
was a class of powerful magnates or ''
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 ...
'' (大名) considered to be outsiders by the ruler of
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
during 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 ...
(江戸時代). ''Tozama daimyō'' were classified in 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 ...
(江戸幕府) as ''daimyō'' who became
hereditary vassal
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...
s of the
Tokugawa after the
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, ...
(関ヶ原の戦い). ''Tozama daimyō'' were discriminated against by the Tokugawa and opposed to the ''
fudai daimyō
was a class of ''daimyō'' (大名) in the Tokugawa Shogunate (徳川幕府) of Japan who were hereditary vassals of the Tokugawa before the Battle of Sekigahara. ''Fudai daimyō'' and their descendants filled the ranks of the Tokugawa admin ...
'', who were allies or vassals of Tokugawa before Sekigahara.
Origins
Originally, the concept of ''tozama daimyō'' emerged in
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
along with the ''
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 ...
'' after the rise of the
Kamakura shogunate
The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459.
The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no Yori ...
(鎌倉幕府) in the 12th century. ''Tozama'' applied to a ''daimyō'' who was considered an "outsider" by successive ''
Shōgun
, officially , was the title of the military rulers 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, except during parts of the Kamak ...
s'',
Emperor
The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
s, and ''
shikken
The was a senior government post held by members of the Hōjō clan, officially a regent of the shogunate. From 1199 to 1333, during the Kamakura period, the ''shikken'' served as the head of the ''bakufu'' (shogun's government). This era was ref ...
s'' (執権) that ruled over Japan at any given time. Typically, a ''tozama'' had a loose or indirect relationship with the current ruler, and this definition remained intact during the subsequent
Ashikaga shogunate (足利幕府, 1336–1573, also known as the Muromachi (室町幕府)), and the
Sengoku period
The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...
(戦国時代, 1467–1615, "Age of Warring States").
Edo period
The establishment of 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 ...
in 1600 redefined ''tozama daimyō'' as the ''daimyō'' who submitted as
vassal
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...
s to the
Tokugawa only after the decisive
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, ...
, including those who fought for the Tokugawa at the battle but were not official vassals.
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...
had treated the great ''tozama'' amicably, but his grandson
Tokugawa Iemitsu
was the third ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa dynasty. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada with Oeyo, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lady Kasuga was his wet nurse, who acted as his political adviser and was at the ...
was less tolerant of them during his rule between 1623 and 1626. ''Tozama'' and their descendants were distrusted and the Tokugawa shogunate discriminated against them in favor of the ''
fudai daimyō
was a class of ''daimyō'' (大名) in the Tokugawa Shogunate (徳川幕府) of Japan who were hereditary vassals of the Tokugawa before the Battle of Sekigahara. ''Fudai daimyō'' and their descendants filled the ranks of the Tokugawa admin ...
''. ''Tozama'' were largely excluded from the shogunate government, the ''Bakufu'', and their numbers were limited compared to the ''fudai'' who filled the administration's ranks. Many of the largest and wealthiest ''
han''—the personal
feudal
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...
domains of the ''daimyō''—were ruled by ''tozama'', including the
Maeda clan
The was a Japanese samurai clan who occupied most of the Hokuriku region of central Honshū from the end of the Sengoku period through the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The Maeda claimed descent from the Sugawara clan through Sugawara no Kiyotom ...
of the
Kaga Domain with a value of 1,000,000 ''
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 ...
'' under the ''
Kokudaka'' system. However, this was a deliberate Tokugawa plan to keep the ''tozama'' in check, as ''fudai daimyō'' were stationed in smaller domains in strategic locations, including along major roads and near important cities. Many notable ''tozama'' families, including the
Shimazu, the
Mori
Mori is a Japanese and Italian surname. It is also the name of two clans in Japan, and one clan in India.
Italian surname
* Camilo Mori, Chilean painter
* Cesare Mori, Italian "Iron Prefect"
* Claudia Mori, Italian actress, singer, televisio ...
, the
Date, the
Hachisuka, and the
Uesugi, were based in western and northern
Honshu
, historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...
and
Kyushu
is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...
in contrast to the Tokugawa based in the eastern city of
Edo. Most, but not all, of these families had been living in roughly the same regions for centuries before the Tokugawa shogunate. ''Tozama daimyō'' heavily profited from trade in the 17th century, particularly in western Japan where most of the country's important
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...
s were located. The shogunate responded in ''
Sakoku
is the most common name for the isolationist foreign policy of the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate under which, during the Edo period (from 1603 to 1868), relations and trade between Japan and other countries were severely limited, and almost all ...
'' policies of
isolationism
Isolationism is a term used to refer to a political philosophy advocating a foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality an ...
, preventing the ports of western Honshu and
Kyūshū
is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...
from trading with foreigners and sending Japanese vessels abroad.
The ''Tozama daimyō'' had higher levels of independent power and local autonomy, and conducted their judicial, administrative and military affairs in the name of the local daimyos like sovereigns. The ''Tozama'' domains' relationship to the Shogun was one of paying tribute, military levy and guard duty obligations.
The decline of the Tokugawa shogunate during the ''
Bakumatsu
were the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate Meiji Restoration, ended. Between 1853 and 1867, under foreign diplomatic and military pressure, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a Feudali ...
'' period from 1853 led to lessening discrimination against ''tozama daimyō''. In November 1864,
Matsumae Takahiro, the ''tozama daimyō'' of the
Matsumae clan
The was a Japanese aristocratic family who were daimyo of Matsumae Domain, in present-day Matsumae, Hokkaidō, from the Azuchi–Momoyama period until the Meiji Restoration. They were given the domain as a march fief in 1590 by Toyotomi ...
, was appointed as ''
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 ...
'', one of the highest-ranking government posts in the Tokugawa government. ''Tozama'' formed the nucleus of the growing anti-Tokugawa movement, with the
Satsuma and
Chōshū (Shimazu and Mori clans respectively) primarily responsible for the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate in 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 ...
. Rallying other ''tozama'' and even ''fudai'' to their cause in support of the
Imperial Court, they fought against the shogunate,
Aizu Domain
was a Han (Japan), domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1601 to 1871.Ravina, Mark. (1998) ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan,'' p. 222
The Aizu Domain was based at Aizuwakamatsu Castle, Tsuruga Castle in M ...
, and the
Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei 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 coalition seeking to seize political power in the name of the Impe ...
of 1868 to 1869. Many people from Satsuma and Chōshū dominated politics of the
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...
in the ensuing decades, and well into the 20th century, as part of the
Meiji oligarchy
The Meiji oligarchy was the new ruling class of Meiji period Japan. In Japanese, the Meiji oligarchy is called the .
The members of this class were adherents of '' kokugaku'' and believed they were the creators of a new order as grand as that e ...
. The distinction between ''tozama'' and ''fudai'' became obsolete when the ''daimyō'' were morphed into the new ''
kazoku
The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. It was formed by merging the feudal lords (''Daimyo, daimyō'') and court nobles (''kuge'') into one system modelled after the British peerage. Distin ...
'' aristocracy.
References
{{Reflist
Sources
*Ooms, Herman (1975). ''Charismatic Bureaucrat''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Daimyo
Japanese historical terms
Edo period