Kubota Domain
Encyclopedia
The was a Japanese domain
of the Edo period
, located in Dewa Province
(modern-day Akita Prefecture
). Its main castle was in modern-day Akita, Akita
. The Kubota Domain was also known as the . It was governed for the whole of its history by the Satake clan
. In the Boshin War
of 1868-69, it joined the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei
, the alliance of northern domains, but then pulled out. Kubota then came under attack by forces still loyal to the alliance. As with all other domains, it was disbanded
in 1871.
The Satake clan, which ruled Kubota, was originally from Hitachi Province
. In 1600, the Satake sided with the Western Army at the Battle of Sekigahara
. After the Western Army's defeat by the Eastern forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu
, the Satake clan was allowed to continue, but was punished. The clan's income level was severely reduced, and in 1602, its territories were moved to Kubota, a much smaller fief in northern Japan, where they remained until 1871. 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.
Kubota's income level was 205,000 koku
, and it was classified as an outside (tozama
) daimyo. It had two sub-domains: Iwasaki (20,000 koku
) and the short-lived Kubota-shinden (10,000 koku
). The domain also often had agricultural crises, which resulted in several peasant uprisings throughout the course of its history. It was also beset by an internal o-ie sodo
conflict, the , which was brought on by financial issues.
Satake Yoshiatsu (better known by his nom-de-plume Satake Shozan), the 8th generation lord of Kubota, was an accomplished artist. Yoshiatsu painted a number of paintings in the Dutch style, and also produced three treatises on European painting techniques, including the depiction of perspective. He was also a student of Dutch studies (rangaku
) scholar Hiraga Gennai
, who he had invited up to Akita to advise him on management of the domain's copper mines. It was during Yoshiatsu's lifetime that the of art was born and briefly flourished.
The Kubota domain was uncommon in that it contained more than one castle, despite the Tokugawa shogunate's "one castle per domain" rule. The main castle was Kubota Castle, but there were also castles at Yokote and Ōdate, and five fortified estates elsewhere in the domain: Kakudate, Yuzawa, Hiyama, Jūniso, and In'nai. Each of these was given to a senior retainer who ran it as his own small castle town. The senior retainers had personal retainers who resided in these castle towns.
Two of the clan elder (karō
) families serving the Kubota domain were branches of the Satake family. One was the North Satake (Satake-hokke) family, stipended at 10,000 koku; the other the West Satake (Satake-nishi ke) family, stipended at 7200 koku. The North Satake family had its landholdings around Kakudate, one of the fortified estates mentioned above; the West Satake resided in and had their landholdings around Ōdate. Yokote castle was in the care of another karō
family, the Tomura. Norihisa Satake, the current mayor of Akita, Akita
(the domain's former castle town), is a descendant of the North Satake.
During its rule over Kubota, the Satake clan was ranked as a family, and as such, had the privilege of shogun
al audiences in the Great Hall (Ohiroma) of Edo Castle
.
During the Boshin War
of 1868-69, the Satake clan was a signatory to the pact that formed the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei
, the alliance of northern domains led by the Sendai Domain
. The Satake clan's delegation at Shiroishi
, the alliance's headquarters, was led by the clan elder (karō
) Tomura Yoshiari. However, the Satake had political difficulties with the alliance, which culminated in the murder, in Akita, of a delegation from Sendai
on August 21, 1868, and the display of the messengers' gibbet
ed heads in the Akita castle town. The delegation, led by Shimo Matazaemon, was dispatched to request the Akita domain to hand over Kujō Michitaka
and other officials of the imperial delegation that had been originally sent to the region to gather support for the imperial cause. The Satake then backed out of the alliance and supported the imperial army; eleven days later, on September 1, 1868 the Tsugaru clan
of the neighboring Hirosaki
domain followed suit. In response, the pro-alliance domains of Morioka
and Ichinoseki sent troops to attack Kubota. Kubota forces were hard-pressed to defend their territory, with the result that the alliance troops had made serious advances by the time the war ended in northern Honshū
. In early 1869, Satake Yoshitaka formally gave up the domain's registers to the imperial government, and was made imperial governor of the Akita domain (han chiji). In mid-1869, the imperial government rewarded the service rendered by the main line of the Satake clan, by raising its income by 20,000 koku
. The heads of all the Satake clan's branches were relieved of office
as daimyo
in 1871, and ordered to relocate to Tokyo
.
Han (Japan)
The or domain was the name of the estate belonging to a warrior in Japan after the 17th century. The fiefs of the daimyos of the samurai class of Japan during the Edo period were called han.-Edo period:...
of the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
, located in Dewa Province
Dewa Province
is an old province of Japan, comprising modern-day Yamagata Prefecture and Akita Prefecture, except for the city of Kazuno and the town of Kosaka. It was sometimes called .-Historical record:...
(modern-day Akita Prefecture
Akita Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku Region of northern Honshu, the main island of Japan. The capital is the city of Akita.- History :The area of Akita has been created from the ancient provinces of Dewa and Mutsu....
). Its main castle was in modern-day Akita, Akita
Akita, Akita
is the capital city of Akita Prefecture in the Tohoku region of Japan.As of June 11, 2005, with the merger of the former Kawabe District , the city has an estimated population of 323,310 and density of...
. The Kubota Domain was also known as the . It was governed for the whole of its history by the Satake clan
Satake clan
The was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Minamoto clan. Its first power base was in Hitachi Province. The clan was subdued by Minamoto no Yoritomo in the late 12th century, but later entered Yoritomo's service as vassals...
. In the Boshin War
Boshin War
The was a civil war in Japan, fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the imperial court....
of 1868-69, it joined the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei
Ouetsu Reppan Domei
-External links:**...
, the alliance of northern domains, but then pulled out. Kubota then came under attack by forces still loyal to the alliance. As with all other domains, it was disbanded
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.
History
Hitachi Province
was an old province of Japan in the area of Ibaraki Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Hitachi Province bordered on Iwashiro, Iwaki, Shimousa, and Shimotsuke Provinces....
. In 1600, the Satake sided with the Western Army at the Battle of Sekigahara
Battle of Sekigahara
The , popularly known as the , was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 which cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu...
. After the Western Army's defeat by the Eastern forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu
was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan , which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but...
, the Satake clan was allowed to continue, but was punished. The clan's income level was severely reduced, and in 1602, its territories were moved to Kubota, a much smaller fief in northern Japan, where they remained until 1871. As a result of this drop in income (nearly half of their previous income of around 540,000 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...
), the Satake had to lay off many retainers, and institute a general stipend reduction for those it kept.
Kubota's income level was 205,000 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...
, and it was classified as an outside (tozama
Tozama
A ' was a daimyo who was considered an outsider by the rulers of Japan. The term came into use in the Kamakura period and continued until the end of the Edo period.-Edo period:...
) daimyo. It had two sub-domains: Iwasaki (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...
) and the short-lived Kubota-shinden (10,000 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...
). The domain also often had agricultural crises, which resulted in several peasant uprisings throughout the course of its history. It was also beset by an internal o-ie sodo
O-Ie Sodo
O-Ie Sōdō were noble family disputes within the samurai and aristocratic classes of Japan, particularly during the early Edo period...
conflict, the , which was brought on by financial issues.
Satake Yoshiatsu (better known by his nom-de-plume Satake Shozan), the 8th generation lord of Kubota, was an accomplished artist. Yoshiatsu painted a number of paintings in the Dutch style, and also produced three treatises on European painting techniques, including the depiction of perspective. He was also a student of Dutch studies (rangaku
Rangaku
Rangaku is a body of knowledge developed by Japan through its contacts with the Dutch enclave of Dejima, which allowed Japan to keep abreast of Western technology and medicine in the period when the country was closed to foreigners, 1641–1853, because of the Tokugawa shogunate’s policy of national...
) scholar Hiraga Gennai
Hiraga Gennai
was an Edo period Japanese pharmacologist, student of Rangaku, physician, author, painter and inventor who is well known for his Erekiteru , Kandankei and Kakanpu...
, who he had invited up to Akita to advise him on management of the domain's copper mines. It was during Yoshiatsu's lifetime that the of art was born and briefly flourished.
The Kubota domain was uncommon in that it contained more than one castle, despite the Tokugawa shogunate's "one castle per domain" rule. The main castle was Kubota Castle, but there were also castles at Yokote and Ōdate, and five fortified estates elsewhere in the domain: Kakudate, Yuzawa, Hiyama, Jūniso, and In'nai. Each of these was given to a senior retainer who ran it as his own small castle town. The senior retainers had personal retainers who resided in these castle towns.
Two of the clan elder (karō
KARO
KARO is a radio station licensed to serve Nyssa, Oregon, USA. The station is owned by the Educational Media Foundation.It broadcasts a Contemporary Christian music format as part of the Air 1 network.-History:...
) families serving the Kubota domain were branches of the Satake family. One was the North Satake (Satake-hokke) family, stipended at 10,000 koku; the other the West Satake (Satake-nishi ke) family, stipended at 7200 koku. The North Satake family had its landholdings around Kakudate, one of the fortified estates mentioned above; the West Satake resided in and had their landholdings around Ōdate. Yokote castle was in the care of another karō
KARO
KARO is a radio station licensed to serve Nyssa, Oregon, USA. The station is owned by the Educational Media Foundation.It broadcasts a Contemporary Christian music format as part of the Air 1 network.-History:...
family, the Tomura. Norihisa Satake, the current mayor of Akita, Akita
Akita, Akita
is the capital city of Akita Prefecture in the Tohoku region of Japan.As of June 11, 2005, with the merger of the former Kawabe District , the city has an estimated population of 323,310 and density of...
(the domain's former castle town), is a descendant of the North Satake.
During its rule over Kubota, the Satake clan was ranked as a family, and as such, had the privilege of shogun
Shogun
A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...
al audiences in the Great Hall (Ohiroma) of 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...
.
Boshin War
The was a civil war in Japan, fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the imperial court....
of 1868-69, the Satake clan was a signatory to the pact that formed the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei
Ouetsu Reppan Domei
-External links:**...
, the alliance of northern domains led by the Sendai Domain
Sendai Domain
was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. Most of its holdings were contiguous, covering all of modern-day Miyagi Prefecture, small portions of southern Iwate Prefecture, and a portion of northeastern Fukushima Prefecture. The domain's capital, and the ruling family's castle, were located in what...
. The Satake clan's delegation at Shiroishi
Shiroishi Castle
is a Japanese castle in Shiroishi, Miyagi, within what was Mutsu Province. It was the castle of the Katakura clan, which was a family of retainers serving the Date clan of Sendai...
, the alliance's headquarters, was led by the clan elder (karō
KARO
KARO is a radio station licensed to serve Nyssa, Oregon, USA. The station is owned by the Educational Media Foundation.It broadcasts a Contemporary Christian music format as part of the Air 1 network.-History:...
) Tomura Yoshiari. However, the Satake had political difficulties with the alliance, which culminated in the murder, in Akita, of a delegation from Sendai
Sendai Domain
was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. Most of its holdings were contiguous, covering all of modern-day Miyagi Prefecture, small portions of southern Iwate Prefecture, and a portion of northeastern Fukushima Prefecture. The domain's capital, and the ruling family's castle, were located in what...
on August 21, 1868, and the display of the messengers' gibbet
Gibbet
A gibbet is a gallows-type structure from which the dead bodies of executed criminals were hung on public display to deter other existing or potential criminals. In earlier times, up to the late 17th century, live gibbeting also took place, in which the criminal was placed alive in a metal cage...
ed heads in the Akita castle town. The delegation, led by Shimo Matazaemon, was dispatched to request the Akita domain to hand over Kujō Michitaka
Kujo Michitaka
, son of regent Nijō Hisatada and adopted son of his brother Yukinori, was a kuge or Japanese court noble of the late Edo period and politician of the early Meiji era who served as a member of the House of Peers...
and other officials of the imperial delegation that had been originally sent to the region to gather support for the imperial cause. The Satake then backed out of the alliance and supported the imperial army; eleven days later, on September 1, 1868 the Tsugaru clan
Tsugaru clan
The was a Japanese samurai clan originating in northern Japan, specifically Mutsu Province . A branch of the local Nanbu clan, the Tsugaru rose to power during the Azuchi-Momoyama period. It was on the winning side of the Battle of Sekigahara, and entered the Edo period as a family of lords ...
of the neighboring Hirosaki
Hirosaki Domain
The ' was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in northern Mutsu Province . It was ruled by the Tsugaru clan...
domain followed suit. In response, the pro-alliance domains of Morioka
Morioka Domain
The was a han or feudal domain that encompasses present-day the middle-northern part of Iwate Prefecture and eastern part of Aomori Prefecture. It is sometimes colloquially called . The domain was tozama daimyo and was governed by the Satake clan. Its income was 100,000...
and Ichinoseki sent troops to attack Kubota. Kubota forces were hard-pressed to defend their territory, with the result that the alliance troops had made serious advances by the time the war ended in northern Honshū
Honshu
is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...
. In early 1869, Satake Yoshitaka formally gave up the domain's registers to the imperial government, and was made imperial governor of the Akita domain (han chiji). In mid-1869, the imperial government rewarded the service rendered by the main line of the Satake clan, by raising its income by 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...
. The heads of all the Satake clan's branches were relieved of office
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...
as 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...
in 1871, and ordered to relocate to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
.
List of Daimyo
- Satake YoshinobuSatake Yoshinobuwas a Japanese daimyo of the Azuchi-Momoyama period through early Edo period. The eldest son of Satake Yoshishige, he was the first generation lord of the Kubota Domain...
(1570-1633) - Satake Yoshitaka (1609-1672)
- Satake Yoshizumi (1637-1703)
- Satake Yoshitada (1695-1715)
- Satake Yoshimine (1690-1745)
- Satake Yoshimasa (1728-1753)
- Satake Yoshiharu (1723-1758)
- Satake Yoshiatsu (1748-1785)
- Satake Yoshimasa (1775-1815)
- Satake Yoshihiro (1812-1846)
- Satake Yoshichika (1839-1857)
- Satake Yoshitaka (1825-1884)
See also
- Tsugaru clanTsugaru clanThe was a Japanese samurai clan originating in northern Japan, specifically Mutsu Province . A branch of the local Nanbu clan, the Tsugaru rose to power during the Azuchi-Momoyama period. It was on the winning side of the Battle of Sekigahara, and entered the Edo period as a family of lords ...
- Nanbu clanNanbu clanThe ' was a Japanese samurai clan originating in northern Japan, specifically Mutsu Province . The Nanbu claimed descent from the Minamoto clan, and its members first enter the historical record as residents of Kai Province during the Kamakura period. The clan later moved to Mutsu...
- Boshin WarBoshin WarThe was a civil war in Japan, fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the imperial court....
- Ichinoseki Domain