Kubota Domain
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The Kubota Domain (久保田藩 Kubota han?) was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Akita Prefecture). It is also known as the Akita Domain (秋田藩 Akita han?). The domain was governed for the whole of its history by the Satake clan.
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[edit] History
The Akita region, where Kubota is located, was historically a part of Dewa Province. Before the Edo period, and the subequent entry of the Satake clan, the region was fought over by various daimyo such as the Akita, Tozawa and the Onodera. The Satake clan, formerly of Hitachi Province, were transferred to Kubota in 1600 (from their previous, larger holdings in Hitachi) as punishment for siding with the vanquished Toyotomi army at the Battle of Sekigahara.[1] As a result of this drop in income (nearly half of their previous income of around 540,000 koku), the Satake had to lay off many retainers, and institute a general stipend reduction for those it kept.
During the Edo period, the Kubota domain also suffered from frequent ikki due to poor agricultural conditions resulting from overdependence on rice, a crop not well suited to the climate of northern Japan. Because of this, Kubota registered 87 ikki[citation needed] during the Edo period, second after the 133 ikki for the Morioka Domain.[citation needed]
The Kubota domain had two sub-domains: Iwasaki (20,000 koku) and the short-lived Kubota-shinden (10,000 koku).
During the Boshin War (1868-69), the Kubota domain initially joined the Northern Alliance[2]; however, it soon switched sides and joined the Meiji government's army.[3] Forces of the Alliance headed by Morioka Domain troops then undertook a campaign to contain the threat thus posed by Kubota[4]; they were able to make great strides in this regard, even capturing the Kubota domain's Yokote Castle.[5] However, as Aizu and the Sendai Domain were soon defeated, the war came to an end. Kubota was disbanded together with the rest of the domains of Japan in 1871; its territory soon became part of the modern-day Akita Prefecture.
[edit] List of Daimyo
- Satake clan (Tozama; 205,000 koku)
- Yoshinobu (r. 1602-1633)
- Yoshitaka
- Yoshizumi
- Yoshitada
- Yoshimine
- Yoshimasa
- Yoshiharu
- Yoshiatsu
- Yoshimasa
- Yoshihiro
- Yoshichika
- Yoshitaka
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
Books
- Onodera, Eikō (2005). Boshin nanboku sensō to Tohoku seiken. Sendai: Kita no sha.
- Saga, Jun'ichi (1987). Memories of Silk and Straw: A Self-Portrait of Small-Town Japan. New York: Kodansha International.
- Sasaki, Suguru (2002). Boshin Senso: haisha no Meiji-ishin. Tokyo: Chuōkōron-shinsha.
Websites
