The was a domain in feudal Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. It was located in Harima Province

Harima Province

or Banshu was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is the southwestern part of present-day Hyōgo Prefecture. Harima bordered on Tajima, Tamba, Settsu, Bizen, and Mimasaka Provinces. Its capital was Himeji....

 and coincided with the present-day cities of Akō

Ako, Hyogo

is a city located in the south west of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.As of April 30, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 50,902, with a household number of 19,841 and a density of 401.18 persons per km². The total area is 126.88 km². The city was officially founded on September 1, 1951...

 and Aioi

Aioi, Hyogo

is a city located between Himeji and Okayama, in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. As of 2008, the city had an estimated population of 32,584 and the density of 369.14 persons per km². The total area is 90.43 km².- History :...

 and the town of Kamigōri

Kamigori, Hyogo

is a town located in Akō District, Hyōgo, Japan.As of 2008, the town had an estimated population of 17,883 and a density of 119.87 persons per km². The total area is 150.28 km².-External links:*...

 in Hyōgo Prefecture

Hyogo Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The capital is Kobe.The prefecture's name was previously alternately spelled as Hiogo.- History :...

. The domain had its headquarters at Akō Castle

Ako Castle

is a flatland castle located in Akō, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The castle now is a national historic site.- History :This Akō castle is not to be confused with an earlier fortification located to the north. When the present castle was constructed, it took 13 years to complete the 12 gates and 10...

.

In 1615, the Tokugawa shogunate

Tokugawa shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...

 granted the Akō domain to Ikeda Masatsuna. He died without heir in 1631, and the domain passed to his brother Teruoki. However, Teruoki became deranged, and in 1645 he was dismissed; the domain was ruled by the main line of the Ikeda family until the appointment of Asano Naganao later that year. Under the Asano, the domain reached its highest rating of 53,000 koku

Koku

The is a Japanese unit of volume, equal to ten cubic shaku. In this definition, 3.5937 koku equal one cubic metre, i.e. 1 koku is approximately 278.3 litres. The koku was originally defined as a quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year...

.

Naganao's grandson Naganori

Asano Naganori

was the daimyo of the Akō Domain in Japan . His title was Takumi no Kami . He is known as the person who triggered a series of incidents retold in a story known as Chushingura, one of the favourite themes of kabuki, joruri and Japanese books and films.He was born in Edo as the eldest son of Asano...

 was the daimyo

Daimyo

is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...

 of Akō at the time of his attempt to kill Kira Yoshinaka

Kira Yoshinaka

was a kōke . His court title was Kōzuke no suke. He is famous as the adversary of Asano Naganori in the events of the Forty-seven Ronin...

 in Edo Castle

Edo Castle

, also known as , is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan. It is located in Chiyoda in Tokyo, then known as Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Tokugawa shogunate here. It was the residence of the shogun and location of the shogunate, and also...

 in 1701. He was sentenced to commit suicide and his retainers became ronin

Ronin

A or rounin was a Bushi with no lord or master during the feudal period of Japan. A samurai became masterless from the death or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege....

. A group of them became famous as the Forty-seven ronin

Forty-seven Ronin

The revenge of the , also known as the Forty-seven Samurai, the Akō vendetta, or the took place in Japan at the start of the 18th century...

.

The domain passed to Nagai Naohiro

Nagai Naohiro

was a Japanese daimyo of the Edo period, who ruled the Akō Domain following its confiscation from Asano Naganori. Naohiro was the eldest son of Nagai Naotsune, and assumed family headship after his father's death...

, who was transferred elsewhere in 1706. Akō then passed to Mori Naganao. He and his heirs ruled the domain for twelve generations until the abolition of the han system

Abolition of the han system

The was an act, in 1871, of the new Meiji government of the Empire of Japan to replace the traditional feudal domain system and to introduce centralized government authority . This process marked the culmination of the Meiji Restoration in that all daimyo were required to return their authority...

 in 1871. The rating of the domain was 20,000 koku.

Lords of Akō daimyo

• Ikeda clan
  Ikeda clan
  The was a Japanese clan that claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji. In the Edo period, several of the clan's branches were daimyo families, most notably of the Tottori Domain, and Okayama Domain. Takamasa Ikeda, present head of the Okayama Ikeda house is a husband of Atsuko Ikeda, fourth daughter...
  
   (35,000 koku
  Koku
  The is a Japanese unit of volume, equal to ten cubic shaku. In this definition, 3.5937 koku equal one cubic metre, i.e. 1 koku is approximately 278.3 litres. The koku was originally defined as a quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year...
  
  , 1615–1645)

1. Masatsuna
2. Teruoki

• Asano clan (53,000->50,000->53,000 koku
  Koku
  The is a Japanese unit of volume, equal to ten cubic shaku. In this definition, 3.5937 koku equal one cubic metre, i.e. 1 koku is approximately 278.3 litres. The koku was originally defined as a quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year...
  
  , 1645–1701)

1. Naganao
2. Nagatomo
   Asano Nagatomo
   was a Japanese daimyo of the Edo period, who ruled the Akō Domain. He was the father of the famous Asano Naganori.-References:*This article is derived from corresponding content on the Japanese Wikipedia....
   
   
3. Naganori
   Asano Naganori
   was the daimyo of the Akō Domain in Japan . His title was Takumi no Kami . He is known as the person who triggered a series of incidents retold in a story known as Chushingura, one of the favourite themes of kabuki, joruri and Japanese books and films.He was born in Edo as the eldest son of Asano...
   
   

• Nagai clan (32,000 koku
  Koku
  The is a Japanese unit of volume, equal to ten cubic shaku. In this definition, 3.5937 koku equal one cubic metre, i.e. 1 koku is approximately 278.3 litres. The koku was originally defined as a quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year...
  
  , 1701–1706)

1. Naohiro
   Nagai Naohiro
   was a Japanese daimyo of the Edo period, who ruled the Akō Domain following its confiscation from Asano Naganori. Naohiro was the eldest son of Nagai Naotsune, and assumed family headship after his father's death...
   
   

• Mori clan
  Mori clan
  The Mōri clan was a family of daimyō, descended from Ōe no Hiromoto and established themselves in Aki Province. Their name was derived from a shōen in Mōri, Aikō District, Sagami Province. The generation of Hiromoto began to name themselves Mōri.After the Jōkyū War, Mōri was appointed to the jitō...
  
   (20,000 koku
  Koku
  The is a Japanese unit of volume, equal to ten cubic shaku. In this definition, 3.5937 koku equal one cubic metre, i.e. 1 koku is approximately 278.3 litres. The koku was originally defined as a quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year...
  
  , 1706–1871)

1. Naganao
   Mori Naganao
   was a Japanese daimyo of the mid-Edo period, who ruled the domain of Nishi-Ebara before being transferred to Akō.Naganao was the 11th son of Mori Nagatsugu, the lord of the Tsuyama Domain . Nagatsugu was succeeded by Naganao's elder brother Nagatake in 1674, and after Nagatake's retirement in 1686,...
   
   
2. Nagataka
3. Naganari
4. Masafusa
5. Tadahiro (r. 1747–1769)
6. Tadaoki
7. Tadasuke
8. Tadaakira
9. Tadataka
10. Tadanori
11. Tadatsune
12. Tadanori