250px, Aoyama Tadayuki, final ''daimyō'' of Sasayama was a feudal domain under 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 ...

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 ...

Japan, located in

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 ...

in what is now the west-central portion of modern-day

Hyōgo Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to th ...

. It was centered initially around

Sasayama Castle is an early Edo Period Japanese castle located in the city of Tamba-Sasayama, Hyōgo, Japan. It ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 1956. History Sasayama Castle is located at the center of Tamba-Sasayama city. The S ...

in what is now the city of

Tamba-Sasayama , formerly known as , is a city in the central eastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 40,050 in 17,523 households and a population density of 110 persons per km2. The total area of the city is Geograp ...

History

The Sasayama area is a strategic junction of highways from

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

to both the

San'in region The is an area in the southwest of Honshū, the main island of Japan. It consists of the northern part of the Chūgoku region, facing the Sea of Japan. Specifically, it is the two prefectures of Shimane Prefecture, Shimane and Tottori Prefecture ...

, and the San'yo regions of western Japan. Recognizing the importance of this location, after the

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, ...

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 ...

ordered the construction of

to isolate

Toyotomi Hideyori was the son and designated successor of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the general who united all of Japan toward the end of the Sengoku period. His mother, Yodo-dono, was the niece of Oda Nobunaga. Early life Born in 1593, he was Hideyoshi's sec ...

Osaka Castle is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi–Momoyama period. Layout Th ...

from the powerful feudal lords of western Japan, many of whom still had pro-Toyotomi loyalties. In 1608, he appointed Matsudaira Yasushige, who was possibly his illegitimate son, to oversee construction, and as ''

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 new 50,000 ''

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 ...

'' Sasayama Domain. The design of the castle was done by

Tōdō Takatora was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Tōdō clan from the Azuchi–Momoyama to Edo periods. He rose from relatively humble origins as an ashigaru (a light foot soldier) to become a ''daimyō''. During his lifetime he changed his feudal master ...

, construction overseen by

Ikeda Terumasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period. His court title was ''Kokushi (officials), Musashi no Kami''. Terumasa was also known by the nickname ''saigoku no shōgun'', or, "The ''Shōgun'' of Western Japan". Terumasa fought in many ...

and the materials and labor provided by the Fukushima, Kato clan, Hachisuka clan and Asano clan. Matsudaira Yasushige was transferred to Kishiwada Domain in 1619. He was replaced by Matsudaira Yoshimichi from another cadet branch of the

Matsudaira clan The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan. It originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture). During the Sengoku period, the chieftain of the main line of the ...

, the Fujii-Matsudaira. He was the son of Tokugawa Ieyasu's half-sister. His son Matsudaira Tadakuni was overseer of the

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 ...

of Murakami Domain and Fukuchiyama Domains, and also conducted land surveys, expanded the

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...

and built numerous shrines and temples before he was transferred to Akashi Domain in 1649. Matsudaira Yasunobu, from the Katahara-Matsudaira became ''daimyō'', and his cadet branch of the Matsudaira clan ruled until their transfer to Tanba-Kameyama Domain in 1748. The 4th ''daimyō'',

Matsudaira Nobutsuna was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period, who ruled the Kawagoe Domain. First serving Tokugawa Iemitsu as a page, Nobutsuna was renowned for his sagacity. He was named a rōjū in 1633. Nobutsuna led the shogunal forces to their final ...

served as ''

Kyoto Shoshidai The was an important administrative and political office in the Tokugawa shogunate. The office was the personal representative of the military dictators Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Kyoto, the seat of the Japanese Emperor, and was ado ...

'' and ''

rōjū The , usually translated as ''Elder (administrative title), 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 wh ...

'' and invited cultural figures to the domain. However, his son, Matsudaira Nobumine, was a poor ruler and was injured during peasant uprisings in 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 ...

. The shogunate ordered him to trade places with Aoyama Tadatomo of Tanba-Kameyama Domain in 1748. The Aoyama would rule the domain 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

. Aoyama Tadatomo served as ''

Jisha-bugyō was a position within the system for the administration of religion that existed from the Muromachi period to the Edo period in Japan. Appointments to this prominent office were always ''fudai daimyōs'', the lowest-ranking of the shogunate office ...

'' and '' Osaka-jō dai'' in the shogunal administration. His successor, Aoyama Tadataka invited Confucian scholars to the domain, and built a han school, the "Shintokudo", which was later expanded by the 4th ''daimyō'', Aoyama Tadahiro. He also served as ''Jisha-bugyō'', ''Kyoto Shoshidai'' and ''Osaka-jō dai'' in the shogunal administration. His son, Aoyama Tadanaga was a ''Jisha-bugyō'' and ''rōjū''. On the other hand, due to poor harvests, peasant rebellions frequently occurred. The domain had little economic production other than rice cultivation, and as a result, the clan's finances and territories were often in dire straits. The domain made laws to prevent peasants from fleeing their lands; however, Aoyama Tadahiro was forced to relax these regulations to allow peasants to work 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 Settsu's ...

in the winter months as migrant workers in the ''

sake Sake, , or saki, also referred to as Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indeed any East Asi ...

'' industry. He also invited potters from Kyoto to the domain in an attempt to start a ceramics industry. Nevertheless, due to new taxes frequently imposed for financial reconstruction, over 20 peasant uprisings occurred. By the end of the domain, its debt was estimated at 281,329 ''

ryō The was a gold currency unit in the shakkanhō system in pre- Meiji Japan. It was eventually replaced with a system based on the '' yen''. Origins The ''ryō'' was originally a unit of weight from China, the ''tael.'' It came into use in Ja ...

''. During the Bakumatsu period, as with almost all domains, the samurai of Sasayama were divided between pro-Tokugawa and pro-'' sonnō-jōi'' factions, although the domain itself was regarded as one of the most loyal of the ''fudai'' houses the final ''daimyō'', Aoyama Takayuki, served as guard of

Nijō Castle is a flatland Japanese castle, castle in Kyoto, Japan. The castle consists of two concentric rings (Kuruwa) of fortifications, the Ninomaru Palace, the ruins of the Honmaru Palace, various support buildings and several gardens. The surface area ...

in Kyoto and led shogunate forces in the Kinmon Incident. However, after the start of 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 ...

, when

Saionji Kinmochi Kazoku, Prince was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1906 to 1908, and from 1911 to 1912. As the last surviving member of the ''genrō'', the group of senior statesmen who had directed pol ...

led an imperial army to Sasayama, the domain surrendered without a fight. Aoyama Tadayuki became imperial governor in 1869. In 1871, 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) ...

, Sasayama briefly became "Sasayama Prefecture", which was merged with "Toyooka Prefecture" a few months later, before becoming part of Hyogo Prefecture on August 21, 1876.

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 ...

, Sasayama Domain consisted of several discontinuous territories calculated to provide the assigned '' kokudaka'', 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
*

**104 villages in Taki District (entire district) **56 villages in Kuwada District **12 villages in Funai District **4 villages in Ikaruga District **2 villages in Amata District *

Tajima Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of northern Hyōgo Prefecture. Tajima bordered on Tango Province, Tango and Tanba Province, Tanba to the east, Harima Province, Harima to the south, and Inaba Province, Inaba to the west. ...

** 16 villages in Asago District *

**3 villages in Muko District *

Tōtōmi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today western Shizuoka Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tōtōmi''" in . Tōtōmi bordered on Mikawa Province, Mikawa, Suruga Province, S ...

**10 villages in Haibara District **14 villages in Kitō District

List of daimyō

References

{{Domains of Kinki Domains of Japan 1608 establishments in Japan States and territories established in 1608 1871 disestablishments in Japan States and territories disestablished in 1871 Tanba Province History of Hyōgo Prefecture Fujii-Matsudaira clan Matsudaira clan Matsui-Matsudaira clan

History

Holdings at the end of the Edo period

List of daimyō

See also

Further reading

References