- Fudai daimyo
nihongo|Fudai daimyo|譜代大名| was a class of
daimyo who were hereditary vassals of the Tokugawa inEdo period Japan . It was primarily the fudai who filled the ranks of the Tokugawa administration.Origins
Many of the families who formed the ranks of the fudai daimyo were families which had served the Tokugawa clan since before its rise to national primacy. Some of these include the Honda, Sakai, Sakakibara, Ii, Itakura, and
Mizuno clan s. Tokugawa Ieyasu's "Four Great Generals"- Honda Tadakatsu, Sakakibara Yasumasa, Sakai Tadatsugu, and Ii Naomasa, were all pre-Edo era fudai, and went on to become fudai daimyo. In addition, some branches of theMatsudaira clan (from which the Tokugawa clan originated), while allowed to retain the Matsudaira surname, were fudai.In the Edo period
As
Tokugawa Ieyasu rose to power in the 16th century, his domains increased, and as his domains increased, he began to hand out landholdings to his vassals, so that one by one, many of them becamedaimyo . This was the birth of the fudai daimyo class. In contrast to the "tozama ", the "fudai" typically ruled small fiefs, many in strategic locations along the principal roads or in theKantō region near the headquarters of the shogunate atEdo . [Ooms, pp. 14-15] High posts in the shogunate, such asRōjū andwakadoshiyori , normally went to fudai. In addition, the post ofKyoto Shoshidai almost always went to a fudai daimyo.Other clans which were not pre-
Azuchi-Momoyama era retainers of the Tokugawa also came to be counted as fudai: the Ogasawara and Doi are among them.Occasionally, a family could be raised to or from fudai status. For instance, the
Matsudaira clan to whichMatsudaira Sadanobu belonged went from being a fudai [ja icon [http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~me4k-skri/han/hokuriku/takada.html#Anchor668409 "Takada-han" on Edo 300 HTML] (14 March 2008)] house to being a recognized relative of the Tokugawa family. [ja icon [http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~me4k-skri/han/mutudewa/shirakawa.html#Anchor667575 "Shirakawa-han" on Edo 300 HTML] (14 March 2008)] Also, ahatamoto who had an increase in income which raised his income level over 10,000koku became a fudai daimyo.Bakumatsu and beyond
Many fudai daimyo were involved in the vigorous political activity of the Bakumatsu, as well as the renewed military activities which occurred in that period. Two such men of fudai daimyo background were
Ogasawara Nagamichi [Ogasawara was from a daimyo family (the Ogasawara of theKaratsu Domain ), but was not an actual daimyo] andItakura Katsukiyo [Itakura was lord of Bitchū-Matsuyama] , who were two of the last "rōjū ", and actively worked for reform and strengthening of the ailing shogunate. Others, such asMatsudaira Munehide , were involved in diplomacy and foreign affairs.In the
Boshin War of 1868-69, some fudai houses such as the Toda of Ogaki and the Tōdō of Tsu sided with the Shogunate during the first battle at Toba-Fushimi. However, after the shogunate's loss there, many fudai houses did not side with the shogunate or with the shogun's former army which moved northward and eventually set up theEzo Republic . [Bolitho, p. 145.] Some remained neutral, while others (like the lords of Ogaki and Tsu) switched allegiances and openly supported theImperial Japanese Army . Ogasawara Nagamichi and Itakura Katsukiyo led small groups of their retainers during the fight against the imperial forces. However, their domains had already been occupied by the imperial army, and were forced to participate in the war on the imperial army's behalf. [ja icon [http://jpco.sakura.ne.jp/shishitati1/kakuhan-page1/102.htm "Karatsu-han"] (14 March 2008)] Only one fudai daimyo,Hayashi Tadataka of theJōzai Domain , willingly left his domain early in 1868, and led most of his retainer force on behalf of the armies of the former shogun, in the fight against the imperial army. [Yamakawa, "Aizu Boshin Senshi", p. 505.] Also, a handful of fudai in the far north formed part of the Northern Alliance, fighting for the Alliance but not for the now-retired shogun.Most of the fudai in the country entered the
Meiji era peacefully, and ruled their domains until the domains' dissolution in 1871. After this, the former families of fudai daimyo became peers in the new Japanese nobility system.References
*Bolitho, Harold (1974). "Treasures among Men". New Haven: Yale University Press.
*Ooms, Herman (1975). "Charismatic Bureaucrat". Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
*ja icon [http://jpco.sakura.ne.jp/shishitati1/kakuhan-page1/102.htm "Karatsu-han"] (14 March 2008)
*Yamakawa Kenjiro (1933). "Aizu Boshin Senshi". Tokyo: Tokyo Daigaku Shuppankai.
*ja icon [http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~me4k-skri/han/hokuriku/takada.html#Anchor668409 "Takada-han" on Edo 300 HTML] (14 March 2008)
*ja icon [http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~me4k-skri/han/mutudewa/shirakawa.html#Anchor667575 "Shirakawa-han" on Edo 300 HTML] (14 March 2008)
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