270px, Itakura Katukiyo 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 characte ...

Japan, in what is now western Okayama Prefecture. It controlled most of central

Bitchū Province was a province of Japan on the Inland Sea side of western Honshū, in what is today western Okayama Prefecture. It was sometimes called , with Bizen and Bingo Provinces; those three provinces were settled in the late 7th Century, dividing fo ...

and was centered around Bitchū Matsuyama Castle. It was ruled in its latter history by a branch of the Itakura clan. Following 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 ...

, it was briefly renamed . It was dissolved in the abolition of the han system in 1871 and is now part of Okayama Prefecture.

History

After the 1600 Battle of Sekigahara, the area of central Bitchū Province was retained as ''

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' ...

'' territory, administed by the Kobori clan Although Kobori Masatsugu and his son

Kobori Masakazu Kobori (written: 小堀) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese artist and aristocrat *, Japanese tennis player *, Japanese ice hockey player *, Japanese swimmer *, Japanese swimmer *, Japanese voice actress *, ...

had a nominal '' kokudaka'' of 14,460 '' koku'', their official portion was that of ''

daikan ''Daikan'' (代官) was an official in Japan that acted on behalf of a ruling monarch or a lord at the post they had been appointed to. Since the Middle Ages, ''daikan'' were in charge of their territory and territorial tax collection. In the Edo ...

,'' or magistrate, rather than ''

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 nominal ...

''. Kobori Masakazu is better known as the famed

Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desi ...

designer, Kobori Enshū. In 1617, Ikeda Nagayuki was transferred from Tottori Domain and assigned 60,000 ''koku''; however, his son Nagatsune died without heir in 1641. The domain was then assigned to Mizunoya Katsutaka of Nariwa Domain, who completed the construction of Matsuyama Castle and its surrounding

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, a ...

. Nariwa Domain was a 50,000 ''koku'' holding also in what is now Takahashi that was reduced to 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 ...

'' holding by this move, but was later briefly restored as a domain by the fledgling

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 ...

. Mizunoya Katsukata's grandson, Katsuyoshi died before an heir could be appointed, and the shogunate used this as an excuse to reduce the clan to ''hatamoto'' status and the domain fell to

attainder In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditar ...

Asano Naganori was the '' daimyō'' of the Akō Domain in Japan (1675–1701). His title was ''Takumi no Kami'' (). He is known as the person who triggered a series of incidents retold in a story known as ''Chūshingura'' (involving the forty-seven rōnin), ...

of Akō Domain (later to become famous for the

Forty-seven rōnin The revenge of the , also known as the or Akō vendetta, is a historical event in Japan in which a band of ''rōnin'' (lordless samurai) avenged the death of their master on 31 January 1703. The incident has since become legendary. It is on ...

incident was appointed to oversee the seizure of the domain, and he appointed his chief retainer

Ōishi Kuranosuke Oishi may refer to: * Ōishi (surname), a Japanese surname * Oishi (Philippine brand), a snack company from the Philippines * Oishi Group, a Thai food-and-drink company * Ōishi Station is a railway station on the Hanshin Electric Railway Mai ...

as castellan of Matsuyama for the 18 month period until a new ''daimyō'' was appointed. Ōishi Kuranosuke had a bad reputation in Matsuyama for his arrogance and inflexible attitude, and under his control a comprehensive survey was conducted by the shogunate. In 1695, the domain was reassessed at 65,000 ''koku'', and assigned to Andō Shigehiro from

Takasaki Domain 270px, Surviving yagura of Takasaki Castle, headquarters of Takasaki Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Kōzuke Province (modern-day Gunma Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Takasaki Cas ...

. The Andō clan was transferred to Kano Domain in

Mino Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, and Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviat ...

in 1711, and the domain assigned to Ishikawa Fusayoshi from

Yodo Domain The was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, and the only domain located in Yamashiro Province. Its castle was located within modern-day Fushimi, Kyoto. The strategic location of the castle figured in the 1582 Battle of Yamazaki. During the 18 ...

. He traded places with Itakura Katsuzumi of Ise-Kameyama Domain in

Ise Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today includes most of modern Mie Prefecture. Ise bordered on Iga, Kii, Mino, Ōmi, Owari, Shima, and Yamato Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . History The name of Ise appears ...

in 1744. The Itakura clan would rule Bitchū-Matsuyama until the end of 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 characte ...

. The 7th ''daimyō'', Itakura Katsukiyo was a noted figure in 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 ...

shogunate, serving as head of the ''

rōjū The , usually translated as ''Elder'', was one of the highest-ranking government posts under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council of Elders as a whole; under the first two ''shō ...

'' following the assassination of

Ii Naosuke was ''daimyō'' of Hikone (1850–1860) and also Tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan, a position he held from April 23, 1858, until his death, assassinated in the Sakuradamon Incident on March 24, 1860. He is most famous for signing the ...

and playing an important role on the side of the pro-Tokugawa forces in the Boshin War. For this reason, Bitchū-Matsuyama invaded and occupied by the pro-imperial forces of Okayama Domain early in the war. In 1869, Itakura Katsukiyo surrendered, and his ''kokudaka'' was reduced to 20,000 ''koku'' and he was ordered into forced retirement. The

also ordered his successor, Itakura Katsusuke, to change the name of the domain to "Takahashi Domain" to avoid confusion with

Iyo-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 Cast ...

. In 1871, Takahashi Domain became Takahashi Prefecture due to the abolition of the han system and was subsequently incorporated into Okayama Prefecture through Fukatsu Prefecture and Oda Prefecture.

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 ...

, Bitchū-Matsuyama 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, g.Elison, George and Bardwell L. Smith (1987)
''Warlords, Artists, & Commoners: Japan in the Sixteenth Century,'' p. 18
*

**5 villages in Aga District **2 villages in Asakuchi District **11 villages in Kaya District **4 villages in Katō District **15 villages in Jōbū District **17 villages in Tetsuta District **12 villages in Kawakami District

List of daimyō

References

{{Authority control Domains of Japan History of Okayama Prefecture Bitchū Province Chūgoku region Itakura clan

History

Holdings at the end of the Edo period

List of daimyō

See also

References