, Katsuakira ordered him to take up Dutch studies at his age of 14. Neeshima's grandfather was formerly Shugen mystic, and, expected to utilize his knowledge by the ruler of those days Katsunao, later became a lower-ranked feudal retainer of Annaka Domain. Katsuakira, being an examplary political figure of early Bakumatsu-era, having antiforeignism and chauvinism, and taking Japan's situation seriously, encouraged new industry in his domain and conducted military trainings, for example: Ansei Toashi. Meanwhile, the domain had suffered greatly during the Great Tenmei famine of 1782-1788 and its finances were further ruined by the burden of having to repair the Nakasendo and provide an escort for Princess Kazunomiya on her travel to

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

to wed ''Shōgun''

Tokugawa Iemochi (July 17, 1846 – August 29, 1866) was the 14th ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, who held office from 1858 to 1866. During his reign there was much internal turmoil as a result of the "re-opening" of Japan to western nations. ...

in 1862. During the

Bakumatsu period was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji governm ...

, discontent with the shogunate led to the ''

Sekihōtai The was a group of Japanese political extremists formed in 1868 during the Boshin War. History Formation During the Boshin War, the Sekihōtai was formed on February 1, 1868 at Kongōrin-ji temple in Matsuoji, Ōmi Province with the suppor ...

'' movement, which started in Annaka. During the Boshin War, the final daimyo,

Itakura Katsumasa . Seventh son of Itakura Katsuzumi. Fourth Itakura ''daimyō'' of Bitchū-Matsuyama Domain 270px, Itakura Katukiyo was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now western Okayama Prefecture. It cont ...

was assigned by ''Shōgun'' Tokugawa Yoshinobu to hold the

Usui Pass The is a mountain pass that lies between Nagano and Gunma prefecture in Japan. It has served as one of the major transportation routes in central Japan since at least the eighth century. Road The pass on the ancient Tōsandō highway was d ...

against the armies of the

Satchō Alliance The , or was a powerful military alliance between the feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū formed in 1866 to combine their efforts to restore Imperial rule and overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. History The name ''Satchō'' () is ...

, but he quickly capitulated to the imperial forces. After the end of the conflict, with the abolition of the han system in July 1871, Annaka Domain became "Annaka Prefecture", which later became part of Gunma Prefecture. The Meiji-era educator

was the son of a retainer of the

of Annaka. The domain had a population of 896

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

in 206 households per a census in 1872.

Holdings at the end of the Edo period

As with most domains in the

han system ( ja, 藩, "domain") is a Japanese historical term for the Estate (land), estate of a daimyo in the Edo period (1603–1868) and early Meiji (era), Meiji period (1868–1912).Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Han"in ''Japan En ...

, Tatebayashi Domain consisted of several discontinuous territories calculated to provide the assigned '' kokudaka'', based on periodic

cadastral A cadastre or cadaster is a comprehensive recording of the real estate or real property's metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref> Often it is represented graphically in a cad ...

surveys and projected agricultural yields.Elison, George and Bardwell L. Smith (1987)
''Warlords, Artists, & Commoners: Japan in the Sixteenth Century,'' p. 18
*

**6 villages in Gunma District **34 villages in Usui District *

Shimōsa Province was a province of Japan in the area modern Chiba Prefecture, and Ibaraki Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Shimōsa''" in . It lies to the north of the Bōsō Peninsula (房総半島), whose name takes its first ''kanji'' from ...

**9 villages in Katori District **10 villages in Inba District **4 villages in Kaijō District

List of ''daimyōs''

References

Notes

External links

Annaka on "Edo 300 HTML"
{{Authority control Domains of Japan 1615 establishments in Japan States and territories established in 1615 1871 disestablishments in Japan States and territories disestablished in 1871 Kōzuke Province History of Gunma Prefecture