300px, Ruins of Morioka Castle 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 ...

. It was ruled throughout its history by the

Nanbu clan The was a Japanese samurai clan who ruled most of northeastern Honshū in the Tōhoku region of Japan for over 700 years, from the Kamakura period through the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The Nanbu claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji of Kai ...

. It was called during the early part of its history. It was located in northern

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 ...

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 ...

, covering the eastern half of what is now

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 ...

and the northern two-thirds of what is now

Iwate Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture at , with a population of 1,210,534 (as of October 1, 2020). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefectu ...

and the Kazuno District of what is now

Akita Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is approximately 966,000 (as of 1 October 2019) and its geographic area is 11,6 ...

. The domain was centered at

Morioka Castle is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. On 1 February 2021, the city had an estimated population of 290,700 in 132,719 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . ...

in the city of

Morioka is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. On 1 February 2021, the city had an estimated population of 290,700 in 132,719 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . ...

. For most of its history, Morioka Domain had an official ''

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 ...

'' of 100,000 ''

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 ...

'', although its actual revenues were much higher. Towards the end of the Edo period, the domain’s status was raised to 200,000 ''koku''.

History

The Nanbu clan was a branch of the

Seiwa Genji The is a line of the Japanese Minamoto clan that is descended from Emperor Seiwa, which is the most successful and powerful line of the clan. Many of the most famous Minamoto warriors, including Minamoto no Yoshiie, Minamoto no Yoritomo, the f ...

originally from Kai Province, who settled in what is now the town of Nanbu, Aomori after the conquest of the Hiraizumi Fujiwara by

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 ...

. Along with the

Shimazu clan The were the '' daimyō'' of the Satsuma han, which spread over Satsuma, Ōsumi and Hyūga provinces in Japan. The Shimazu were identified as one of the '' tozama'' or outsider ''daimyō'' familiesAppert, Georges ''et al.'' (1888). in cont ...

Satsuma Province was an old province of Japan that is now the western half of Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Satsuma" in . Its abbreviation is . History Satsuma's provincial capital was Satsumasendai. Dur ...

, the Nanbu clan has the distinction of being one of the two clans which held onto their territories for over 700 years, 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 ...

to 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 ...

. In July 1590, the 26th chieftain of the Nanbu clan,

Nanbu Nobunao was a Sengoku period Japanese samurai, and '' daimyō'' and the 26th hereditary chieftain of the Nanbu clan. His courtesy title was ''Daizen Daibu'', and his Court rank was Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade. Nobunao was the second son of Nan ...

, made an oath of 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 ...

at the Siege of Odawara, and was officially confirmed as ''

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 seven districts of northern Mutsu province (Nukanobu, Hei, Kazuno, Kuji, Iwate, Shiwa and Tōno). Hideyoshi assisted in the suppression of the

Kunohe Rebellion The was an insurrection of the Sengoku period of Japan that occurred in Mutsu Province from 13 March to 4 September 1591. The Kunohe Rebellion was the final battle in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's campaigns during the Sengoku period and completed the ...

of 1591 which secured Nobunao's position as head of all the branches of the Nanbu clan. However, Hideyoshi also recognised the independence of 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, ...

, former Nanbu retainers, and their control over the three districts of Tsugaru Peninsula, but gave the Nanbu clan the additional districts of Hienuki and Waga as compensation. Nanbu Nobunao relocated his seat from

Sannohe Castle was a Muromachi period Japanese castle located in the center of what is now the town of Sannohe, in Sannohe District of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of far northern Japan. It was located on a river terrace of the Mabechi River, w ...

to the more central location of Morioka, and began work on Morioka Castle and its surrounding castle town in 1592. In 1600, following 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 ...

, Nanbu Nobunao's son

Nanbu Toshinao was an early Edo period Japanese samurai, and the 1st ''daimyō'' of Morioka Domain in northern Japan. He was the 27th hereditary chieftain of the Nanbu clan Toshinao was the eldest son of Nanbu Nobunao, and was born at the clan’s Tago Castle ...

was confirmed by

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 ...

as ''daimyō'' with an assessed ''kokudaka'' of 100,000 ''koku''. This marks the official start of Morioka 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 ...

. In 1627, in order to strengthen its southern border against 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 ...

of Sendai Domain, a branch of the Nanbu clan from Ne Castle near

Hachinohe is a city located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 221,459, and a population density of 725 persons per km2 in 96,092 households, making it Aomori Prefecture's second largest city by population. The city ...

was relocated to Tōno, forming a subsidiary line. In 1634, Nukanobu District was divided into the four districts of Sannohe, Ninohe, Kunohe and Kita by order of the ''

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 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 ...

, giving the Nanbu clan control over a total of 10 districts of Mutsu province. In 1664, the 20,000 ''koku'' Hachinohe Domain was split from Morioka Domain as a nominally subsidiary domain."Hachinohe-han" on Edo 300 HTML
(accessed 15 August 2008) However, relations between Morioka and Hachinohe were often strained and Hachinohe was considered independent, rather than a subsidiary. Morioka Domain was thus reduced to 80,000 ''koku'', but was able to develop new rice lands, and reverted to 100,000 ''koku'' status in 1683. The 5th ''daimyō'', Nanbu Yukinobu, reduced the domain to 92,000 ''koku'' by setting up his two younger brothers as ''

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 ...

'' with 5000 ''koku'' and 3000 ''koku'' each. In 1808, the Tokugawa shogunate assigned the Nanbu clan responsibility for the defence of a portion of southern

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 ...

. The nominal ''kokudaka'' for Morioka clan was raised to 200,000 ''koku''"Morioka-han" on Edo 300 HTML
(accessed 15 August 2008) and their status from "castle-holding ''daimyō''" to "province-holding ''daimyō''". However, this increase in status came without any actual increase in territory, and the additional actual revenues from trading posts established in Ezo was small. The result was to plunge the domain’s finances, already suffering from repeated crop failures due to inclement weather and reduction in output from its copper mines, into the red. In 1819, the subsidiary

Shichinohe Domain was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan, located in Mutsu Province, Honshū. It was centered at Shichinohe Castle in what is now the modern town of Shichinohe, Aomori in the Kamikita District of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku re ...

was created out of 6000 ''koku'' of new rice land combined with a 5000-''koku'' ''hatamoto'' holding."Shichinohe-han" on Edo 300 HTML
(accessed 15 August 2008) In 1821, the Sōma Daisaku incident, in which a retainer of the Nanbu clan attempted to assassinate the ''daimyō'' of Tsugaru Domain occurred. The Nanbu clan and the Tsugaru clan had been enemies for centuries. This was the same year during which the domain faced its most serious crisis. The 11th ''daimyō'', Nanbu Toshimochi, died at the age of 13 before he could be formally received in audience by ''

Tokugawa Ienari Tokugawa Ienari ( ja, 徳川家斉, November 18, 1773 – March 22, 1841) was the eleventh and longest-serving ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan who held office from 1787 to 1837.Hall, John Whitney ''et al.'' (1991) ''Early Modern J ...

. Fearing that this could be used by the shogunate as a cause for

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 ...

, the domain leaders substituted a cousin of similar age and appearance to take his place. In 1840, a han school was established, and began promoting studies in ''

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 ...

'' (western science), especially western medicine. During 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 governm ...

, in 1857 the 14th ''daimyō'' of Morioka, Nanbu Toshihisa, married the third daughter of Tokugawa Nariaki of

Mito Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Hitachi Province in modern-day Ibaraki Prefecture.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 ...

, the domain initially attempted to remain neutral, but bowed to pressure from Sendai Domain and joined the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei. Morioka forces attacked the pro-Imperial Tsugaru Domain and

Akita Domain was a feudal domain in Edo period Japan, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Akita Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Kubota Castle in what is now the city of Akita and was thus also known as the . It was governed for the whole of its hi ...

.Onodera, ''Boshin nanboku sensō to Tōhoku seiken'', p. 149. As a result, the new

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 ...

treated Nanbu clan harshly at the end of the war by seizing the territory and expelling the Nanbu clan to the vacant Shiroishi Castle, where a new 130,000 ''koku'' domain was created out of former Sendai Domain lands in early 1868. Six months later, the Nanbu petitioned to return to Morioka, to which the government agreed provided that they paid a penalty of 700,000 gold '' ryō''. Although this sum proved impossible amount to raise, the Nanbu were allowed to return shortly before 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 lands of former Morioka Domain became Morioka Prefecture, which subsequently became part of Iwate Prefecture in January 1872.

List of ''daimyōs''

('' tozama'') 1599–1871

Genealogy

* 15px I. Nanbu Toshinao, 1st ''daimyō'' of Morioka (cr. 1599) (1576–1632; r. 1599–1632) ** 15px II. Shigenao, 2nd ''daimyō'' of Morioka (1606–1664; r. 1632–1664) ** 15px III. Shigenobu, 3rd ''daimyō'' of Morioka (1616–1702; r. 1664–1692) *** 15px IV. Yukinobu, 4th ''daimyō'' of Morioka (1642–1702; r. 1692–1702) **** 15px V. Nobuoki, 5th ''daimyō'' of Morioka (1678–1707; r. 1702–1705) ***** 15px VII. Toshimi, 7th ''daimyō'' of Morioka (1708–1752; r. 1725–1752) ****** 15px IX. Toshimasa, 9th ''daimyō'' of Morioka (1751–1784; r. 1780–1784) ******* 15px X. Toshitaka, 10th ''daimyō'' of Morioka (1782–1820; r. 1784–1820) ******son ******* Nobusuke ******** 15px XI (a). Toshimichi I, 11th ''daimyō'' of Morioka (1808–1821; r. 1820–1821) ******son ******* Nobutoro ******** 15px XI (b). Toshimichi II, 12th ''daimyō'' of Morioka (1803–1825; r. 1821–1825) **** 15px VI. Toshitomo, 6th ''daimyō'' of Morioka (1689–1725; r. 1705–1725) ***** VIII. Toshikatsu, 8th ''daimyō'' of Morioka (1724–1780; r. 1752–1779) ****** Toshinori (1746–1814) ******* 15px XII. Toshitada, 12th ''daimyō'' of Morioka (1797–1855; r. 1825–1847) ******** 15px XIII. Toshitomo, 13th ''daimyō'' of Morioka (1824–1888; r. 1847–1848) ******** 15px XIV. Toshihisa, 14th ''daimyō'' of Morioka (1827–1896; r. 1848–1868) ********* 15px XV. Toshiyuki, 15th ''daimyō'' of Morioka, 41st family head, 1st Count (1855–1903; Lord: 1868–1869; Governor: 1869–1871; 41st family head: 1868–1903; Count: cr. 1884) **********Toshinaga, 2nd Count, 42nd family head (1882 – k.i.a. in Manchuria, 1905; 42nd family head and 2nd Count: 1903–1905) ********** Toshiatsu, 3rd Count, 43rd family head (1884–1930; 43rd family head and 3rd Count: 1905–1930) *********** Mizuko (1908–1980), m. Nanbu (Ichijō) Toshihide, 4th Count, 44th family head (1907–1980; 44th family head: 1930–1980; 4th Count: 1930–1947) ************Toshihisa (1932–1980) ************* Toshifumi, 46th family head (b. 1970; 46th family head: 2009–) ************ Toshiaki, 45th family head (1935–2009; 45th family head: 1980–2009)

Bakumatsu period holdings

Like 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 ...

, Morioka Domain consisted of discontinuous territories calculated to provide the assigned ''

'', 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: *

** 68 villages in Ninohe District ** all of Kita District *

( Rikuchū Province) ** 85 villages in Iwate District ** 68 villages in Hienuki District ** 69 villages in Waga District ** 138 villages in Hei District ** 70 villages in Kakuno District ** 71 villages in Shiwa District ** 11 villages in Kunohe District *

( Iwashiro Province) ** 8 villages in Date District *

( Iburi Province) ** southeastern Muroran District ** Horobetsu District **southwest Abuta District

In popular culture

In fiction, the Morioka domain is the setting for sections of the novel '' Mibugishiden'', as well as the film ''

The Twilight Samurai ''The Twilight Samurai'' is a 2002 Japanese historical drama film co-written and directed by Yoji Yamada and starring Hiroyuki Sanada and Rie Miyazawa. Set in mid-19th century Japan, a few years before the Meiji Restoration, it follows the l ...

''.

Notes

References

*''The content of this article was largely derived from that of the corresponding article on Japanese Wikipedia.'' * *Sasaki Suguru 佐々木克 (1977). ''Boshin sensō: haisha no Meiji ishin'' 戊辰戦争: 敗者の明治維新. Tokyo: Chūōkōronsha 中央公論社. *Noguchi, Shin'ichi (2005). ''Aizu-han''. Tokyo: Gendai shaken

External links

Morioka on "Edo 300 HTML"

{{Authority control Domains of Japan History of Aomori Prefecture History of Iwate Prefecture History of Akita Prefecture Nanbu clan Mutsu Province