Takatori Domain (タカトリ藩) was a feudal domain established in 1640, and disestablished at the start of the Meiji Era in 1871. It was based in what was then Yamato Province, and is now Nara Prefecture. It was controlled by lords of the Uemura family for its entire existence as a domain.

Establishment

From the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

to the Azuchi-Momoyama period,

Yamato Province was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005). "Yamato" in . It was also called . Yamato consists of two characters, 大 "great", and 和 " Wa". At first, th ...

was ruled by

Tsutsui Junkei son of Tsutsui Junshō, and a ''daimyō'' of the province of Yamato. On 1571, Junkei, through the offices of Akechi Mitsuhide, pledged to service of Oda Nobunaga. Military life Early in his career, in 1565, Matsunaga Hisahide, one of the most ...

, who served under

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...

, but after Junkei's death,

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: ...

, who took control of the country, sent Junkei's successor Tsutsui Sadatsugu to Iga. He transferred the territory to Ueno and gave Yamato to his younger brother Hidenaga in his place. Hidenaga gave his vassal Honda Toshihisa 15,000 koku of Takatori, and Toshihisa worked to improve and expand Takatori Castle. Honda Toshimasa, who succeeded Toshihisa, served Hideyoshi after Hidenaga's death, but at 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, ...

, he sided with the eastern army and fought bravely against the western army that attacked Yamato. He was awarded 20,000 yen for his military service. The amount was increased to 5,000 koku (another theory says it was 30,000 koku). Also the Honda Owari clan has no blood relation to the Honda clan, including

Honda Tadakatsu , also called Honda Heihachirō (本多平八郎) was a Japanese samurai, general, and daimyo of the late Sengoku through early Edo periods, who served Tokugawa Ieyasu. Honda Tadakatsu was one of the Tokugawa Four Heavenly Kings (Shitennō) a ...

and

Honda Masanobu was a commander and ''daimyō'' in the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu in Japan during the Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo periods. In 1563, when an uprising against Ieyasu occurred in Mikawa Province, Masanobu took the side of the peasants against Ieyasu ...

. 270px, Uemura Iesayu, the 13th next to last daimyo of Takatori Domain 270px, Uemura Iehiro, final daimyo of Takatori Domain

History

Honda Masatake, the son of Honda Toshimasa who succeeded him, was a skilled Go player and emerged victorious in the Go Honinbo match in 1610. He also displayed his military prowess by serving on the Tokugawa side 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 ...

and actively participating in the restoration and construction of Osaka Castle and the Great Pagoda on Mt. Koya. Unfortunately, he passed away without leaving behind an heir in 1637, leading to the extinction of the

Honda clan The is a Japanese family that claims descent from the medieval court noble Fujiwara no Kanemichi. The family settled in Mikawa and served the Matsudaira clan as retainers. Later, when the main Matsudaira family became the Tokugawa clan, the H ...

for a considerable period of time. The governance of the castle was then entrusted to Kuwayama Ichigen (Yamato-Shinjo domain) and Koide Yoshichika (Tamba Sonobe domain). Following the demise of the male line of the Uemura clan under Uemura Ietaka, the three feudal lords towards the end of the Edo period were all adopted from other families. Among them, Uemura Ieyasu, the 13th lord of the domain, achieved remarkable success in safeguarding the waters near Osaka and suppressing the Tenchu-gumi rebellion. He also played an active role in defending Kyoto. However, influenced by Tanisanzan, the Uemura clan held great respect for the king and consequently supported the government army during 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 ...

, guarding the

Kyoto Imperial Palace The is the former palace of the Emperor of Japan, located in Kamigyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan. Since the Meiji Restoration in 1869, the Emperors have resided at the Tokyo Imperial Palace, while the preservation of the Kyoto Imperial Palace was ordered ...

. Subsequently, in collaboration with Oda Nagayoshi, the lord of Yamato Shibamura, they suppressed the former shogunate territory in Yamato. The final daimyo, Uemura Iehiro, became a chihan due to 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 ...

of land ownership in June 1869. In 1871, when the domain was abolished and prefectures were established, he resigned as the domain governor, leading to the dissolution of the Takatori Domain. Following this, Takatori was incorporated into

Nara Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the ...

through Takatori Prefecture.

Holdings at the end of the Edo

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai, Nara, Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a Names of Japan, name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial ...

**Kuzugami-gun - 3 villages **Kuzushimo-gun - 2 villages **Takaichi County - 79 villages **Toichi-gun - 1 village **Yoshino-gun - 1 village

List of daimyo

References

External links