Hirosaki Domain

The nihongo|Hirosaki Domain|弘前藩|Hirosaki-han was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in northern Mutsu Province (modern-day Hirosaki, Aomori). It was ruled by the Tsugaru clan. A branch of the family ruled the adjoining Kuroishi Domain.

History

Background

Foundation

The domain was headquartered at Hirosaki Castle.

The domain's "karō" was Daidōji Naohide; the position of karō remained hereditary in his family.

The Tsugaru clan sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu's Eastern Army during the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. [Edwin McClellan (1985). "Woman in the Crested Kimono" (New Haven: Yale University Press), p. 164.] Its immediate neighbors also all supported the Eastern Army. After the Tokugawa victory at Sekigahara, the Tsugaru clan was granted an increase in territory, along with permission to keep its existing domain of Hirosaki (named for the family's castle town). The domain started out small at 45,000 "koku", before being increased in size to 100,000 "koku". [ja icon [http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~ME4K-SKRI/han/mutudewa/tugaru.html "Tsugaru-han" on Edo 300 HTML] (15 July 2008).] Tamenobu remained politically active in the early years of the Edo era, mainly in the Kansai area; he died in Kyoto in 1608.ja icon [http://www2.harimaya.com/sengoku/html/tugal_k.html "Tsugaru-shi" on Harimaya.com] (15 July 2008).]

The early years of the Edo era were marked by a series of major "O-Ie Sōdō" disturbances that shook the Tsugaru family: the nihongo|Tsugaru Disturbance|津軽騒動|Tsugaru-sōdō of 1607, nihongo|Kōsaka Kurando's Riot|高坂蔵人の乱|Kōsaka Kurando no ran of 1612, the nihongo|Funabashi Disturbance|船橋騒動|Funabashi-sōdō of 1634, and the nihongo|Shōhō Disturbance|正保騒動|Shōhō-sōdō of 1647. In 1821, there was a foiled plot by Sōma Daisaku, a former retainer of the Nanbu clan, to assassinate the Tsugaru lord; this stemmed from the old enmity between the two clans.

A major branch of the Tsugaru clan was founded in 1656, which was first given "hatamoto" rank, before being promoted to daimyo status in 1809; this became the ruling family of the Kuroishi Domain, [Onodera Eikō (2005). "Boshin nanboku sensō to Tōhoku seiken". (Sendai: Kita no mori), p. 134.] which immediately bordered its parent family's domain. A lesser branch was founded by Tsugaru Nobuzumi, the son of the first Kuroishi-Tsugaru family head; this branch remained "hatamoto" through the end of the Edo period.ja icon [http://www2.harimaya.com/sengoku/html/tugal_k.html "Tsugaru-shi" on Harimaya.com] (15 July 2008).] The main Tsugaru family's funerary temple in Hirosaki was located at Chōshō-ji. [Jan Dodd (2001), "The rough guide to Japan". (n.p.: Rough Guides), p. 288.] Though neither Tsugaru daimyo family ever held shogunate office, the Tsugaru of Hirosaki (together with many of the other domains of northern Honshū) assisted the shogunate in policing the frontier region of Ezochi (now Hokkaido). [Noguchi Shin'ichi (2005). "Aizu-han". (Tokyo: Gendai shokan), p. 194.] In the late Edo period, during the headship of Tsugaru Tsuguakira, the Hirosaki domain's forces were modernized along western lines.

ub-domains

Disturbances

The early years of the Edo era were marked by a series of major "O-Ie Sōdō" disturbances that shook the Tsugaru family: the nihongo|Tsugaru Disturbance|津軽騒動|Tsugaru-sōdō of 1607, nihongo|Kōsaka Kurando's Riot|高坂蔵人の乱|Kōsaka Kurando no ran of 1612, the nihongo|Funabashi Disturbance|船橋騒動|Funabashi-sōdō of 1634, and the nihongo|Shōhō Disturbance|正保騒動|Shōhō-sōdō of 1647. In 1821, there was a foiled plot by Sōma Daisaku, a former retainer of the Nanbu clan, to assassinate the Tsugaru lord; this stemmed from the old enmity between the two clans.

Boshin War and dissolution

The Hirosaki domain ceased to exist in 1871. Its territory is now part of Aomori Prefecture.

List of lords

*Tsugaru clan (Tozama; 47,000->46,000->70,000->100,000 koku)

#Tamenobu
#Nobuhira
#Nobuyoshi
#Nobumasa
#Nobuhisa
#Nobuaki
#Nobuyasu
#Nobuakira (also known as Nobuharu)
#Yasuchika
#Nobuyuki
#Yukitsugu
#Tsuguakira

Notes

References

* McClellan, Edwin (1985). "Woman in the Crested Kimono." New Haven: Yale University Press.
* Sasaki Suguru (2002). "Boshin sensō: haisha no Meiji ishin." Tokyo: Chūōkōron-shinsha.

Further reading

In Japanese

* Kurotaki, Jūjirō (1984). "Tsugaru-han no hanzai to keibatsu" 津軽藩の犯罪と刑罰. Hirosaki: Hoppō shinsha.

In English

* Dazai, Osamu (1985). "Return to Tsugaru: travels of a purple tramp." Tokyo: Kodansha International.