Hirosaki Castle, the seat of the Hirosaki Domain , also known as , was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of

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 ...

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 ...

Ravina, Mark. (1998)
''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan,'' p. 222
It is located 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 ...

, in 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 sepa ...

. The domain was centered at

Hirosaki Castle is a city located in western Aomori Prefecture, Japan. On 1 April 2020, the city had an estimated population of 168,739 in 71,716 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Hirosaki developed as a castle town for ...

, located in the center of what is now the city of

Hirosaki is a city located in western Aomori Prefecture, Japan. On 1 April 2020, the city had an estimated population of 168,739 in 71,716 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Hirosaki developed as a castle town fo ...

Aomori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the eas ...

. It was ruled by the

Tsugaru clan The was a Japanese samurai clan who ruled the northwestern half of what is now Aomori Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of Japan under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. The Tsugaru were ''daimyō'' of Hirosaki Domain and its semi-subsidiary, ...

. A branch of the family ruled the adjoining Kuroishi Domain.

History

Foundation

The Tsugaru clan, originally the , was of uncertain origins. According to later Tsugaru clan records, the clan was descended from the noble

Fujiwara clan was a powerful family of imperial regents in Japan, descending from the Nakatomi clan and, as legend held, through them their ancestral god Ame-no-Koyane. The Fujiwara prospered since the ancient times and dominated the imperial court until th ...

and had an accent claim to ownership of the Tsugaru region of northern Honshu; however, according to the records of their rivals, the Nanbu clan, clan progenitor Ōura Tamenobu was born as either Nanbu Tamenobu or Kuji Tamenobu, from a minor branch house of the Nanbu and was driven from the clan due to discord with his elder brother. In any event, the Ōura were hereditary under the Nanbu clan's local magistrate Ishikawa Takanobu; however, in 1571, Tamenobu attacked and killed Ishikawa and began taking the Nanbu clan's castles in the Tsugaru region one after another. "Tokugawa Bakufu to Tozama 117 han." ''Rekishi Dokuhon''. April 1976 (Tokyo: n.p., 1976), p. 71. He captured castles at Ishikawa, Daikoji and Aburakawa, and soon gathered support of many former Nanbu retainers in the region. After pledging fealty to

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 ...

, he was confirmed as an independent warlord in 1590 and changed his name to "Tsugaru". Tamenobu assisted Hideyoshi at the Battle of Odawara, and accompanied his retinue to Hizen during the Korean Expedition. Afterwards, he sided with

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 ...

during 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 ...

in 1600.

History

After the Tokugawa victory at Sekigahara, the Tsugaru clan was granted an increase in territory, along with permission to keep its existing domain of Hirosaki (named for the family's castle town). However, Tamenobu maintained close ties with the Toyotomi. His eldest son served as a page to

Toyotomi Hideyori was the son and designated successor of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the general who first united all of Japan. His mother, Yodo-dono, was the niece of Oda Nobunaga. Early life Born in 1593, he was Hideyoshi's second son. The birth of Hideyori cr ...

and perished at the

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 sie ...

, and he married his second son and heir to a daughter of

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 ...

. He also provided shelter to a son of Ishida Mitsunari, making him a Tsugaru retainer.''Tsugaru-shi'' on Harimaya.com
Tamenobu was followed by his son,

Tsugaru Nobuhira was the second ''daimyō'' of Hirosaki Domain in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, Japan (modern-day Aomori Prefecture). His courtesy title was '' Etchū-no-kami,'' and his Court rank was Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade. Biography Tsugaru Nobu ...

(ruled 1607-1631), who had been baptized as a '' Kirishitan.'' His inheritance was initially challenged by faction which supported his nephew in the of 1607. He was married to a daughter of Ishida Mitsunari, but later set her aside and married a niece of

to cement the clan's position vis-a-vis the Tokugawa shogunate. Nobuhira initially gave shelter to many ''Kirishitan'' persecuted in 1614, but later recanted his faith. He completed Hirosaki Castle, and developed the port of

Aomori is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 278,964 in 136,457 households, and a population density of 340 people per square kilometer spread over the city's total are ...

on Mutsu Bay. Nobuhira was followed by his son,

Tsugaru Nobuyoshi was the 3rd ''daimyō'' of Hirosaki Domain in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, Japan (modern-day Aomori Prefecture). His courtesy title was '' Tosa-no-kami,'' and his Court rank was Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade. Biography Tsugaru Nobuyoshi ...

(ruled 1631–1655), whose period was marked by a series of major '' O-Ie Sōdō'' disturbances that shook the Tsugaru family: of 1612, the of 1634, and the of 1647.

Tsugaru Nobumasa was the 4th ''daimyō'' of Hirosaki Domain in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, Japan (modern-day Aomori Prefecture). His courtesy title was '' Etchū-no-kami,'' and his Court rank was Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade. Biography Tsugaru Nobumasa ...

(ruled 1656–1710) was a scholar, and embarked on ambitious public works projects aimed at increasing the revenues of the domain. By around 1700, the domain's actual ''kokudaka'' had risen to around 300,000 ''koku'' through these efforts, although its official rating was unchanged. However, in 1695, crop failure resulted in widespread famine and starvation in the area. a

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

struck the opposite shore and killed 1,467 people from Kumaishi to Matsumae. On 27 August 1741, more than 30 people were killed by a

when a volcano on Oshima, northwest of the domain, collapsed. His son, Tsugaru Nobuhisa (ruled 1710–1731) was also a noted scholar, and attempted to continue his father’s public works projects, but was plagued by repeated eruptions of

Mount Iwaki is a stratovolcano located in western Aomori Prefecture, Tohoku, Japan. It is also referred to as and less frequently, due to its similar shape to Mount Fuji. With a summit elevation of and a prominence of it is the highest mountain in ...

. Ignoring sumptuary laws imposed by the shogunate, he lived in luxury while his subjects and retainers fell deeper into poverty. He continued to rule behind-the-scenes during the time of his son, Nobuaki (ruled 1731–1744), during which time the castle town of Hirosaki burned down. His grandson,

Nobuyasu Nobuyasu (written: 信康, 信寧, 伸康) is a masculine Japanese given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, a ...

(ruled 1744-1784) and great-grandson Nobuakira (ruled 1784–1791), inherited a domain deeply in debt, beset by corrupt retainers, constant eruptions by Mount Iwaki, crop failures and famine. As Nobuakira died without heir, the domain was inherited by

Tsugaru Yasuchika was the 9th ''daimyō'' of Hirosaki Domain in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, Japan (modern-day Aomori Prefecture). His courtesy title, initially Dewa-no-kami, was later raised to ''Saikyo Daiyu'' and ''Jujū'', and his Court rank was Junior ...

, from 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 ...

'' branch of the Tsugaru clan was founded in 1656 residing in Kuroishi. He promoted the branch house to ''daimyō'' status in 1809, He implemented many reforms which restored some stability to the domain, but orders from the Tokugawa shogunate to assist in policing the frontier region of

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 ...

(now

Hokkaido is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...

), together with his efforts to secure a politically advantageous marriage for his son, placed a severe strain on the domain, and led to widespread peasant revolts. In 1821, he survived an assassination attempt by Sōma Daisaku, a former samurai of the Nanbu clan, stemming from the old enmity between the two clans. Yasuchika continued to rule behind-the-scenes during the time of his son, Nobuyuki (ruled 1825–1839), who was noted for his mismanagement. Nobuyuki was followed by

Tsugaru Yukitsugu was the 2nd '' daimyō'' of Kuroishi Domain, and later the 11th ''daimyō'' of Hirosaki Domain in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, Japan (modern-day Aomori Prefecture). His courtesy title was '' Ōsumi-no-kami'', and his Court rank was Junio ...

(ruled 1839–1859), who was born as the 5th son of Matsudaira Nobuakira, ''daimyō'' of Yoshida Domain in Mikawa Province. He was adopted in 1821 as the heir to

Tsugaru Chikatari was the 1st '' daimyō'' of Kuroishi Domain in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, Japan (modern-day Aomori Prefecture). His courtesy title was '' Kai-no-kami'', and his Court rank was Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade. Biography Tsugaru Chikata ...

, the 8th Lord Kuroishi, and 1st ''daimyō'' of Kuroishi Domain. On his adoptive father’s retirement, as Tsugaru Yukinori, he became the 2nd ''daimyō'' of Kuroishi Domain from 1825 to 1839. After the shougnate bakufu forced Nobuyuki into retirement for gross misrule, Yukinori was ordered to change his name to Tsugaru Yukisugu and to take his place as the 11th ''daimyō'' of Hirosaki. He attempted to continue implementation many of the reforms initiated by Nobuakira to restore prosperity to the disaster-prone domain, expanding on Nobuakira’s code of ethics from five articles to thirty in an attempt to control his unruly retainers. In addition to opening new

paddy field A paddy field is a flooded field of arable land used for growing semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in southern China, associated with pre-A ...

s, Tsuguyasu established a foundry for the casting of cannons, and attempted to modernize the domain’s military and medical level through the introduction of ''

rangaku ''Rangaku'' (Kyūjitai: /Shinjitai: , literally "Dutch learning", and by extension "Western learning") is a body of knowledge developed by Japan through its contacts with the Dutch enclave of Dejima, which allowed Japan to keep abreast of West ...

'' studies. Yukitsugu’s son Tsuguakira became the last ''daimyō'' of Tsugaru Domain during the turbulent

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 governm ...

, during which time the Tsugaru clan first sided with the pro-imperial forces of

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'' () i ...

, and attacked nearby

Shōnai Domain was a feudal domain in Edo period Japan, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Yamagata Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Tsuruoka Castle in what is now the city of Tsuruoka in Yamagata Prefecture, and was thus also known as the . It w ...

.McClellan, p. 175. However, the Tsugaru soon switched course, and briefly joined the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei. However, for reasons yet unclear, the Tsugaru backed out of the alliance and re-joined the imperial cause after a few months, participating in several battles in the Imperial cause 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 ...

, notably that of the Battle of Noheji, and Battle of Hakodate. After 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 ...

, 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 lord ...

, Yukitsugu was appointed Imperial Governor of Hirosaki from 1869 to 1871, at which time the territory was absorbed into the new

. He was later given 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 ''hakushaku'' (Count). The main Tsugaru family's funerary temple in Hirosaki was located at Chōshō-ji in Hirosaki, as well as the temple of Shinryō-in (a subsidiary of

Kan'ei-ji (also spelled Kan'eiji or Kaneiji) is a Tendai Buddhist temple in Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1625 during the Kan'ei era by Tenkai, in an attempt to emulate the powerful religious center Enryaku-ji, in Kyoto. The main object of worship is .Ni ...

) in Taitō-ku,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

List of ''daimyōs''

('' tozama'') 1590–1865

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 ...

, Hirosaki 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: *

** 828 villages in Tsugaru District

Notes

References

* McClellan, Edwin (1985). ''Woman in the Crested Kimono.'' New Haven: Yale University Press. * Sasaki Suguru (2002). ''Boshin sensō: haisha no Meiji ishin.'' Tokyo: Chūōkōron-shinsha. *
Tsugaru on "Edo 300 HTML"

History

Foundation

History

List of ''daimyōs''

Bakumatsu period holdings

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

In Japanese

In English