The was a Japanese samurai clan who ruled Ichinoseki Domain in Mutsu Province during 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 ...

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 ...

. The family was closely related to the

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

Sendai Domain The , also known as the , was a domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871. The Sendai Domain was based at Aoba Castle in Mutsu Province, in the modern city of Sendai, located in the Tōhoku region of ...

through intermarriage. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)
("Shiba," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 59 [PDF 63 of 80
/nowiki>">DF 63 of 80">("Shiba," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 59 [PDF 63 of 80
/nowiki> retrieved 2013-5-3.

Origins

The Tamura clan claimed descent from Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, and were local ''gōzoku'' controlling Tamura ''shōen'' (later Tamura District, Fukushima, Tamura District) in what is now central Fukushima Prefecture since the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

. The Sakanoue clan was a cadet branch of the famous

Yamatonoaya clan Yamatonoaya clan (東漢氏) was an immigrant Japanese clans, clan active in Japan since the Kofun period according to the ''Nihon Shoki'' (720), ''Kojiki'' (711) and ''Shoku Nihongi'' (797). Origins According to ancient Japanese records, ''Nih ...

, an immigrant which originated in

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (; ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BCE to 660 CE. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. While the three kingdoms were in separate existence, Baekje had the h ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

Sengoku period

The clan rose to become a minor ''

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 ...

'' during 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 ...

. In 1504, the Tamura clan moved from Moriyama to Miharu Castle in what is now

Miharu, Fukushima is a town located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 17,471 in 6348 households, and a population density of 240 persons per km2. The total area of the town was . Geography Miharu is located in Tamura Distr ...

. As a defense network, the clan set up its retainers in forty-eight subsidiary castles and outposts in the area. However, although the Tamura clan pledged allegiance to

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: ...

at the Siege of Odawara, Hideyoshi felt that their efforts were insufficient, and dispossessed the clan in 1598, giving their territory to the

. The Tamura survived as retainers to the Date.

Edo period

The wife of

Date Masamune was a Japanese ''daimyō'' during the Azuchi–Momoyama period through the early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful feudal lords in the Tōhoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai. An outstanding tactician, he w ...

was

Megohime was a Japanese noble lady and aristocrat from the Azuchi–Momoyama period to the early Edo period. She is the daughter and only child of Tamura Kiyoaki,Ōshima Kōichi, ''Ichinoseki Domain (Clan Stories Series)'', , page 12 the lord of Miharu ...

(1568–1653), also known as Lady Tamura, since she was the daughter and only child of

Tamura Kiyoaki was a Japanese samurai and head of the Tamura clan. Tamura clan was a daimyō ruled part of Mutsu. Kiyoaki inherited the headship of the Tamura clan around 1571. His daughter Lady Tamura married Date Masamune was a Japanese ''daimyō'' ...

. Her paternal grandmother and maternal grandmother were also both daughters of

Date Tanemune was a Japanese samurai warrior and Date clan leader during the Sengoku period. Biography He was born as the eldest son of Date Hisamune. His childhood name was Jiro (次郎). At the death of his father, he became ''daimyō'' of Mutsu Provin ...

, making her Masamune’s second cousin. She had four children, the eldest of which (

Date Tadamune was an early Edo period Japanese samurai, and the second ''daimyō'' of the 625,000 ''koku'' Sendai Domain in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. He was the half-brother of Date Hidemune of Uwajima Domain. Biography Tadamune was born as Tora ...

) was Masamune’s successor to

. Although Masamune had agreed that their second son should succeed to the Tamura clan, this son (Date Munetsuna) died at the age of 16. In order to restore the Tamura clan, Date Tadamune’s son Date Muneyoshi was ordered to take the Tamura surname. The restored Tamura clan was given 10,000 ''

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 Iwagasaki, Kurihara in what is now

Miyagi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,265,724 (1 August 2023) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akit ...

. When the young

Date Tsunamura was an early Edo period Japanese samurai, and the fourth ''daimyō'' of Sendai Domain in northern Japan, and the 20h hereditary chieftain of the Date clan. Tsunamura's succession led to the ''Date Sōdō'' or "Date Disturbance" of 1671, which has ...

became ''daimyō'' of Sendai in 1660, Muneyoshi gained an additional 20,000 ''koku'' from territories in what is now

Ichinoseki, Iwate is a city located in Iwate Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. , the city had a population of 114,476 and a population density of 91 persons per km2 in 46,375 households. It is currently the second largest city by population in t ...

. In addition, he became a guardian of Date Tsunamura together with Date Munekatsu. In 1662, Muneyoshi was transferred to the newly created Iwanuma Domain in the Natori District, becoming ''daimyō'' of a subsidiary domain to Sendai Domain. In 1695, his son

Tamura Tatsuaki was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan It was located in Mutsu Province, in northern Honshū. The domain was centered at Ichinoseki jin'ya, located in the center of what is now the city of Ichinoseki in Iwate Prefecture. History ...

, transferred the seat of the domain to Ichinoseki Domain (30,000 ''koku''). The clan remained at Ichinoseki 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 ...

. The Ichinoseki holdings were completely surrounded by

. Ichinoseki domain forces took part in the

Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei The was a Japanese military-political coalition established and disestablished over the course of several months in early to mid-1868 during the Boshin War. Its flag was either a white interwoven five-pointed star on a black field, or a black ...

's attack on the

Akita Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain in Edo period Japan, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Akita Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Kubota Castle in what is now the city of Akita, Akita, Akita and was thus also known as the . It was governe ...

in the late summer of 1868. In the Meiji era, the former ''daimyō'' of Ichinoseki, Tamura Takaaki, was created

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 new ''

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 system.Koyasu Nobushige (1880), ''Buke kazoku meiyoden'' vol. 1 (Tokyo: Koyasu Nobushige), p. 21. (Accessed fro
National Diet Library
, 13 August 2008)

Family Heads

Main line (Ichinoseki)

As lord of Iwanuma *

Tamura Muneyoshi was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of Iwanuma Domain in Mutsu Province of early-Edo period Japan Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)">DF 63 of 80">("Tamura," ''Nobiliare du ...

(1637–1678) *

(1656–1708) As lord of Ichinoseki *Tamura Takeaki (1656–1708) * Tamura Nobuaki (1670–1727) *

Tamura Muneaki was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan It was located in Mutsu Province, in northern Honshū. The domain was centered at Ichinoseki jin'ya, located in the center of what is now the city of Ichinoseki in Iwate Prefecture. History ...

(1707–1755) * Tamura Murataka (1737–1782) * Tamura Murasuke (1763–1808) *

(1784–1827) * Tamura Kuniaki (1817–1840) *

Tamura Kuniyuki was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan It was located in Mutsu Province, in northern Honshū. The domain was centered at Ichinoseki jin'ya, located in the center of what is now the city of Ichinoseki in Iwate Prefecture. History ...

(1820–1857) * Tamura Yukiaki (1850–1867) *

Tamura Kuniyoshi Viscount (July 7, 1852 – February 26, 1887) was the 10th Tamura ''daimyō'' of Ichinoseki Domain. His courtesy title was ''Sakyō-no-daifu'', and his Court rank was Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade. Kuniyoshi was the 7th son of Ishikawa Yo ...

(1852–1887) * Tamura Takaaki (1858–1922) *Admiral Tamura Hiroaki (1875-1945)

Notes

External links

{{in lang, ja Japanese clans Japanese people of Korean descent