was a feudal domain under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

Japan, in what is now western

Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,826,059 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture ...

. It controlled most of central Bitchū Province 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, it was briefly renamed . It was dissolved in 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 and is now part of Okayama Prefecture.

History

After the 1600

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was an important battle in Japan which occurred on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu Prefecture, ...

, the area of central Bitchū Province was retained as ''

tenryō The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil war ...

'' territory, administed by the Kobori clan Although Kobori Masatsugu and his son Kobori Masakazu had a nominal '' kokudaka'' of 14,460 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...

'', their official portion was that of ''

daikan ''Daikan'' (代官) was an official in ancient 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 ...

,'' or magistrate, rather than ''

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 no ...

''. 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 desig ...

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, ...

. 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 Shōgun, shogunates in History of Japan, Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred ...

'' 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 ...

. 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 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 hereditary titles, but ...

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, was a historical event in Japan in which a band of ''rōnin'' (lordless samurai) avenged the death of their former master on 31 January 1703. The incident has since become legendary. I ...

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, a train station in Nada-ku, Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japa ...

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. 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, Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviated fo ...

in 1711, and the domain assigned to Ishikawa Fusayoshi from Yodo Domain. He traded places with Itakura Katsuzumi of

Ise-Kameyama Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Ise Province in what is part of now modern-day Kameyama, Mie. It was centered around Kameyama Castle (Mie), Ise-Kameyama Castle. Ise-Kameyama Domain wa ...

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 , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

. The 7th ''daimyō'', Itakura Katsukiyo was a noted figure in the Bakumatsu period shogunate, serving as head of the ''

rōjū The , usually translated as ''Elder (administrative title), 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 wh ...

'' following the assassination of Ii Naosuke and playing an important role on the side of the pro-Tokugawa forces in 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 coalition seeking to seize political power in the name of the Impe ...

. 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 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 Castle, and was ruled throughout most of its history by the '' shinpan ...

. In 1871, Takahashi Domain became Takahashi Prefecture due to the

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 (, "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 Encycloped ...

, 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, metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref> Often it is represente ...

surveys and projected agricultural yields, g.Elison, George and Bardwell L. Smith (1987)
''Warlords, Artists, & Commoners: Japan in the Sixteenth Century,'' p. 18
* Bitchū Province ** 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 Bitchū Province Chūgoku region Domains of Japan History of Okayama Prefecture Itakura clan

History

Holdings at the end of the Edo period

List of daimyō

See also

References