was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Shimotsuke Province (modern-day Tochigi Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Ōtawara Castle in what is now part of the city of Ōtawara, Tochigi. Ōtawara was ruled through all of its history by the Ōtawara clan.

History

The Ōtawara clan was a branch of the Nasu clan, and was one of the seven ''Gōzoku'' samurai bands of the Nasu region of northern Shimotsuke Province. In 1590, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi called upon the Nasu clan to assist in his plan to destroy the Late Hōjō clan, Hōjō clan at the Siege of Odawara (1590), Battle of Odawara, the Nasu refused his summons; however, Ōtawara Harukiyo went against his overlord and pledged allegiance to Hideyoshi. In return, he was awarded a 7,000 ''koku'' holding. In 1600, Ōtawara Harukiyo pledged his forces to Tokugawa Ieyasu and fought a rear-guard action against the Uesugi clan while Ieyasu was at the Battle of Sekigahara. In return for this action, he was awarded another 5,000 ''koku'' and was thus admitted into the ranks of the daimyō. The Ōtawara continued to rule these holdings until the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The 3rd daimyō, Ōtawara Takakiyo, gave 1,000 ''koku'' to his younger brother, reducing the domain to 11,000 ''koku''. During the Bakumatsu period, the 12th daimyō, Ōtawara Hirokiyo, established a han school, domain academy. The final daimyō, Ōtawara Kazukiyo sided with the imperial forces in the Boshin War, and his castle attacked by pro-Tokugawa Aizu Domain in May 1868. After the Meiji restoration, he was made a viscount (''shishaku'') in the ''kazoku'' peerage system. After the abolition of the han system in July 1871, Ōtawara Domain became part of Tochigi Prefecture. The domain had a population of 12,535 people in 2397 households, of which 608 were samurai per a census in 1870.

Holdings at the end of the Edo period

As with most domains in the han system, Ōtawara Domain consisted of several discontinuous territories calculated to provide the assigned ''kokudaka'', based on periodic cadastral surveys and projected agricultural yields.Elison, George and Bardwell L. Smith (1987)
''Warlords, Artists, & Commoners: Japan in the Sixteenth Century,'' p. 18
*Shimotsuke Province **1 villages in Tsuga District **7 villages in Haga District **58 villages in Nasu District **13 villages in Shioya District

List of daimyō

References

External links

Ōtawara on "Edo 300 HTML"

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otawara Domain Domains of Japan 1600 establishments in Japan States and territories established in 1600 1871 disestablishments in Japan States and territories disestablished in 1871 Shimotsuke Province History of Tochigi Prefecture