Kishiwada Castle Kishiwada Osaka pref Japan02s5

was a

feudal domain A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...

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 characteriz ...

Japan, located in

Izumi Province :''The characters ''泉州'' are also used for the name of the Chinese city of Quanzhou''. was a province of Japan in the area of southern Osaka Prefecture. Tango bordered on Kii to the south, Yamato and Kawachi to the west, and Settsu to t ...

in what is now the southern portion of modern-day

Osaka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture ...

. It was centered around Kishiwada Castle and was controlled by the ''

fudai daimyō was a class of ''daimyō'' (大名) in the Tokugawa Shogunate (徳川幕府) of Japan who were hereditary vassals of the Tokugawa before the Battle of Sekigahara. ''Fudai daimyō'' and their descendants filled the ranks of the Tokugawa admini ...

'' Okabe clan throughout much of its history.

History

Kishiwada Domain was founded in 1585, when

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

installed his maternal uncle,

Koide Hidemasa was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Kagami Kenkichi"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 544. He was a tutor of the young Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai ...

as castellan of Kishiwada Castle. At first, he was allotted a ''

kokudaka refers to a system for determining land value for taxation purposes under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo-period Japan, and expressing this value in terms of ''koku'' of rice. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Koku"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 54 ...

'' of only 4,000 ''

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 ...

'', but this was increased to 10,000 ''koku'' in 1594 and 30,000 ''koku'' in 1595. In the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...

, Koide Hidemasa and his eldest son Koida Yoshimasa were with the defeated Western Army loyal to the

Toyotomi clan The was a Japanese clan that ruled over the Japanese before the Edo period. Unity and conflict The most influential figure within the Toyotomi was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the three "unifiers of Japan". Oda Nobunaga was another primary un ...

. However, Koide hedged his bets by having his second son, Koide Hideie, side with the Eastern Army under

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 fellow ...

, and as a result, Koide Hideie inherited the domain in 1601 under the new

and received an increase to 50,000 ''koku'' in 1613. He was transferred to

Izushi Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Tajima Province in what is now the northern portion of modern-day Hyōgo Prefecture. It was centered initially around Izushi Castle in what is now th ...

Tajima Province was a province of Japan in the area of northern Hyōgo Prefecture. Tajima bordered on Tango and Tanba to the east, Harima to the south, and Inaba to the west. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō system, Tajimao was ...

in 1619. The Koide were replaced by Matsudaira Yasushige, formerly of

Shinoyama Domain Shinoyama (written: 篠山) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese photographer *, Japanese basketball player {{surname Japanese-language surnames ...

Tamba Province was a province of Japan in the area of central Kyoto and east-central Hyōgo Prefectures. Tanba bordered on Harima, Ōmi, Settsu, Tajima, Wakasa, and Yamashiro Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō syste ...

. As he was from the Matsui-Matsudaira clan, the domain changed from a ''tozama'' to a ''fudai'' domain at this time. As the lands of Kishiwada Domain were very fertile and flat, and due to advances in

rice cultivation The history of rice cultivation is an interdisciplinary subject that studies archaeological and documentary evidence to explain how rice was first domesticated and cultivated by humans, the spread of cultivation to different regions of the planet, ...

, Matsunaga petitioned the shogunate to raise his official ''kokudaka'' from 50,000 to 60,000 ''koku''. In 1640, his son Matsudaira Yasuteru used this extra ''kokudaka'' to provide a 5000 ''koku'' ''

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.'' However ...

'' holding for his nephew Yasuaki and 3000 and 2000 ''koku'' holdings for his younger brothers Yasunori and Yasunori. However, the same year, he was transferred to

Yamasaki Domain 250px, Honda Tadaaki, final daimyō of Yamasaki was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Harima Province in what is now the southwestern portion of modern-day Hyōgo Prefecture. It was centered around ...

Harima Province or Banshū (播州) was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is the southwestern part of present-day Hyōgo Prefecture. Harima bordered on Tajima, Tanba, Settsu, Bizen, and Mimasaka Provinces. Its capital was Himeji. During the ...

. The domain was then awarded to Okabe Nobukatsu, Matsudaira Yasuteru's father-in-law, who was transferred from

Takatsuki Domain is a city in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is located in northern Osaka's Hokusetsu region. As of 2020, the city had an estimated population of 347,944 and a population density of 3,300 persons per km². The total area is 105.31 km². The ...

Settsu Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises the southeastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture and the northern part of Osaka Prefecture. It was also referred to as or . Osaka and Osaka Castle were the main center of the province. Most of Settsu's ...

. The domain would remain in the hands of the Okabe clan until the

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

. Okabe Nobukatsu's first task was to take steps to avoid a peasant revolt, created by the extra taxes which had been imposed due to Matsudaira Yasushige's increase in ''kokudaka''. He also renovated Kishiwada Castle and sponsored the repair or construction of many shrines and temples. In 1661, his son and successor Okabe Yukitaka gave 5000 ''koku'' to his younger brother Takanari and 2,000 ''koku'' to his brother Toyoake. This reduced the domain from 60,000 ''koku'' to 53,000 ''koku''. During the tenure of the 3rd ''daimyō'' Okabe Nagayasu, the ''

Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri The , held in Kishiwada, Osaka, is one of the most famous Danjiri Matsuri festivals in Japan. The festival is a parade involving large wooden shrine floats that are pulled at a high speed by a large team of men. History The festival began in 1 ...

'' festival was established at Kishiwada in celebration of a good harvest and then installation of a branch of the

Fushimi Inari is the head shrine of the ''kami'' Inari, located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The shrine sits at the base of a mountain also named Inari which is above sea level, and includes trails up the mountain to many smaller shrines ...

Taisha from Kyoto to the Sannomaru of Kishiwada Castle. The 4th ''daimyō'' Okabe Nagataka reformed the clan's military system and established a military training school from 1722. As the domain had significant sources of income from

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks t ...

cultivation and the production of cotton and cotton cloth in addition to its rice cultivation, the domain survived the 1675 famine and 1707 Hōei earthquake without much difficulties; however, the clan's finances began to deteriorate and despite efforts by successive ''daimyō'' at reforms, the domain entered 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 govern ...

without noticeable improvement in its fiscal position. During the 1837 Oshio Heihachiro Rebellion, troops from Kishiwada were called upon to protect

Osaka Castle is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and it played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Layout The main tower ...

. The 11th ''daimyō'' Okabe Nagayuki, opened the

han school The was an educational institution in the Edo period of Japan, originally established to educate children of ''daimyō'' (feudal lords) and their retainers in the domains outside of the capital. These institutions were also known as ''hangaku' ...

in 1852, and this was expanded under his successor, Okabe Nagahiro in 1866. The

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 ...

of the domain were divided into pro-shogunate and pro-''

sonnō jōi was a ''yojijukugo'' (four-character compound) phrase used as the rallying cry and slogan of a political movement in Japan in the 1850s and 1860s during the Bakumatsu period. Based on Neo-Confucianism and Japanese nativism, the movement sought ...

'' factions; however, with the start of the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

the domain sided with the new

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...

. In 1871, the domain became Kishiwada Prefecture with the

abolition of the han system The in the Empire of Japan and its replacement by a system of prefectures in 1871 was the culmination of the Meiji Restoration begun in 1868, the starting year of the Meiji period. Under the reform, all daimyos (, ''daimyō'', feudal lords) ...

, and subsequently was merged into Sakai Prefecture and then Osaka Prefecture. The final ''daimyō'' of Kishiwada, Okabe Nagatomo served in key positions in the

, including Secretary-General of the House of Peers Deputy Foreign Minister,

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

Governor of Tokyo The is the head of government of Tokyo. In 1943, upon the unification of Tokyo City and Tokyo Prefecture, the position of Governor was created. The current title was adopted in 1947 due to the enactment of the Local Autonomy Law. Overview The ...

, member of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

. He received the ''

kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords () and court nobles (), but were abolished with the 1947 constitution. Kazoku ( 華族) should not be confused with ' ...

'' peerage title of

Viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

in 1884.

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 of a daimyo in the Edo period (1603–1868) and early Meiji period (1868–1912). Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Han"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 283. or (daimyo domain) s ...

, Kishiwada Domain consisted of several discontinuous territories calculated to provide the assigned ''

'', 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
*

**3 villages in Ōtori District **2 villages in Izumi District **55 villages in Minami District **40 villages in Hine District

List of daimyō

References

{{Authority control Domains of Japan 1601 establishments in Japan States and territories established in 1601 1871 disestablishments in Japan States and territories disestablished in 1871 Izumi Province History of Osaka Prefecture

History

Holdings at the end of the Edo period

List of daimyō

See also

Further reading

References