Honjō Domain
Honjō Domain (本荘藩 Honjō-han) was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Akita Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Honjō Castle in what is now the city of Yurihonjō, Akita.
History
Much of Dewa Province was controlled by the powerful Mogami clan during the Sengoku period. The Mogami established a subsidiary holding centered on Honjō Castle in the center of the Yuri region of central Dewa Province in 1610. However, the Mogami were dispossessed by the Tokugawa shogunate in 1622, with the majority of their holdings going to the Satake clan, who were transferred from Hitachi Province to their new (and much smaller) holdings at Kubota Domain.
Rokugō Masanori, a relatively minor samurai from Senboku Country in Dewa Province served Toyotomi Hideyoshi at the Battle of Odawara in 1590, and sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Sekigahara, and was eventually promoted to the status of a 10,000 koku daimyo, with his holdings scattered in Dewa and Hitachi Provinces. When the Mogami were dispossessed, the Tokugawa shogunate transferred him from Hitachi to the newly created Honjō Domain, and increased his revenues to 20,000 koku, which were then all consolidated in 103 villages in Yuki County where his descendants ruled for 11 generations to the Meiji restoration.
During the Boshin war, the final daimyo of Honjō Domain, Rokugō Masakane sided with the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei; however, the domain had scant military resources and was quickly overrun by the pro-Imperial Satchō Alliance, who destroyed Honjō Castle. The new Meiji government reinstated him as domainal governor in 1868, but halved his revenues to 10,000 koku. With the abolition of the han system in July 1871, and the absorption of Honjō Domain into Akita Prefecture, Rokugō Masakane relocated to Tokyo. In 1884, he and his descendents were granted the title of viscount (shishaku) in the kazoku peerage.
List of daimyō
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Rokugō clan (tozama) 1623-1871
| # | Name | Tenure | Courtesy title | Court Rank | revenues |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rokugō Masanori ( 六郷政乗) | 1623–1634 | Hyobu-daisuke | Lower 5th (従五位下) | 20,000 koku |
| 2 | Rokugō Masakatsu ( 六郷政勝) | 1634–1676 | Iga-no-kami | Lower 5th (従五位下) | 20,000 koku |
| 3 | Rokugō Masanobu ( 六郷政信) | 1676–1685 | Sado-no-kami | Lower 5th (従五位下) | 20,000 koku |
| 4 | Rokugō Masaharu ( 六郷政晴) | 1685–1735 | Iga-no-kami | Lower 5th (従五位下) | 20,000 koku |
| 5 | Rokugō Masanaga ( 六郷政長) | 1735–1754 | Iga-no-kami | Lower 5th (従五位下) | 20,000 koku |
| 6 | Rokugō Masashige ( 六郷政林) | 1754–1783 | Hyobu-daisuke | Lower 5th (従五位下) | 20,000 koku |
| 7 | Rokugō Masachika ( 六郷政速) | 1783–1812 | Sado-no-kami | Lower 5th (従五位下) | 20,000 koku |
| 8 | Rokugō Masazumi ( 六郷政純) | 1812–1822 | Awa-no-kami | Lower 5th (従五位下) | 20,000 koku |
| 9 | Rokugō Masatsune ( 六郷政恒) | 1822–1848 | Hyobu-daisuke | Lower 5th (従五位下) | 20,000 koku |
| 10 | Rokugō Masatada ( 六郷政殷) | 1848–1861 | Hyobu-daisuke | Lower 5th (従五位下) | 20,000 koku |
| 11 | Rokugō Masakane (六郷政鑑) | 1861–1871 | Hyobu-daisuke | 3rd (従三位), Viscount | 20,000-->10,000 koku |
Further reading
- Papinot, E (1910). Historical and Geographic Dictionary of Japan. Tuttle (reprint) 1972.
- Sasaki Suguru (2004). Boshin Sensō 戊辰戦争. Tokyo: Chuokōron-shinsha.
External links
- (Japanese) [www.asahi-net.or.jp/~me4k-skri/han/mutudewa/honjou.html] Honjō on "Edo 300 HTML"
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