270px, Arima Yorishige, final daimyo of Kurume Domain was a Japanese domain 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 associated with Chikugo Province in modern-day

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders ...

on the island of

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

History

Following

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

conquest of Kyushu Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or legal prohibitions against conquest. ...

of 1586-1587, he assigned

Kobayakawa Hidekane was a Japanese people, Japanese samurai, the ninth son of Mōri Motonari. His mother was Motonari's concubine, Nomi no Ōkata . Originally he was named Mototsuna and given to Ōta Hidetsuna but later his childless half-brother Kobayakawa Taka ...

a fief of 75,000 ''

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 ...

'' in three counties of Chikugo Province and renovated Kurume Castle to be his stronghold. Due to his service in the

Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) The Imjin War () was a series of two Japanese invasions of Korea: an initial invasion in 1592 also individually called the "Imjin War", a brief truce in 1596, and a second invasion in 1597 called the Chŏngyu War (). The conflict ended in 159 ...

, his holdings were increased to 130,000 ''koku''. However, as he sided with the pro-Toyotomi Western Army during the 1600

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was an important battle in Japan which occurred on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu Prefecture, ...

, he was dispossessed by the victorious

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

. The

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

re-assigned his territories to Tanaka Yoshimasa, formerly the castellan of

Okazaki Castle is a Japanese castle located in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Okazaki Castle was home to the Honda clan, ''daimyō'' of Okazaki Domain, but the castle is better known for its association with Tokugawa Ieyasu ...

Mikawa Province was an Provinces of Japan, old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mikawa''" in . Its abbreviated form name was . Mikawa bordered on Owari Province, O ...

. Tanaka Yoshimasa made Yanagawa Castle his stronghold, with Kurume Castle assigned to his son Tanaka Yoshinobu as a secondary fortification. During this era Kurume Castle was expanded and modernized but the shogunate ordered that it be destroyed in 1615 under the "one domain-one castle" ordinance. In 1620, when the ''

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

Yanagawa Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now eastern Fukuoka Prefecture. It was centered around Yanagawa Castle in what is now the city of Yanagawa, Fukuoka and was ruled by the ''tozama da ...

, Tanaka Tadamasa, died without heir, the domain fell to

attainder In English criminal law, attainder 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 hereditary titles, but ...

and was divided. The central portion, 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. 5 ...

'' of 210,000 ''koku'' in central and northern Chikugo (including Kurume) was assigned to Arima Toyouji, formerly ''daimyō'' of the 80,000 ''koku''

Fukuchiyama Domain 250px, Kutsuki Moritsuna, final ''daimyō'' of Fukuchiyama was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Tanba Province in what is now the west-central portion of modern-day Kyoto Prefecture. It was centered ...

Tanba Province was a province of Japan in the area of central Kyoto and east-central Hyōgo Prefectures. Tanba bordered on Harima, Ōmi, Settsu, Tajima. Tango, Wakasa, and Yamashiro provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichid ...

. The significant increase in ''kokudaka'' was a reward for his successes during the

Siege of Osaka A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

, although history does not record any details as to the nature of these achievements. When the

Shimabara Rebellion The , also known as the or , was an rebellion, uprising that occurred in the Shimabara Domain of the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan from 17 December 1637 to 15 April 1638. Matsukura Katsuie, the ''daimyō'' of the Shimabara Domain, enforced unpo ...

broke out in 1637, Arima Toyouji was in

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

. Although he was old, he led his forces to Shimabara in person, and during the campaign the domain dispatched more than 6,300 troops and suffered 173 killed and 1412 wounded. Under Arima Toyouji, Kurume Castle was rebuilt and the ''

jōkamachi The were centres of the domains of the feudal lords in medieval Japan. The ''jōkamachi'' represented the new, concentrated military power of the daimyo in which the formerly decentralized defence resources were concentrated around a single, cent ...

'' castle town developed. From 1664 to 1676, the domain carried out extensive

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and procured by a government body for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, ...

projects for

flood control Flood management or flood control are methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and ru ...

and irrigation on the

Chikugo River The flows through Kumamoto, Ōita, Fukuoka and Saga prefectures in Japan. With a total length of , it is the longest river on Kyūshū. It flows from Mount Aso and empties into the Ariake Sea. It is also nicknamed "Tsukushi Jirō". The upp ...

. While aimed at increasing paddy fields and thereby the domain's rice production, the result was severe pressure on the domain's finances. At the time of the fourth ''daimyō'', Arima Yorimoto, the domain was forced to start borrowing money from its own retainers, and in 1681 began issuing ''hansatsu'' paper money. Yorimoto was willing to cut back on redundant expenses and became a model for saving money. On the death of the fifth ''daimyō'', Arima Yoriichi, the direct lineage died out, and the sixth ''daimyō'', Arima Naritsugu came from a ''

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 ...

'' cadet branch of the clan. He took over the reforms to the domain's government for financial reconstruction that had been continued since Yorimoto and which had achieved some success. The seventh ''daimyō'', Arima Yoritsuki, took over as head of the family in 1729 at the age of 16 and remained the lord for the next 54 years. He was famous as a mathematician and author of textbooks on mathematics. However, the

Kyōhō famine , also pronounced Kyōho, was a after ''Shōtoku (era), Shōtoku'' and before ''Genbun.'' This period spanned the years from July 1716 through April 1736. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * 1716 : The era name of ''Kyōhō'' (m ...

of 1732 caused many deaths from starvation at a time when the domain was burdened by the shogunate with expenses in rebuilding palaces and repairs along to Tōkaidō. Increased taxes in the domain led to uprisings. The ''daimyō'', Arima Yoritaka, loved

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by th ...

and sponsored many wrestlers (including ''

yokozuna , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers ('' rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the o ...

Onogawa Kisaburō was a Japanese sumo wrestler from Ōtsu, Ōmi Province (now Shiga Prefecture). He was the sport's 5th ''yokozuna''. Along with Tanikaze, Onogawa was the first to be given a ''yokozuna'' licence during his lifetime. He is described as a leading ...

), he devoted himself to his many hobbies, such as collecting dogs, and ignored the deteriorating finances of the domain. On the other hand, one of the achievements of his tenure is that he opened a

han school The ''han'' school was a type of educational institution in the Edo period of Japan. They taught samurai etiquette, the classical Confucian books, calligraphy, rhetoric, fighting with swords and other weapons; some also added subjects such as m ...

in 1783, which was named "Shuukan" in 1787; it was later renamed "Meizendo". This disinterest in the domain's finances continued into the tenure of Arima Yorinori, and widespread uprisings occurred in 1832. The 10th ''daimyō'', Arima Yorinaga, attempted reforms in 1846, but fell ill and died young. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Arima Yoshiyori. Conflicts over the reform of the domain finances and administration developed into intense power struggles between factions of retainers, complicated further by conflicts between '' Sonnō-jōi'' supporters and pro-Shogunate supporters. In 1852, the ''Sonnō-jōi'' faction was suppressed. Kurume Domain attempted to modernize and established a navy, even purchasing a Western-style warship. However, in 1868, the ''Sonnō-jōi'' faction was restored when word was received of the defeat of Tokugawa forces at the

Battle of Toba-Fushimi A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

and in the domain became an enthusiastic supporter of the new government in the

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 coalition seeking to seize political power in the name of the Impe ...

. However, there was considerably much less support for ending Japan's national isolation policy and the domain's samurai were important players in both the Two Lords Incident which attempted to overthrow the fledgling

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 ...

and the occupation of

Kumamoto Castle is a hilltop Japanese castle located in Chūō-ku, Kumamoto, in Kumamoto Prefecture. It was a large and well-fortified castle. The is a concrete reconstruction built in 1960, but a number of ancillary wooden buildings remain of the original ca ...

(the "Kurume clan incident" of 1871). In July 1871, Kurume Domain became "Kurume Prefecture" with 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) ...

. In November of the same year, it was incorporated into "Mizuma Prefecture", and in 1876, it became part of Fukuoka Prefecture. In 1884, Arima Yoritsumu (the son of the last ''daimyō'', Arima Yorishige), became a count 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.

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 ...

, Kurume 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 represente ...

surveys and projected agricultural yields. ;Kurume Domain * Chikugo Province **59 villages in Ikuha District (entire district) **89 villages in Takeno District (entire district) **30 villages in Yamamoto District (entire district) **72 villages in Mii District (entire district) **36 villages in Mihara District (entire district) **137 villages in

Mizuma District is a Districts of Japan, district located in Fukuoka Prefecture,Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Fukuoka-ken" in . Japan. As of 2003 statistics and counting the decrease in size and population due to the Kurume, Fukuoka, Kurume merger, the ...

**27 villages in Shimotsuma District **97 villages in Kamitsuma District

List of daimyō

Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)
"Arima" at ''Nobiliare du Japon'', pp. 2–3
retrieved 2013-4-4. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)
"Arima Toyouji"
in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 45.

Genealogy (simplified)

*Arima Noriyori, Lord of Sanda (1533–1602) ** I. Toyouji, 1st ''daimyō'' of Kurume (cr. 1620) (1569–1642; r. 1620–1642) *** II. Tadayori, 2nd ''daimyō'' of Kurume (1603–1655; r. 1642–1655) **** III. Yoritoshi, 3rd ''daimyō'' of Kurume (1652–1668; r. 1655–1668) **** IV. Yorimoto, 4th ''daimyō'' of Kurume (1654–1705; r. 1668–1705) ***** V. Yorimune, 5th ''daimyō'' of Kurume (1685–1706; r. 1705–1706) ** A daughter, who m. Ishino (Akamatsu) Ujimitsu (1553–1606) *** Akamatsu **** Ishino ***** Ishino ****** Ishino Norikazu ******* VI. Arima Norifusa, 6th ''daimyō'' of Kurume (1674–1738; r. 1707–1729) ******** VII. Yoriyuki, 7th ''daimyō'' of Kurume (1714–1783; r. 1729–1783) ********* VIII. Yoritaka, 8th ''daimyō'' of Kurume (1746–1812; r. 1783–1812) ********** Yorinao (1779-1805) *********** IX. Yorinori, 9th ''daimyō'' of Kurume (1797–1844; r. 1812–1844) ************ X. Yorito, 10th ''daimyō'' of Kurume (1822–1846; r. 1844–1846) ************* XI. Yorishige, 11th ''daimyō'', 1st Governor (1828–1893; ''daimyō'': 1846–1869; Governor: 1869–1871) ************** Yoritsumu, 1st Count (1864–1927; Count: 1884) *************** Yoriyasu, 2nd Count (1884–1957; Count: 1927–1947) **************** Yorichika (1918–1980) ***************** Yorinaka (b. 1959) Genealogy (jp)
/ref>

References

External links

"Kurume" at Edo 300
{{Authority control Domains of Japan Arima clan History of Fukuoka Prefecture Chikugo Province Kyushu region