was a

feudal domain A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. In contrast, th ...

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, in what is now eastern

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders ...

. It was centered around

Yanagawa Castle Yanagawa may refer to: * Yanagawa, Fukuoka * Yanagawa, Fukushima * Yanagawa (surname) * Yanagawa (film) ''Yanagawa'' (, ''lit.'' ''A Lasting Confession'') is a 2021 Chinese romantic drama film written and directed by Korean-Chinese filmmaker Zhan ...

in what is now the city of

Yanagawa, Fukuoka file:Yanagawa City Hall 2021.JPG, 270px, Yanagawa City Hall is a Cities of Japan, city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 62,268 in 26426 households, and a population density of 810 persons per km2. ...

and was ruled by the ''

tozama daimyō was a class of powerful magnates or ''daimyō'' (大名) considered to be outsiders by the ruler of Japan during the Edo period (江戸時代). ''Tozama daimyō'' were classified in the Tokugawa shogunate (江戸幕府) as ''daimyō'' who becam ...

'' Tachibana clan for much of its history.

History

Following

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: ...

conquest of Kyushu Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or legal prohibitions against conquest. ...

of 1586-1587, he assigned

Tachibana Muneshige , was a Japanese ''samurai'', known in his youth as Senkumamaru (千熊丸) and alternatively called Tachibana Munetora (立花宗虎 or 立花統虎), during the Azuchi–Momoyama period and an Edo-period ''daimyō''. He was the eldest biol ...

castellan A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...

of Yanagawa Castle with a fief of 132,000 ''

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 ...

''. However, 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, ...

in 1600 he sided with the pro-Toyotomi Western Army, and was dispossessed by the victorious

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 ...

. The

demoted him to 30,000 ''koku'' at

Tanagura Domain was a '' fudai'' feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It is located in southern Mutsu Province, Honshū. The domain was centered at Tanagura Castle, located in what is now part of the town of Tanagura in Fukushima ...

in Mutsu Province. In the same year, Tanaka Yoshimasa, the castellan of

Okazaki Castle is a Japanese castle located in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Okazaki Castle was home to the Honda clan, ''daimyō'' of Okazaki Domain, but the castle is better known for its association with Tokugawa Ieyasu ...

Mikawa Province was an Provinces of Japan, old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mikawa''" in . Its abbreviated form name was . Mikawa bordered on Owari Province, O ...

, was awarded 325,000 ''koku'' in

Chikugo Province was a province of Japan in the area of northern Kyūshū, corresponding to part of southwestern Fukuoka Prefecture. Chikugo bordered on Higo and Chikugo to the southeast, and Chikuzen to the north and east, Bungo to the east and Hizen to t ...

for his achievement in capturing

Ishida Mitsunari was a Japanese samurai and military commander of the late Sengoku period of Japan. He is probably best remembered as the commander of the Western army in the Battle of Sekigahara following the Azuchi–Momoyama period of the 16th century. He ...

and entered Yanagawa Castle. Yoshimasa vigorously carried out the maintenance of the territory, such as renovating the

Chikugo River The flows through Kumamoto, Ōita, Fukuoka and Saga prefectures in Japan. With a total length of , it is the longest river on Kyūshū. It flows from Mount Aso and empties into the Ariake Sea. It is also nicknamed "Tsukushi Jirō". The upp ...

, encouraging the development of new paddy fields, and building a 32-kilometer embankment on the coast of the

Ariake Sea The is a body of salt water surrounded by Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, and Kumamoto Prefectures, all of which lie on the island of Kyūshū in Japan. It is the largest bay in Kyūshū. Its deepest point is only about 50 meters (165 ft) deep, and ext ...

. He was succeeded by his son, Tanaka Tadamasa, who died of illness without heir in 1620, causing

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 the domain. The former Tanaka territory was divided, and Tachibana Muneshige, who had managed to receive a pardon, returned to Yanagawa Castle with an increase in ''

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 ...

'' to 109,000 ''koku''. In addition, in the following year (1621), Tachibana Tanetsugu, a nephew of Muneshige, entered established

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 cla ...

with a ''kokudaka'' of 10,000 ''koku''. Under the second ''daimyō'', Tachibana Tadashige, stipends for vassals was changed in 1658 from a land-based system to fixed payments from the domain treasury, with all lands now coming during the direct control of the domain. Under the fourth ''daimyō'', Tachibana Akitaka, a ''daimyō'' residence called "Shukkei-tei" was erected to the west of the castle in 1697. In 1738, the ''

Ōoku The was historically the harem, women's quarters of Edo Castle, the section where the women connected to the reigning resided. Similar areas in the castles of powerful , such as the Satsuma Domain, were also referred to by this term. During ...

'' of Yanagawa Domain was relocated from the Ni-no-maru enclosure of Yanagawa Castle to this mansion, which was the renamed "Ohana". This building still exists as the Japanese-style inn "Ohana" run by the Tachibana family. After Tachibana Taneyoshi, the ''daimyō'' of Miike Domain was dispossessed in 1806 and sent to Shimotedo Domain in Mutsu Province, the territory of Miike Domain became ''

tenryō 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 war ...

'' under direct control of the Tokugawa shogunate. However, in 1816, this territory was assigned to Yanagawa Domain to administer on behalf of the shogunate. In 1851, half the territory, or 5000 ''koku'', was returned to Shimotedo Domain and after Miike Domain was re-established in 1867, custodianship of the territory ended. The last ''daimyō'' of Yanagawa, Tachibana Akitomo, reformed the domain's administration, focusing on financial reconstruction by establishing domain monopolies and issuing large quantities of ''hansatsu'' paper money, which were used by Yanagawa merchants to buy local products, send them to

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

to sell, and paid the profits from the trade back to the domain. He also made efforts to introduce Western-style guns in his military, and participated in the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

Second Chōshū expedition The Second Chōshū expedition (), also called the Summer War, was a punitive expedition led by the Tokugawa shogunate against the Chōshū Domain. It followed the First Chōshū expedition of 1864. Campaign The Second Chōshū expedition was a ...

s on the side of the shogunate. 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 ...

, he sided with the new government and fought in the

Battle of Aizu The Battle of Aizu () was fought in northern Japan from October to November in autumn 1868, and was part of the Boshin War. History Aizu was known for its martial skill, and maintained at any given time a standing army of over 5000. It was oft ...

, for which he received an increase of 5000 ''koku'' in 1869 by the

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...

. In the same year, he became imperial governor of Yanagawa. In 1871 he moved to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

by order of the new government following the abolition of feudal domains and establishment of prefectures. Yanagawa Castle was burnt down in 1872, possibly as a measure to prevent the Tachibana family treasures from being confiscated by the new government. In 1871, after briefly becoming "Yanagawa Prefecture", it was incorporated into Fukuoka Prefecture through "Mizuma Prefecture". Tachibana Akitomo became a count in the ''

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 in 1884.

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 ...

, Yanagawa Domain consisted of several discontinuous territories calculated to provide the assigned ''

'', 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
*

**115 villages in Yamato District **27 villages in

Mizuma District is a Districts of Japan, district located in Fukuoka Prefecture,Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Fukuoka-ken" in . Japan. As of 2003 statistics and counting the decrease in size and population due to the Kurume, Fukuoka, Kurume merger, the ...

**55 villages in Miike District **10 villages in Shimotsuma District **18 villages in Kamitsuma District

List of daimyō

References

External links

Yanagawa on "Edo 300 HTML"
(19 Oct. 2007) {{Authority control Domains of Japan Tachibana clan History of Fukuoka Prefecture Chikugo Province Kyushu region

History

Holdings at the end of the Edo period

List of daimyō

See also

References

External links