was a '' fudai'' 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 Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in ...

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. It was located 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, and Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbrevia ...

, in the

Tōkai region The is a subregion of the Chūbu region and Kansai region in Japan that runs along the Pacific Ocean. The name comes from the Tōkaidō, one of the Edo Five Routes. Because Tōkai is a sub-region and is not officially classified, there i ...

of central

Honshu , 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 ...

. The domain was centered at Ōgaki Castle, in what is now the city of Ōgaki in

Gifu Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture ...

. It was ruled for most of its existence by the Toda clan.

History

Ōgaki is located at a strategic point on the road from

Ōmi Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō circuit. Its nickname is . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, Ōmi was ranked as one of the 13 "great countri ...

and

Kyoto Kyoto (; 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 metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ...

and was hotly contested in the

Sengoku period The was a period in Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Variou ...

between Saitō Dōsan and

Oda Nobuhide was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and magistrate of the Sengoku period known as "Tiger of Owari" and also the father of Oda Nobunaga the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobuhide was a deputy '' shugo'' (Shugodai) of lower Owari Province and head of the ...

. Under

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese '' daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unif ...

, Ujiie Naotomo followed by his son Ujiie Naomasa ruled the area. Under

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 C ...

, the area was entrusted to Ikeda Tsuneoki,

Toyotomi Hidetsugu was a daimyō during the Sengoku period of Japan. He was the nephew and retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the unifier and ruler of Japan from 1590 to 1598. Despite being Hideyoshi's closest adult, male relative, Hidetsugu was accused of atrociti ...

Toyotomi Hidenaga , formerly known as . He was a half-brother of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the most powerful and significant warlords of Japan's Sengoku period The was a period in Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 ...

, Katō Mitsuyasu, Hitotsuyanagi Naosuke, Toyotomi Hidekatsu and finally to Itō Morimasa. In 1600, Itō Morimasa was ''daimyō'' of a 30,000 '' koku'' domain, which was a problem for

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 fel ...

since Itō was a staunch supporter 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 ...

and Ōgaki was a very short distance from Sekigahara. However, Itō also proved to be an inept commander and failed to attack the Tokugawa armies when they were the most vulnerable, and as a result was dispossessed after 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 1601, Tokugawa Ieyasu established Ōgaki Domain, installing Ishikawa Yasumichi as ''daimyō'' with a ''

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. ...

'' of 50,000 ''koku''. The Ishikawa clan were transferred to Hita Domain in

Bungo Province was a province of Japan in eastern Kyūshū in the area of Ōita Prefecture. It was sometimes called , with Buzen Province. Bungo bordered Buzen, Hyūga, Higo, Chikugo, and Chikuzen Provinces. History At the end of the 7th century, Toyo ...

in 1616 as a reward for their services at the Battle of Osaka. They were replaced by a cadet branch of the Hisamatsu-Matsudaira from 1616 to 1624, followed by the Okabe clan from 1624 to 1633, and then by another cadet branch of the Hisamatsu-Matsudaira from 1633 to 1635. In 1635, Toda Ujikane was transferred to Ōgaki from Amagasaki Domain in

Settsu Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises the southeastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture and the northern part of Osaka Prefecture. It was also referred to as or . Osaka and Osaka Castle were the main center of the province. Most of Setts ...

, and the ''kokudaka'' of the domain was increased to 100,000 ''koku''. The Toda clan would continue to rule Ōgaki until 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 r ...

. Toda Ujikane was instrumental in opening new rice fields, irrigation and flood control measures, planting of forests and reforming the renumeration system for his retainers. He also maintained Ōgaki Castle. under the 3rd ''daimyō'' , Toda Ujisada, 3000 ''koku'' of new rice fields were given to his brother, Toda Ujishige, which when combined with the 7000 ''koku'' already under his name, placed him over the threshold to become ''daimyō'' of a cadet domain, the

Ōgaki Shinden Domain Ōgaki Castle is a city located in Gifu, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 161,539, and a population density of 782 persons per km2 in 65,931 households. The total area of the city was . Ōgaki was the final destination for the h ...

. This sub-domain would also endure to the Meiji restoration. The 6th ''daimyō'', Toda Ujihide, attempted to implement fiscal reforms, which failed due to a peasant's revolt in 1766. The 7th ''daimyō'', Toda Ujinori, served as a ''

rōjū The , usually translated as ''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 whole; under the first two '' sh� ...

'' under

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 ...

during a time of increasing Russian incursions into Japanese northern waters. The 8th ''daimyō'', Toda Ujitsune, founded the

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 ''hangaku ...

, "Chidokan" in 1840. The 9th ''daimyō'', Toda Ujimasa reformed the domain's military in 1856. The 10th ''daimyō'', Toda Ujiakira attempted further reforms, but was frustrated by the Ansei Purge. The final ''daimyō'',

Toda Ujitaka Count was the 11th and final ''daimyō'' of Ōgaki Domain under the Bakumatsu period Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan. He was the 12th hereditary chieftain of the Toda clan. During the Meiji period, he was a diplomat and served as ambassador of Japa ...

was branded an "enemy of the crown" after the Battle of Toba-Fushimi in the Boshin War, but was able to defect to the imperial side and served as messenger of the court to other domains along the

Tōsandō is a Japanese geographical term. It means both an ancient division of the country and the main road running through it. It is part of the ''Gokishichidō'' system. It was situated along the central mountains of northern Honshu, specifically th ...

to urge them to submit. He was later awarded a 30,000 ''koku'' increase by the

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 ...

, but soon afterwards Ōgaki Domain became Ōgaki Prefecture due to 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) ...

, and was then absorbed into the new

Bakumatsu period holdings

As 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) ...

, Ōgaki Domain consisted of several 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, metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref> Often it is represented gra ...

surveys and projected agricultural yields.Elison, George and Bardwell L. Smith (1987)
''Warlords, Artists, & Commoners: Japan in the Sixteenth Century,'' p. 18
*

** 12 villages in Ishizu District ** 24 villages in Tagi District ** 10 villages in Fuwa District ** 90 villages in Anpachi District ** 53 villages in Ikeda District ** 45 villages in Ōno District ** 31 villages in Motosu District ** 2 villages in Katagata District

List of ''daimyō''

References

*''The content of this article was largely derived from that of the corresponding article on Japanese Wikipedia.'' * *

External links

Notes