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The was a Japanese samurai clan of northern
Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...
that claimed descent from
Emperor Kanmu , or Kammu, was the 50th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 桓武天皇 (50) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Kanmu reigned from 781 to 806, and it was during his reign that the sco ...
via Prince Yoshimine no Yasuo (785-80) and Kodama Koreyuki (d.1069). Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)
"Niwa," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 43
retrieved 2013-5-5.


History

The Kodama clan was one of several samurai clans originally located in
Musashi Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Metropolis, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama. Musashi bordered on Kai, Kōzuke, Sagami, S ...
. A branch of the clan settled in
Owari Province was a province of Japan in the area that today forms the western half of Aichi Prefecture, including the modern city of Nagoya. The province was created in 646. Owari bordered on Mikawa, Mino, and Ise Provinces. Owari and Mino provinces were ...
, of which a branch resided in
Niwa District is a district located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 October 2019, the district had an estimated population of 58,304 and a density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The ...
. It is uncertain when they adopted the "Niwa" surname, but during the
Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...
were in service of the
Shiba clan was a Japanese clan. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003).html" ;"title="DF 58 of 80">("Shiba," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 54 DF_58_of_80">("Shi_...
,_who_were_the_''shugo.html" ;"title="DF 58 of 80/nowiki>">DF 58 of 80">("Shi ...
, who were the ''shugo">DF 58 of 80/nowiki>">DF 58 of 80">("Shi ...
, who were the ''shugo'' of Owari Province. The clan rose to prominence in the Sengoku period. Niwa Nagahide became a senior retainer of Oda Nobunaga and after Nobunaga was assassinated at the Honnō-ji Incident, helped Toyotomi Hideyoshi defeat the forces of Akechi Mitsuhide at the Battle of Yamazaki. He also assisted Hideyoshi at the
Battle of Shizugatake The was a battle of the Sengoku period of Japan fought between Toyotomi Hideyoshi (then Hashiba Hideyoshi) and Shibata Katsuie in Shizugatake, Ōmi Province in May 1583. Katsuie supported Oda Nobutaka's claim as successor of Oda Nobunaga in a ...
, and was rewarded with the provinces of Wakasa and Echizen and two districts of
Kaga Province was a province of Japan in the area that is today the south and western portion of Ishikawa Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Kaga bordered on Echizen, Etchū, Hida, and Noto Provinces. It was part of Hokurikudō Circuit. Its abbr ...
, for a total ''
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 1,230,000 ''
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 ...
'', making him one of the most powerful Sengoku-''
daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...
''. However, after Niwa Nagahide died in 1585, the clan's fortunes under
Niwa Nagashige was a Japanese ''daimyō'' who served the Oda clan. Nagashige was the eldest son of Niwa Nagahide and married the 5th daughter of Oda Nobunaga. He took part in his first campaign in 1583, assisting his father in the Battle of Shizugatake agains ...
fell with equal rapidity. During the
Siege of Toyama The siege of Toyama was a battle during the Azuchi-Momoyama period (16th century) of Japan. History During the late summer of August 1585, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had led his army of around 100,000 soldiers against Sassa Narimasa , also known a ...
against the forces of
Sassa Narimasa , also known as Kura-no-suke (内蔵助), was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku through Azuchi–Momoyama period.">DF 7 of 80">"Asa ..., where he was in the rear guard. In 1575, Narimasa fought at the Battle of Nagashino">DF 7 of 80/nowiki>">DF ...
, Hideyoshi accused the Niwa clan with collaboration, and seized most of their territories, leaving the clan with only Wakasa Province at 150,000 ''koku''. During the subsequent
Kyūshū Campaign is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...
in 1589, one of the Niwa clan retainers was again accused of collaboration with the enemy, and the clan was reduced further to a small 40,000 ''koku'' holding around Komatsu in Kaga Province. However, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was mercurial in his moods, and in response to Niwa Nagashige's efforts at the Siege of Odawara, his status was brought back to 120,000 ''koku''. In 1600, the Niwa clan sided with
Ishida Mitsunari Ishida Mitsunari (, 1559 – November 6, 1600) was a Japanese samurai and military commander of the late Sengoku period of Japan. He is probably best remembered as the commander of the Western army in the Battle of Sekigahara following the A ...
's Western Army against the Tokugawa at 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 ...
and was thus dispossessed. The victorious
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 ...
chose to be magnanimous, and with the establishment of 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 ...
, awarded Niwa Nagashige with a 10,000 ''koku'' domain in
Hitachi Province was an old provinces of Japan, old province of Japan in the area of Ibaraki Prefecture.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Hitachi fudoki''" in . It was sometimes called . Hitachi Province bordered on Shimōsa Province, S ...
. Nagashige's forces fought well at the 1614
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 siege ...
, and in 1619 his revenues were increased to 20,000 ''koku'', and in 1622 he was transferred to the 50,000 ''koku''
Tanakura Domain was a '' fudai'' feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It is located in southern Mutsu Province, Honshū. The domain was centered at Tanagura Castle, located in what is now part of the town of Tanagura in Fukushi ...
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 comb ...
. In 1627, he was transferred once again to
Shirakawa Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in southern Mutsu Province. It was centered on Komine Castle in what is now the city of Shirakawa, Fukushima. Its most famous ruler was Matsudaira Sadanobu, the archite ...
, at 100,700 ''koku''. In 1643, Nagashige's son, Niwa Mitsushige, as transferred to
Nihonmatsu Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in southern Mutsu Province. It was centered on Nihonmatsu Castle in what is now the city of Nihonmatsu, Fukushima, and its territory included all of Nihonmatsu, Moto ...
(100,700 ''koku''), where the clan remained 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 ...
. During 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 ...
,
Niwa Nagakuni Viscount was an Edo period Japanese people, Japanese samurai, and the 10th ''daimyō'' of Nihonmatsu Domain in the Tōhoku region of Japan. He was the 11th hereditary chieftain of the Niwa clan. His courtesy title was ''Saikyō-no-daifu'', and ...
joined the
Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei The was a Japanese military-political coalition established and disestablished over the course of several months in early to mid-1868 during the Boshin War. Its flag was either a white interwoven five-pointed star on a black field, or a black i ...
in 1868; however, his forces were defeated by 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 an ...
and
Nihonmatsu Castle is a Japanese castle located in what is now the city of Nihonmatsu, northern Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Throughout most of the Edo period, Nihonmatsu Castle was home to the Niwa clan, ''daimyō'' of Nihonmatsu Domain. The castle was also known ...
was burned. The victorious
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 ...
reduced the domain to 50,700 ''koku'' under the final ''daimyō''
Niwa Nagahiro Viscount was a Bakumatsu period Japanese people, Japanese samurai, and the 11th (and final) ''daimyō'' of Nihonmatsu Domain in the Tōhoku region of Japan. He was the 12th hereditary chieftain of the Niwa clan. Nagahiro was the 9th son of U ...
, who subsequently served as imperial governor until 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) ...
in 1871. In 1884, he became a viscount (''shishaku'') under 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 system. Another clan, the Isshiki-Niwa, who were ''daimyō'' of
Mikusa Domain 250px, Niwa Ujinori, final ''daimyō'' of Mikusa Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in Harima Province in what is now the southwestern portion of modern-day Hyōgo Prefecture. It was centered around t ...
(10,000 ''koku'') in
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 ...
from 1746 to 1871, bears the same Niwa but is not directly related to the above.


People with surname Niwa

*
Koki Niwa is a Japanese male table tennis player. He is the gold medalist at the 2010 Youth Olympics and he won the World Junior Table Tennis Championships in 2010 (doubles) and 2011 (singles). On 21 April 2012, he defeated Ma Long of China, World Rank ...
, table tennis player


References


Further reading

* * ''Nihonmatsu-han shi'' 二本松藩史 (History of Nihonmatsu Domain). Tokyo: Nihonmatsu-hanshi kankōkai 二本松藩史刊行会, 1926 (republished by Rekishi Toshosha 歴史図書社, 1973) * Onodera Eikō 小野寺永幸. ''Boshin Nanboku Sensō to Tōhoku Seiken'' 戊辰南北戦争と東北政権 (The North-South Boshin War and the Northern Government). Sendai: Kita no Sha 北の杜, 2004. * Sugeno Shigeru 菅野与. ''Ōshū Nihonmatsu-han nenpyō'' 奥州二本松藩年表 (Chronology of the Nihonmatsu Domain of Oshu). Aizu-Wakamatsu shi 会津若松市: Rekishi Shunjūsha 歴史春秋社, 200


External links


丹羽氏 at Harimaya.com
{{in lang, ja Japanese clans Daimyo