was a '' tozama'' 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. It is located in Echigo Province, Honshū. The domain was centered at

Shibata Castle is a flatland-style Japanese castle located in the city of Shibata, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. Throughout the Edo period, Shibata Castle was home to the Mizoguchi clan, ''daimyō'' of Shibata Domain. The castle was also known as . Background ...

, located in what is now the city of Shibata in

Niigata Prefecture is a prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area at . Niigata Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture and ...

. It was ruled for all of its history by the Mizoguchi clan.

History

Tenpō era map of Shibata and Murakami

Mizoguchi Hidekatsu was a Sengoku period samurai and early Edo period ''daimyō'' of Shibata Domain in Echigo Province, Japan (modern-day Niigata Prefecture). His courtesy title was '' Hōki-no-kami,'' and his Court rank was Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade. Biogra ...

was a general under Oda Nobunaga and subsequently

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 distinguished himself at a number of battles and was rewarded with a 60,000 ''koku'' holding in Echigo Province. During the Battle of Sekigahara, 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 ...

; however as Echigo Province had many supporters and former retainers of the

Uesugi clan The is a Japanese samurai clan which was at its peak one of the most powerful during the Muromachi and Sengoku periods (14th to 17th centuries). Appert, Georges. (1888) ''Ancien Japon,'' p. 79./ref> At its height, the clan had three main branch ...

, he was ordered to remain in Echigo on guard duty. After the establishment of 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 ...

, he was confirmed in his existing holdings, which extended across the Echigo Plain between the

Agano River The is a river in the Hokuriku region of Honshu, Japan. It is also called the Aga River or the Ōkawa River in Fukushima. The source of the river is Mount Arakai on the border of Fukushima and Tochigi. It flows to the north and meets the Ni ...

and the

Shinano River The , known as the in its upper reaches, is the longest and widest river in Japan and the third largest by basin area (behind the Tone River and Ishikari River). It is located in northeastern Honshu, rising in the Japanese Alps and flowing ...

. This area, which stretched from eastern

Niigata City may refer to: * Niigata Prefecture, Japan **Niigata (city), the capital of the prefecture * Albirex Niigata, the city's professional football club * Niigata Transys, a Japanese railway vehicle manufacturer * Niigata Stadium, an athletic stadium in ...

, through Agano,

Kamo The name Kamo may refer to the following: Places Japan (Note: ''kamo'' ( 鴨), is the common word for ''duck'' in Japanese, but the following names do not necessarily mean ''duck'' and are not necessarily written with that character.) * Kamo, N ...

and Minamikanbara District was excellent rice land, and the actual revenues of the domain were far in excess of its official '' kokudaka''. The second ''daimyō'' of Shibata,

Mizoguchi Nobukatsu was a Sengoku period samurai and the 2nd ''daimyō'' of Shibata Domain in early Edo period Echigo Province, Japan (modern-day Niigata Prefecture). His courtesy title was '' Hōki-no-kami,'' and his Court rank was Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade ...

, split a 12,000 ''koku'' holding off of the domain for his younger brother, creating , which lasted to 1687. The '' kokudaka'' of the domain was reduced from 60,000 to 50,000 with the remaining 2,000 coming from new rice lands developed within the domain. Nobukatsu was very active in developing new lands, and an additional 15,500 ''koku'' were splint amongst his three younger sons on his death, leaving the main 50,000 ''koku'' holding intact for his heir. The 8th ''daimyō'',

Mizoguchi Naoyasu was the 8th ''daimyō'' of Shibata Domain in Echigo Province, Japan (modern-day Niigata Prefecture). His courtesy title was '' Shūzen-no-kami,'' and his Court rank was Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade. Biography Mizoguchi Naoyasu was the il ...

established a

Han school The was an educational institution in the Edo period of Japan, originally established to educate children of '' daimyō'' (feudal lords) and their retainers in the domains outside of the capital. These institutions were also known as ''hanga ...

and invited noted gardeners from Edo and

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

as part of his rebuilding of the

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 ...

. The 10th ''daimyō'', Mizoguchi Naoaki, successfully petitioned the shogunate for an increase in '' kokudaka'' from 50,000 to 100,000 ''koku'', although there was considerable debate within the domain as to whether or not the increased taxation was worth the increase in prestige and status. During the Boshin War, the 12th ''daimyō'', Mizoguchi Naomasa joined the

Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei The was a Japanese military-political coalition established and disestablished over the course of several months in early to mid-1868 during the Boshin War. Its flag was either a white interwoven five-pointed star on a black field, or a black i ...

; however, there was extensive opposition within the domain, and he was forced to quickly switch sides to the imperial cause. In July 1871, with the abolition of the han system, Shibata Domain briefly became Shibata Prefecture, and was merged into the newly created

. Under 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 o ...

, Mizoguchi Naomasa was 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 Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

), and later served as a member of the House of Peers

Bakumatsu period holdings

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 ...

, Shibata 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.Elison, George and Bardwell L. Smith (1987)
''Warlords, Artists, & Commoners: Japan in the Sixteenth Century,'' p. 18
* Echigo Province **512 villages in Kanbara District * Mutsu Province ( Iwashiro) **8 villages in Shinobu District

List of daimyō

References

External links

"Shibata" at Edo 300
{{Authority control History of Niigata Prefecture Domains of Japan Echigo Province Hokuriku region Mizoguchi clan Shibata, Niigata

History

Bakumatsu period holdings

List of daimyō

See also

References

External links