was a Japanese

domain A domain is a geographic area controlled by a single person or organization. Domain may also refer to: Law and human geography * Demesne, in English common law and other Medieval European contexts, lands directly managed by their holder rather ...

of 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 ...

. It was regarded as a sub-domain of

Saga Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period Tokugawa Shogunate. It encompassed most of what are now Saga and Nagasaki Prefectures and was ruled from Saga Castle in what is now the urban center of the city of Saga. It was ruled through its histo ...

. The domain was centered in what is now the city of

Kashima, Saga 270px, Kashima City Hall is a city located in the southern part of Saga Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 27,360 in 10949 households, and a population density of 240 persons per km2. The total ...

. It was ruled by a cadet branch of the ''

tozama daimyō was a class of powerful magnates or ''daimyō'' (大名) considered to be outsiders by the ruler of Japan during the Edo period (江戸時代). ''Tozama daimyō'' were classified in the Tokugawa shogunate (江戸幕府) as ''daimyō'' who becam ...

Nabeshima clan is a Japanese samurai kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Nabeshima", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p.38 retrieved 2013-5-5. History The clan controlled Saga D ...

for all of its history.

History

Nabeshima Tadashige, the younger sibling of

Nabeshima Katsushige (December 4, 1580 – May 7, 1657) was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period. Born to Nabeshima Naoshige, he became lord of Saga-''han''. Biography Katsushige was born in Saga, the son of Nabeshima Naoshige. At the time, Naoshige was a ...

, the inaugural ''

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 ...

'' of the

, received 20,000 ''

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 ...

'' and permission to establish a cadet branch of the Nabeshima clan in 1610. He then acquired an additional 5,000 ''koku'' in Katori District,

Shimōsa Province was a province of Japan in the area of modern Chiba Prefecture and Ibaraki Prefecture as well as the bordering parts of Saitama Prefecture and Tokyo (the parts that used to be located east of the lower reaches of the old Tone River prior to the ...

, his birthplace, thereby establishing the domain with a total of 25,000 ''koku''. The domain was centered around Tsunehiro Castle, located in what is now the urban center of the city of

. In 1642, during the tenure of the second ''daimyō'' Nabeshima Masashige, Nabeshima Katsushige asked to adopt his ninth son, Naotomo. However, as Masashige had no other heir, his request was denied. This outraged the parent house, as the very purpose of establishing a sub-domain with a cadet branch of the clan was to provide "insurance" for the main lineage, and the idea of refusing one's overlord and clan chieftain was unheard of. This lead Masashige being forced to return 20,000 ''koku'' of territory, accept a reduction in status to ''

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the Shōgun, shogunates in History of Japan, Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred ...

'', and was sent to Shimōsa to oversee his father's original 5,000 ''koku'' estate. Eventually, Katsushige bestowed his 20,000 ''koku'' territory, upon Nabeshima Naotomo. Nabeshima Naoto, the ninth ''daimyō'', constructed Kashima Castle in 1821, designating it as his official residence. Following 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 the establishment of prefectures in 1871, "Kashima Prefecture" was formed. It later merged with Saga Prefecture through a series of administrative changes involving Imari Prefecture,

Saga Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of roughly 780,000 and has a geographic area of . Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasaki Prefect ...

, Mizuma Prefecture, and

Nagasaki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan, mainly located on the island of Kyūshū, although it also includes a number of islands off Kyūshū's northwest coast - including Tsushima and Iki. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,246,4 ...

. Nabeshima Naoyoshi, the final ''daimyō'', was granted the title of

viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is ...

in the ''

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 ...

'' peerage order in 1884. The Akamon (main gate), Otemon, and the earthen walls of the

Jin'ya A was a type of administrative headquarters in the Tokugawa Shogunate during the Edo period of Japanese history. ''Jin'ya'' served as the seat of the administration for a small domain, a province, or additional parcels of land. ''Jin'ya'' ho ...

have survived to this day. Additionally, the

Tsunehiro Castle , son of regent Uchisaki, was a ''kugyō'' or Japanese court noble of the Edo period (1603–1868). He did not hold regent positions kampaku and sessho. Konoe Motosaki was his son. He also adopted a daughter of Satsuma Shigehide, the eighth he ...

Gate has been relocated to a private residence, preserving a piece of historical architecture.

Holdings at the end of the Edo period

As with most domains in the

han system (, "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 Encycloped ...

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

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. 5 ...

'', 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 represente ...

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

Hizen Province was an old provinces of Japan, old province of Japan in the area of the Saga Prefecture, Saga and Nagasaki Prefecture, Nagasaki prefectures. It was sometimes called , with Higo Province. Hizen bordered on the provinces of Chikuzen Province, Ch ...

**11 villages in

Fujitsu District is a Districts of Japan, district located in Saga Prefecture, Japan. As of February 1, 2009, the district has an estimated population of 10,075 and a population density, density of 136 persons per km2. The total area is 74.21 km2. Municipa ...

List of daimyō

Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)
"Nabeshima" at ''Nobiliare du Japon'', pp. 38–39
retrieved 2013-5-30. :

References

External links

"Kashima" at Edo 300
{{Authority control Domains of Japan Nabeshima clan History of Saga Prefecture Hizen Province Kyushu region

History

Holdings at the end of the Edo period

List of daimyō

See also

References

External links