Amagasaki Domain

250px, Reconstructed Amagasaki Castle tenshu
was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Settsu Province in what is now the southeastern portion of modern-day Hyōgo Prefecture. It had its administrative headquarters at Amagasaki Castle. The domain extended over parts of Settsu Province that correspond to portions of the cities of Amagasaki, Nishinomiya, Ashiya, Kobe, Itami, and Takarazuka, in modern-day Hyōgo Prefecture. It was controlled by the ''fudai daimyō'' Aoyama clan followed by the Sakurai-branch of the Matsudaira clan throughout most of its history.

History

Takebe Mitsushige was the 700 ''koku'' Amagasaki ''gundai'' under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and was married to an adopted daughter of Ikeda Terumasa. In 1615, his son Takebe Matsunaga distinguished himself in the Siege of Osaka and as a result, he was awarded, jointly with his uncle Ikeda Shigetoshi, a 10,000 ''koku'' holding in northern Settsu Province, centered on Kawabe and Nishinari districts. This was the start of Amagasaki Domain. In 1617, Takebe Masanaga was transferred to Hayashida Domain and Ikeda Shigetoshi to Ikeda Domain, both in Harima Province. They were replaced by Toda Ujikane, formerly of Zeze Domain, with a ''kokudaka'' of 50,000 ''koku''. He constructed Amagasaki Castle. In 1635 he was promoted to Ogaki Domain in Mino Province, and replaced by Aoyama Yoshinari, formerly of Kakegawa Domain in Tōtōmi Province. By developing new rice lands, he raised his ''kokudaka'' to 54,000 ''koku'', but his son Aoyama Yukinari created a cadet branch of the clan, resulting in a reduction to 48,000 ''koku''. The Aoyama ruled until 1711, and the period was a prosperous one for Amagasaki Domain.

The Aoyama were transferred to Iiyama Domainin Shinano Province, and Amagasaki was given to former Kakegawa ''daimyō'' Matsudaira Tadataka of the Sakurai-branch of the Matsudaira clan. The domain was reduced to 40,000 ''koku''. Later, the Tokugawa shogunate increased the ''kokudaka'' to 45,000 ''koku'' with the shogunate exchanging 62 villages in Settsu for 71 in Harima Province; however, 36 of the villages in Settsu were wealthy villages known for their sake brewing industry, whereas the villages in Harima were rural and were scattered in various locations, making their administration difficult. As a result, although the nominal ''kokudaka'' had increased by 5000 ''koku'', the actual ''kokudaka'' decreased sharply.

In January 1868, Matsudaira Tadaoki, the last ''daimyō'', pledged allegiance to the Imperial Court in the Boshin War, and in February of the same year, he changed his surname to "Sakurai" under the direction of the new Meiji government. In 1871, the domain became "Amagasaki Prefecture" due to the abolition of the han system, and was incorporated into Hyōgo Prefecture the following year. Matsudaira Tadaoki was later made a viscount (''shishaku'') in the ''kazoku'' peerage and later became one of the founders of Hakuaisha (later known as the Japanese Red Cross Society) during the Satsuma Rebellion.

Holdings at the end of the Edo period

As with most domains in the han system, Amagasaki Domain consisted of several discontinuous territories calculated to provide the assigned ''kokudaka'', based on periodic cadastral surveys and projected agricultural yields.Elison, George and Bardwell L. Smith (1987)
''Warlords, Artists, & Commoners: Japan in the Sixteenth Century,'' p. 18

*Settsu Province
**19 villages in Ubara District
**28 villages in Muko District
**32 villages in Kawabe District
**2 villages in Harima Province