Miike Domain

270px, Tachibana Taneyuki, final ''daimyō'' of Miike Domain
was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was centered around Miike ''Jin'ya'' in what is now the city of Ōmuta, Fukuoka and was ruled by the ''tozama daimyō'' Tachibana clan for much of its history.

History

Takahashi Naotsugu, the younger brother of Tachibana Muneshige, was awarded a 5,000 ''koku'' fief in Tsukuba District, Hitachi Province in 1614 and became a ''hatamoto''. His eldest son, Tachibana Tanetsugu, recovered 5,000 ''koku'' of the clan's former territory in Miike District, Chikugo Province, which put him over the threshold to become a ''daimyō'' in 1621. This marked the start of Miike Domain.

Coal mining began in 1738, during the era of the 4th ''daimyō'', Tachibana Yasunaga. This industry evolved into the Mitsu-Miike Coal Mine, which remained in operation until 1997. The 6th ''daimyō'', Tachibana Tanechika, served in various positions in the administration of the Tokugawa shogunate, including ''Ōbangashira'', '' Sōshaban'' and '' Jisha-bugyō'', eventually becoming a '' Wakadoshiyori''. However, he belonged to the anti- Matsudaira Sadanobu faction and was defeated in a political conflict, and in November 1805, he was dismissed for the charge of leaking secrets by the shogunate, and in December, he was forced to retire and was put under house arrest. HIs successor, Tachibana Taneyoshi, was deprived of Miike Domain in 1806, and was transferred to in Mutsu Province in 1806 (currently part of the city of Date, Fukushima). Although his nominal '' kokudaka'' remained at 10,000 ''koku'', this was considered as a demotion.

In 1850, Tachibana Taneyoshi's grandson, Taneyuki, managed to trade 5000 ''koku'' of his holding for 5000 ''koku'' in former Miike Domain. In 1868, during the final years of the Bakumatsu period, he was appointed ''Gaikoku-bugyō'' and then a ''Rōjū''; however, by this time the Boshin War had started and after hearing of the defeat of the Shogunate forces at the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, he immediately resigned his positions. He pledged fealty to the Meiji government in Edo, but simultaneously sent the domain's ''karō,'' Okuyama Tsuguatsu, to pledge support for the pro-Tokugawa ''Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei''. When he was discovered that he was playing both sides, the outraged Sendai Domain sent 200 soldiers to burn down the Shimotedo Domain '' jin'ya'' and to occupy the territory. Tachibana Taneyuki was forced to move his seat to Miike, although his holdings continued to be divided between Chikugo and Mutsu. In the following year, in 1868, with the establishment of the Meiji government, he was appointed imperial governor of Miike. With the abolition of the feudal domains and establishment of prefectures in 1871, the territory of Miike was incorporated into Fukuoka Prefecture through "Mizuma Prefecture".

Tachibana Taneyuki became a viscount under the ''kazoku'' peerage system in 1884.

Holdings at the end of the Edo period

As with most domains in the han system, Miike 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

* Chikugo Province
**5 villages in Miike District
**71 villages in Miyako District
* Mutsu Province ( Iwashiro Province)
**7 villages in Date District

List of daimyo

;Miike Domain
:
; Shimotedo Domain
:
;Miike Domain (restored)
:

See also

* List of Han
* Abolition of the han system

References

External links

"Miike" at Edo 300

{{Authority control

Domains of Japan
Tachibana clan
History of Fukuoka Prefecture
Chikugo Province
Kyushu region