Tokuyama Domain
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270px, Viscount Mōri Motoisha, son of the last ''daimyo'' of Tokuyama 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 ...
of
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, in what is now southeastern
Yamaguchi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). ...
. A subsidiary domain of
Chōshū Domain The , also known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871.Deal, William E. (2005) ''Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan,'' p. 81 The Chōshū Domain was based ...
, it was centered around Tokuyama ''jin'ya'' in what is now part of the city of Shūnan, Yamaguchi, and was ruled throughout its history by a cadet branch of the
Mōri clan The was a Japanese clan, Japanese samurai clan descended from Ōe no Hiromoto. Ōe no Hiromoto was descended from the Fujiwara clan. The family's most illustrious member, Mōri Motonari, greatly expanded the clan's power in Aki Province. Durin ...
. Tokuyama Domain was dissolved in 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 1871.


History


As Kudamatsu Domain

Mōri Narikata, a son of
Mōri Terumoto Mōri Terumoto (毛利 輝元, January 22, 1553 – June 2, 1625) was a Japanese ''daimyō''. The son of Mōri Takamoto, and grandson and successor of the great warlord Mōri Motonari, he fought against Oda Nobunaga but was eventually overc ...
and brother of Mōri Hidenari was granted estates 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 31,000 ''
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 ...
'' and was authorized to establish a cadet branch of the Mōri clan. As his seat was initially located in Kudamatsu,
Suō Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of ancient Japan in the area that is today the eastern part of Yamaguchi Prefecture. Suō bordered on Aki Province, Aki, Iwami Province, Iwami, and Nagato Province, Nagato Provinces. Its abbreviated form na ...
, the domain was initially referred to as "Kudamatsu Domain". In a land survey of 1625, it was estimated that his actual ''kokudaka'' was more than 40,000 ''koku''. The domain received official recognition by 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 ...
only in 1634. Mōri Narikata spent most of his time 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 ...
, visiting his estates only in 1634. For the most part, his holdings were administered by officials from the parent domain dispatched from Hagi; however, many of the domain's ''samurai'' were originally '' ronin'' made masterless by 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, ...
, or else third sons of retainers of the parent domain who had poor prospects for employment closer to home.


As Tokuyama Domain

In June 1650, Mōri Narikata moved his seat to a place called Nogami, which he renamed "Tokuyama". The new location was more convenient for trade and commerce, and the domain was renamed "Tokuyama Domain". In 1716, under the third ''daimyō'', Mōri Mototsugu, there was a heated dispute between Tokuyama Domain and the parent domain over the felling of trees (the Manyakuyama incident), which resulted in intervention of the shogunate and
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 Tokuyama Domain for "disrespect". However, through the efforts of Mototsugu's son Mōri Mototaka and senior retainers, the domain was revived in 1719, albeit with a reduction in ''kokudaka'' to 30,000 ''koku''. In 1836, the eighth ''daimyō'', Mōri Hiroshige, was raised in status to "castle-holding daimyō", and Tokuyama jin'ya was renamed "Tokuyama Castle" and the domain's ''kokudaka'' reverted to 40,000 ''koku''. His successor, Mōri Motomitsu, ruled 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 ...
. At the time of 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 1871, it was estimated that the domain's actual ''kokudaka'' was more than 69,000 ''koku''. On July 26, 1945, Tokuyama Castle was destroyed by the Tokuyama Air Raid.


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 ...
, Tokuyama Domain consisted of several discontinuous territories calculated to provide the assigned ''
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 ...
'', 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, g.Elison, George and Bardwell L. Smith (1987)
''Warlords, Artists, & Commoners: Japan in the Sixteenth Century,'' p. 18
*
Suō Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of ancient Japan in the area that is today the eastern part of Yamaguchi Prefecture. Suō bordered on Aki Province, Aki, Iwami Province, Iwami, and Nagato Province, Nagato Provinces. Its abbreviated form na ...
**1 village in Kumage District **26 villages in Tsuno District **2 villages in Saba District *
Nagato Province , often called , was a province of Japan. It was at the extreme western end of Honshū, in the area that is today Yamaguchi Prefecture. Nagato bordered on Iwami and Suō Provinces. History Although the ancient capital of the province was Shimono ...
**2 villages in Abu District


List of daimyō

:


See also

* List of Han *
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) ...


References

{{Authority control Domains of Japan History of Yamaguchi Prefecture Suō Province Chūgoku region 1871 disestablishments in Japan States and territories disestablished in 1871 Shūnan, Yamaguchi