Tsuruga-han was a fudai feudal domain of Edo period Japan. It is located in Echizen Province, in the Hokuriku region of Honshū. The domain was centered at Tsuruga jin'ya, located in the center of what is now the city of Tsuruga in Fukui Prefecture. It was also referred to as Mariyama-han.
History
The Tsuruga District was an important seaport on the Sea of Japan from ancient times. In the
Sengoku period, it came under the control of
Shibata Katsuie. Under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, it was assigned as a 50,0000
koku fief to
Hachiya Yoritaka, and after he died without heir in 1589, it was assigned to Ōtani Yoshitsugu. However, after the 1600 Battle of Sekigahara, the victorious
Tokugawa Ieyasu assigned all of Echizen Province as a 680,000
koku fief to his second son Yūki Hideyasu. In 1615, under the Tokugawa shogunate's "one country, one castle" policy Tsuruga Castle was destroyed. Further, Yuki Hideyasu's son, Matsudaira Tadanao was dismissed by the shogunate for misgovernment, and
Fukui Domain was greatly reduced in size. The Tsuruga area became divided mostly between territory controlled by the
Sakai clan of neighbouring
Obama Domain and
tenryō territory controlled directly by the shogunate.
In 1682, the 2nd daimyō of Obama Domain, Sakai Tadanao, left a will stating that 10,000 koku portion of Obama Domain's holdings in Tsuruga be separated into a separate domain for his second son, Sakai Tadashige. This marked the start of Tsuruga Domain. Initially, the domain existed completely as a subsidiary domain of Obama Domain and continued to be administered as an integral part of that domain. Although a jin'ya was constructed in the Mariyama area in 1687, only a few officials resided there - the daimyō of Tsuruoka worked as officials within the shōgun government, and preferred to stay at the domain's residence in Edo. The fourth daimyō of Tsuruga, Sakai Tadaka started to take steps to assert the domain's independence from the parent house from 1759; however, one hundred years later, the domain still remained economically dependent on Obama and the seventh daimyō, Sakai Tadamasu proposed unsuccessfully that it be reabsorbed back into Obama. In 1861, the domain kokudaka was increased by 1060 koku with the promotion of Sakai Tadamasa to wakadoshiyori and the status of a "castle-holding daimyō, but with these promotions came the onus to perform the sankin kōtai, so the domain was actually worse off financially than before. During the Boshin War, the domain followed the lead of the parent house and defected to the imperial side. The final daimyō of Tsuruga, Sakai Tadatsune served as imperial governor under the Meiji government until the abolition of the han system in 1871.
Bakumatsu period holdings
Like with most
fudai domains in the
han system, Tsuruga Domain consisted of discontinuous territories calculated to provide the assigned
kokudaka, based on periodic
cadastral surveys and projected agricultural yields,
[Jeffrey Mass and William B. Hauser. (1987). The Bakufu in Japanese History, p. 150.][Elison, George and Bardwell L. Smith (1987). Warlords, Artists, & Commoners: Japan in the Sixteenth Century, p. 18.]
-
Echizen Province
-
23 villages in Tsuruga District
-
Ōmi Province
-
13 villages in Takashima District
List of daimyō
|
| Sakai clan ( fudai) 1682–1871 |
| 10,000 koku |
| 10,000 koku |
| 10,000 koku |
| 10,000 koku |
| 10,000 koku |
| 10,000 koku |
| 10,000->11,060 koku |
| 11,060 koku |
|
Sakai Tadashige
extra=April 27, 1653 – July 12, 1706 was the 1st
daimyō of Tsuruga Domain in
Echizen Province under the
Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. Tadashige born at the Sakai clan residence in
Edo, and was the second son of
Sakai Tadanao of
Obama Domain. His childhood name was Senchiyō. In 1682, on the death of his father, he received an estate with a
kokudaka of 10,000
koku in Echizen Province. This marked the start of Tsuruga Domain. He later served as an
Ōbangashira in the administration of the Tokugawa shogunate. His
courtesy title was
Ukyō-no-suke. His wife was the daughter of
Doi Toshifusa of Ōno Domain. He died in 1706 and his grave is at the temple of Seisho-ji in Atago, Tokyo.
Sakai Tadagiku
extra=October 26, 1679 – March 22, 1722 was the 2nd
daimyō of Tsuruga Domain in Echizen Province under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. Tadakiku was the eldest son of
Sakai Tadashige. He became
daimyō of Tsuruga on the death of his father in 1706. He was an
Ōbangashira in 1714 and died in 1722. His first wife was a daughter of
of Omi-Miyagawa Domain, and he later remarried the daughter of
Aoyama Tadashige of
Kameyama Domain. His courtesy title was
Hida-no-kami.
Sakai Tadatake
extra=February 3, 1709 – September 21, 1731 was the 3rd
daimyō of Tsuruga Domain in Echizen Province under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. Tadatake was the third son of
Sakai Tadagiku. He was received in formal audience by Shōgun Tokugawa Yoshimune in 1715 and became
daimyō on the death of his father in 1722. His courtesy title was
Ukyō-no-suke. However, he was relieved of office due to a fire which burned down the clan residence in 1723. He died without heir in 1731.
Sakai Tadaka
extra=1715 – December 3, 1791 was the 4th
daimyō of Tsuruga Domain in Echizen Province under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. Tadaka was the 8th son of
Sakai Tadagiku. He was posthumously adopted as heir to his brother Tadatake and became
daimyō in 1731. In 1745, he served as
Ōbangashira and in 1758 became a
Sōshaban. He rose to the post of
Jisha-bugyō in 1761 and
wakadoshiyori in 1765. He retired in 1788 and died in 1791. His courtesy title was
Harima-no-kami, later
Hida-no-kami. His wife was a daughter of
Mizuno Tadasada of Hōjō Domain.
Sakai Tadanobu
extra=February 13, 1756 – March 27, 1799 was the 5th
daimyō of Tsuruga Domain in Echizen Province under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. Tadanobu was the fourth son of
Sakai Tadaka, and became
daimyō on the retirement of his father in 1788 as all three of his elder brothers died in infancy. He served as
Ōbangashira. In 1797 he retired, and died in 1799 at the age of 44. His wife was a daughter of
Miura Akitsugu of Mimasaka-Katsuyama Domain. His courtesy title was
Sagami-no-kami.
Sakai Tadae
extra=February 20, 1781 – July 8, 1833 was the 6th
daimyō of Tsuruga Domain in Echizen Province under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. Tadae was the eldest son of
Sakai Tadanobu. His courtesy title was initially
Ukyō-no-suke, later
Hida-no-kami. He became
daimyō on the retirement of his father in 1797. His wife was a granddaughter of
Arima Takasumi of
Maruoka Domain. He served as
Ōbangashira and
Osaka-johan. He died in 1833 at the age of 53.
Sakai Tadamasu
extra=July 26, 1815 – February 12, 1876 was the 7th
daimyō of Tsuruga Domain in Echizen Province under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. Tadamasu was the fourth son of
Sakai Tadae. His wife was a daughter of
Sakai Tadamichi of Dewa-Matsuyama Domain; he later remarried to a daughter of
Nagai Naosuke of
Kano Domain. He became
daimyō on the death of his father in 1833. He served as
wakadoshiyori in the administration of the Tokugawa shogunate during three critical occasions.
In 1859, Russian general Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky led a fleet of seven vessels into Tokyo Bay, and demanded that Japan officially recognize Russian sovereignty over all of Sakhalin. Sakai and Endō Tanenori (of Mikami Domain) served as negotiators on the Japanese side, claiming that not only was Sakhalin Japanese territory, but so were the Kurile Islands, including Kamchatka peninsula. The second time was in 1861, when he met with British minister Rutherford Alcock and French minister Gustave Duchesne de Bellecourt over the murder of Henry Heusken. The third time was from 1863 to 1864, during negotiations with the British Chargé d'affaires Edward St. John Neale over reparation demanded due to the Namamugi incident, and with the French, British, Dutch and American delegations over the Shimonoseki Campaign. Although a strong supporter of the shogunate during the Bakumatsu period, he resigned his posts at the time of the Taisei hōkan and after the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, the domain submitted to the new Meiji government.
Sakai Tadatsune
extra=September 26, 1848 – December 5, 1884 was the 8th (and final)
daimyō of Tsuruga Domain in Echizen Province. Tadatsune was the fourth son of
Sakai Tadamasu. His wife was a daughter of Itakura Katsuaki of
Fukushima Domain. He became
daimyō in 1867 when his father submitted to the Meiji government and served as imperial governor in 1869. When the domain was merged with Obama Domain in 1870, he subsequently served as imperial governor of Obama until the abolition of the han system in 1871.
See also
Notes
External links
