was a

domain Domain may refer to: Mathematics *Domain of a function, the set of input values for which the (total) function is defined ** Domain of definition of a partial function ** Natural domain of a partial function **Domain of holomorphy of a function * ...

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 ...

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 ...

during the

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 ...

from 1601 to 1871.Ravina, Mark. (1998)
''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan,'' p. 222
The Aizu Domain was based at Tsuruga Castle 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 ...

, the core of the modern city of Aizuwakamatsu, located in the

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku reta ...

of the island of

Honshu , 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 s ...

. The Aizu Domain was ruled for most of its existence by the ''

shinpan was a class of ''daimyō'' in the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan who were certain relatives of the ''Shōgun''. While all ''shinpan'' were relatives of the ''shōgun'', not all relatives of the shōgun were ''shinpan''; an example of this is the M ...

'' ''

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 the Aizu-Matsudaira clan, a local

cadet branch In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets— realm, t ...

of the ruling

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty that was formerly a powerful '' daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji) through the Matsudaira clan. The early history of this cl ...

, but was briefly ruled by the '' tozama'' ''daimyō'' of the Gamō and Katō clans. The Aizu Domain was assessed under the ''

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 ...

'' system with a peak value of 919,000 ''

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 reduced to 230,000 ''koku''. The Aizu Domain was dissolved in the abolition of the ''han'' system in 1871 by the

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 ...

and its territory was absorbed into

Fukushima Prefecture Fukushima Prefecture (; ja, 福島県, Fukushima-ken, ) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,810,286 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miyagi ...

, covering much of the traditional region of

Aizu is the westernmost of the three regions of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, the other two regions being Nakadōri in the central area of the prefecture and Hamadōri in the east. As of October 1, 2010, it had a population of 291,838. The princi ...

History

Pre-Edo period

The area of Kurokawa, later called "Wakamatsu", was under the control of the powerful

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

temple of Enichi-ji during the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japan ...

. However, Enichi-ji sided with the

Taira clan The Taira was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian, Kamakura and Muromachi Periods of Japanese history – the others being the Fujiwara, the Tachibana, and the Minamoto. The clan is divide ...

during the

Genpei War The was a national civil war between the Taira and Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yoritomo, who appointed himse ...

and fell into decline after the victory of

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1192 until 1199.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako who acted as regent (''shikken'') after his ...

. He awarded the territory to the Ashina clan, a powerful local ''

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 ...

'' clan, who ruled from the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle b ...

into 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 ...

. However, in the wars of the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

, the Ashina were defeated by their powerful and aggressive neighbors to the north, the

Date clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Date", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 5 retrieved 2013-5-5. History The Date family was founded ...

. In 1590,

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 ...

awarded the Aizu Basin to Gamō Ujisato as part of a 919,000 ''

'' fief following the submission of

Date Masamune was a regional ruler of Japan's Azuchi–Momoyama period through early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful ''daimyō'' in the Tōhoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai. An outstanding tactician, he was made ...

. Ujisato was succeeded by his son, Gamō Hideyuki, but he fell out of favor with Hideyoshi and was transferred to Utsunomi with a reduction in his holdings to only 180,000 ''koku''. The Aizu Basin was then assigned to Uesugi Kagekatsu, who ordered by Hideyoshi to relocate from his power base in

Echigo Province was an old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It bordered on Uzen, Iwashiro, Kōzuke, Shinano, and Etchū Provinces. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Echigo''" in . It corresponds today to Niig ...

Edo period

In 1600, after

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 victory 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 ...

, Uesugi Kagekatsu was deprived of his holdings in Aizu and was reassigned to the much smaller Yonezawa Domain in

Dewa Province was a province of Japan comprising modern-day Yamagata Prefecture and Akita Prefecture, except for the city of Kazuno and the town of Kosaka. Dewa bordered on Mutsu and Echigō Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . History Early per ...

. The Aizu holding was reduced in half, and 600,000 ''koku'' was returned to Ieyasu's son-in-law, Gamō Hideyuki. However, the death of his son, Gamō Hidesato, in 1627 without a direct male heir provided an excuse for 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 ...

to order the clan trade places with the Katō clan of the

Matsuyama Domain 270px, Matsudaira Katsushige, 13th daimyō of Iyo-Matsuyama Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now central Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Matsuyama ...

in Iyo Province. The Gamō were replaced by

Katō Yoshiaki was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the late Sengoku period to early Edo period who served as lord of the Aizu Domain. A retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he fought in the battle of Shizugatake in 1583, and soon became known as one of the ''shichi-hon- ...

, but reduced to 200,000 ''koku''. His son, Katō Akinari was dispossessed due to an '' O-Ie Sōdō'' (clan dispute) in 1643. The Aizu Domain was then given to

Hoshina Masayuki was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period, who was the founder of what became the Matsudaira house of Aizu. He was an important figure in the politics and philosophy of the early Tokugawa shogunate. Biography Hoshina Masayuki was born ...

, the

illegitimate Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as '' ...

son of the second Tokugawa ''

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 Hidetada was the second ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. He was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate. Early life (1579–1593) Tokugawa Hidetada was bo ...

. Masayuki had been adopted into the

Hoshina clan The is a Japanese clan which claims descent from Emperor Seiwa, and is a branch of the Minamoto clan. They were famous for their role as retainers of the Takeda clan in the 16th century. In the Edo period, the clan produced two ''daimyō'' fami ...

, who had formerly been senior retainers of the

Takeda clan The was a Japanese samurai clan active from the late Heian period until the late 16th century. The clan was historically based in Kai Province in present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. The clan reached its greatest influence under the rule of Taked ...

and who were ''

'' of the 30,000 ''koku'' Takatō 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 ...

. Masayuki was a senior advisor to third Tokugawa ''shōgun'',

Tokugawa Iemitsu Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川家光, August 12, 1604 – June 8, 1651) was the third '' shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada with Oeyo, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lady Kasuga was his wet nurse, w ...

, and was transferred to the 200,000 ''koku''

Yamagata Domain was a feudal domain in Edo period Japan, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Yamagata Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Yamagata Castle in what is now the city of Yamagata. Unlike some ''han'' whose control was relatively stable througho ...

in 1636. When Aizu Domain became vacant in 1643, Masayuki was transferred to that holding, whose official ''kokudaka'' was raised to 240,000 ''koku''. The actual ''kokudaka'' of the domain was perhaps double this, as management of all of the ''

tenryō 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' ...

'' (directly shogunate owned) holdings within the Aizu region were assigned to Aizu Domain. Masayuki later acted as a

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

for Iemitsu's successor, the underage fourth ''shōgun''

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 ...

. Masayuki was offered the use of the Tokugawa ''

mon Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * A ...

'' and the Matsudaira surname, though he declined, partly out of respect and partly to emphasize that he had no ambitions towards being regarded as part of legitimate Tokugawa line of succession. However, the Matsudaira name and the Tokugawa symbols were later adopted from the time of the 3rd ''daimyō'' Matsudaira Masakata and were used by his descendents that ruled the Aizu Domain. In 1822, the Hoshina-Matsudaira line became extinct with the death of the seventh ''daimyō'', the 15-year-old Matsudaira Katahiro, and was succeeded by Matsudaira Katataka, who was a sixth cousin (twice removed) and a member of the Takasu cadet branch of the Mito-Tokugawa collateral line. Katataka died without heirs in 1852 and was succeeded by his grandnephew, the famous Matsudaira Katamori, one of the final supporters of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The Aizu Domain was known for its martial skill, and maintained a

standing army A standing army is a permanent, often professional, army. It is composed of full-time soldiers who may be either career soldiers or conscripts. It differs from army reserves, who are enrolled for the long term, but activated only during wars or ...

of over 5000 men. It was often deployed to security operations on the northern fringes of Japan, at the time a

frontier A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts ...

region, as far north as southern

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh ...

. The Aizu Domain's two sets of formal rules for its army, the Rules for Commanders (将長禁令 ''shōchō kinrei'') and Rules for Soldiers (士卒禁令 ''shisotsu kinrei''), written in the 1790s, laid down a professional, modern standard for military conduct and operations, including the following two items in the Rules for Soldiers which codified the human rights and protection of enemy noncombatants, over 70 years before the first

Geneva Convention upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conve ...

of 1864:

Around the time of the

Perry Expedition The Perry Expedition ( ja, 黒船来航, , "Arrival of the Black Ships") was a diplomatic and military expedition during 1853–1854 to the Tokugawa Shogunate involving two separate voyages by warships of the United States Navy. The goals of thi ...

, Aizu had a presence in security operations around

Edo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous a ...

. During the ''

Bakumatsu 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 ...

'' period, the domain deployed massive amounts of troops to

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the c ...

, where Katamori served as ''

Kyoto Shugoshoku The was a Japanese bureaucratic office of the Tokugawa shogunate from 1862 through 1868.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kyōto-shugoshoku''" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ''see'Deutsche Nationalbibli ...

''. Operating under the orders of the Shogunate, they also acted as the first official supervisor and patron of the ''

Shinsengumi The was a special police force organized by the (military government) during Japan's Bakumatsu period (late Tokugawa shogunate) in 1863. It was active until 1869. It was founded to protect the shogunate representatives in Kyoto at a time w ...

''. Earning the enmity of the

Chōshū Domain The , also known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871.Deal, William E. (2005) ''Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan,'' p. 81 The Chōshū Domain was based ...

, and alienating the

Satsuma Domain The , briefly known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1602 to 1871. The Satsuma Domain was based at Kagoshima Castle in Satsuma Province, the core of the modern city of Kagoshima, l ...

, Katamori retreated 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 ...

with the final ''shōgun''

Tokugawa Yoshinobu Prince was the 15th and last ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful. He resigned of his position as shogun in late 1867, while aiming ...

in 1868 at 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 ...

. Following Yoshinobu's resignation, Katamori took great pains to avoid conflict with the new

which could only be averted by an equitable settlement with the Tokugawa clan. However, the new government was filled with anti-Tokugawa clansmen from the Satsuma and Chōshū domains, who sought to settle old scores. During the Boshin War, Aizu fought as an ally of the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei, although it was not an official member. In October 1868,

Aizuwakamatsu Castle , also known as Tsuruga Castle (鶴ヶ城 ''Tsuru-ga-jō'') is a concrete replica of a traditional Japanese castle in northern Japan, at the center of the city of Aizuwakamatsu, in Fukushima Prefecture. Background Aizu Wakamatsu Castle is locate ...

, the seat of the Aizu Domain, eventually fell during the

Battle of Aizu The Battle of Aizu (Japanese: 会津戦争, "War of Aizu") was fought in northern Japan from October to November in autumn 1868, and was part of the Boshin War. History Aizu was known for its martial skill, and maintained at any given time a st ...

. Although branded as an "enemy of the

Court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...

", Matsudaira Katamori was placed under

house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if al ...

and was later allowed to serve as the head ''

kannushi A , also called , is a person responsible for the maintenance of a as well as for leading worship of a given .* ''Kannushi'' (in Japanese), Iwanami Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version The characters for are sometimes also re ...

'' for the Nikkō Tōshō-gū shrines to the Tokugawa clan. The Aizu Domain was assigned by the Meiji government to

Sakai Tadamichi was the 12th (and final) ''daimyō'' of Shōnai Domain during Bakumatsu period Japan. His courtesy title was ''Saemon-no-jō''. Biography Sakai Tadamichi was the sixth son of Sakai Tadaaki, the 6th ''daimyō'' of Shōnai. He became ''daimyō' ...

, formerly of the Shonai Domain, as the Imperial Governor from 1868 to 1869. After 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 lord ...

, the Aizu Domain was absorbed into the new

Iwashiro Province is an old province in the area of Fukushima Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Iwashiro''" in . It was sometimes called . The province occupies the western half of the central part of Fukushima Prefecture; the eastern half is I ...

, and subsequently into

List of ''daimyō''

Genealogy (Hoshina-Matsudaira line)

, 1st Tokugawa Shōgun (1543–1616; r. 1603–1605) ** Tokugawa family crest

, 2nd Tokugawa Shōgun (1579–1632; r. 1605–1623) *** I. Hoshina Masayuki, 1st ''daimyō'' of Aizu (cr. 1643) (1611–1673; r. 1643–1669) **** II. Hoshina Masatsune, 2nd ''daimyō'' of Aizu (1647–1681; r. 1669–1681) **** III. Matsudaira Masakata, 3rd ''daimyō'' of Aizu (1669–1731; r. 1681–1731) ***** IV. Katasada, 4th ''daimyō'' of Aizu (1724–1750; r. 1731–1750) ****** V. Katanobu, 5th ''daimyō'' of Aizu (1744–1805; r. 1750–1805) ***** Hirofumi ****** Kataaki (1750–1785) ******* VI. Kataoki, 6th ''daimyō'' of Aizu (1779–1806; r. 1805) ******** VII. Katahiro, 7th ''daimyō'' of Aizu (1803–1822; r. 1806–1822) ** Tokugawa Yorifusa, 1st ''daimyō'' of Mito (1603–1661) *** Yorishige, 1st ''daimyō'' of Takamatsu (1622–1695) **** Yoritoshi (1661–1687) ***** Yoritoyo, 3rd ''daimyō'' of Takamatsu (1680–1735) ****** Tokugawa Munetaka, 4th ''daimyō'' of Mito (1705–1730) ******* Tokugawa Munemoto, 5th ''daimyō'' of Mito (1728–1766) ******** Tokugawa Harumori, 6th ''daimyō'' of Mito (1751–1805) *********Tokugawa Harutoshi, 7th ''daimyō'' of Mito (1773–1816) ********** Tokugawa Nariaki, 9th ''daimyō'' of Mito (1800–1860) *********** X. Nobunori, 10th ''daimyō'' of Aizu, 10th family head, Viscount (1855–1891; Lord: 1868; Viscount: cr. 1884) ********* Yoshikazu, 9th ''daimyō'' of Takasu (1776–1832) **********Yoshitatsu, 10th Lo ''daimyō''d of Takasu (1800–1862) *********** IX. Katamori, 9th ''daimyō'' of Aizu (1836–1893; r. 1852–1868) ************Kataharu, 11th family head, 1st Viscount (1869–1910; 11th family head: 1869–1910; Viscount: cr. 1884) ************ Rear-Admiral Morio, 12th family head, 2nd Viscount (1878–1944; 12th family head and 2nd Viscount: 1910–1944) ************* Moritei, 13th family head, 3rd Viscount (1926–2011; 13th family head: 1944–2011; 3rd Viscount: 1944–1947) ************** Yasuhisa, 14th family head (b. 1954; 14th family head: 2011– ) ********** VIII. Katataka, 8th ''daimyō'' of Aizu (1806–1852; r. 1822–1852)

Bakumatsu period holdings

Unlike 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 ...

, Aizu Domain consisted of a continuous territory calculated to provide the assigned ''

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 ...

'', 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
At the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, the domain consisted of the following holdings: *

(

) ** 181 villages in Kawanuma District (+67 ''tenryō'' villages) ** 309 villages in Aizu District ** 57 villages in Ōnuma District (+104 ''tenryō'' villages) ** 242 villages in Yama District (+68 ''tenryō'' villages) ** 11 villages in Asaka District * Shimotsuke Province ** 6 villages in Shioya District *

** 157 villages in Uonuma District (+79 ''tenryō'' villages) ** 4 villages in Santō District ** 211 villages in Kanbara District ** 59 villages in Iwafune District *

Ezo (also spelled Yezo or Yeso) is the Japanese term historically used to refer to the lands to the north of the Japanese island of Honshu. It included the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, which changed its name from "Ezo" to "Hokkaidō" in 18 ...

** Nemuro Province ** Kitami Province

Notes

References

* Sasaki Suguru (2002). ''Boshin sensō: haisha no Meiji ishin.'' Tokyo: Chūōkōron-shinsha. * * Noguchi Shinichi, ''Aizu-han''. Tokyo: Gendai Shokan, 2005. () * Bolitho, Harold. "Aizu, 1853–1868." ''Proceedings of the British Association for Japanese Studies'', vol. 2 (1977): 1–17.
Aizu's "Rules for Commanders" and "Rules for Soldiers"
{{Authority control Domains of Japan History of Fukushima Prefecture 1869 disestablishments in Japan Aizuwakamatsu States and territories disestablished in 1869 Matsudaira clan Mutsu Province