Sendai Domain - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

was a Japanese domain 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....

. Most of its holdings were contiguous, covering all of modern-day Miyagi Prefecture

Miyagi Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku Region on Honshu island. The capital is Sendai.- History :Miyagi Prefecture was formerly part of the province of Mutsu. Mutsu Province, on northern Honshu, was one of the last provinces to be formed as land was taken from the indigenous Emishi, and became the...

, small portions of southern Iwate Prefecture

Iwate Prefecture

is the second largest prefecture of Japan after Hokkaido. It is located in the Tōhoku region of Honshū island and contains the island's easternmost point. The capital is Morioka. Iwate has the lowest population density of any prefecture outside Hokkaido...

, and a portion of northeastern Fukushima Prefecture

Fukushima Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region on the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Fukushima.-History:Until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Fukushima prefecture was known as Mutsu Province....

. The domain's capital, and the ruling family's castle, were located in what became the modern city of Sendai. Ruled for the entirety of its history by the Date clan, it constituted the largest domain in northern Japan, with its official income rating at 625,000 koku, and one of the largest domains in the entire country, after the Satsuma Domain and Kaga Domain

Kaga Domain

The was a powerful feudal domain in Kaga, Noto and Etchū Provinces of Japan during the Edo period. The domain was founded by Maeda Toshiie and headed by the Maeda clan. Its income rating, over 1,000,000 koku, was the highest in the nation after the Tokugawa shogunate itself...

. Its jitsudaka, or true income level, is said to have been somewhere between one and two million koku. Sendai was the focal point of the Ouetsu Reppan Domei

Ouetsu Reppan Domei

-External links:**...

during 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....

. Unlike the nearby Aizu

Aizu

is an area comprising the westernmost third of Fukushima Prefecture in Japan. The principal city of the area is Aizuwakamatsu.During the Edo period, Aizu was a feudal domain known as and part of Mutsu Province.-History:...

domain, Sendai survived the war largely intact, though with a severely reduced income rating. It was disbanded with the other domains in 1873.

Foundation

The Sendai domain was founded in the closing years of the 16th century. When Date Masamune

Date Masamune

was a regional strongman of Japan's Azuchi-Momoyama period through early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful daimyo in the Tōhoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai...

presented himself to Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

was a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period. He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle...

, who was undertaking the Odawara Campaign, he was granted the former fiefs of the Kasai 葛西 and Ōsaki 大崎 families, in return for his hereditary lands of Yonezawa 米沢, Aizu
Aizu
is an area comprising the westernmost third of Fukushima Prefecture in Japan. The principal city of the area is Aizuwakamatsu.During the Edo period, Aizu was a feudal domain known as and part of Mutsu Province.-History:...

会津, and Sendō 仙道. Upon entry into his new fief, Masamune took up residence in Iwadeyama Castle, and then started construction on Sendai Castle

Aoba Castle

', also known as Sendai Castle , was the castle of the Date family. Built by Date Masamune atop Mount Aoba, it commanded a highly defensible strategic position overlooking the city of Sendai. The castle was one of the nerve centers of the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei during the Boshin War, when Date...

. The name of Sendai at this time was written 千代, however, Masamune changed it to 仙臺 (Later changed to the current 仙台）("hermit's platform," presumably alluding to Chinese mysticism). During the Sekigahara Campaign, the Date clan had been promised an increase in formal domain income to one million 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...

; however, as they were fighting with the Uesugi clan

Uesugi clan

The was a Japanese samurai clan, descended from the Fujiwara clan and particularly notable for their power in the Muromachi and Sengoku periods ....

for their old lands in the Date district, this did not come to pass.

A relief sculpture on the base of Masamune's equestrian statue in Sendai Castle

Aoba Castle

commemorates his entry into the city, which was then a small village.

Lords of Sendai

A list of the lords of Sendai follows below, in chronological order:

Date Masamune
Date Masamune
was a regional strongman of Japan's Azuchi-Momoyama period through early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful daimyo in the Tōhoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai...

(1567–1636), r. 1600-1636
Date Tadamune
Date Tadamune
was a Japanese samurai of the early Edo period. The 2nd son of the famous and powerful daimyō Date Masamune, he succeeded his father as lord of Sendai. Although he was the 2nd son, his half-brother Date Hidemune was born by Lady Iisaka, a concubine, and was not eligible to rule...

(1600–1658), r. 1636-1658
Date Tsunamune
Date Tsunamune
was the daimyō of Sendai han for about two years, from 1658 to 1660. His father, Date Tadamune, died in 1658, but Tsunamune's succession and rule was soon opposed by a number of his kinsmen and vassals...

(1640–1711), r. 1658-1660
Date Tsunamura
Date Tsunamura
was a daimyo in mid-17th century Tokugawa Japan whose life was at the center of the Date Sōdō or "Date Disturbance", a very famous noble conflict of the period....

(1659–1719), r. 1660-1703
Date Yoshimura (1680–1752), r. 1703-1743
Date Munemura (1718–1756), r. 1743-1756
Date Shigemura (1742–1796), r. 1756-1790
Date Narimura (1775–1796), r. 1790-1796
Date Chikamune (1796–1809), r. 1796-1809(1812)
Date Narimune (1796–1819), r. 1809(1812)-1819
Date Nariyoshi (1798–1828), r. 1819-1827
Date Narikuni (1817–1841), r. 1827-1841
Date Yoshikuni
Date Yoshikuni
was a Japanese daimyo lord of the late Edo period, known primarily for being the commander-in-chief of the Northern Alliance of Confederated Domains during the Boshin War.During his tenure as lord he was also known by his courtesy title, Matsudaira ....

(1825–1874), r. 1841-1868
Date Munemoto
Date Munemoto
Count was a Japanese daimyo of the late Edo period, who became a peer during the Meiji era. He was the last ruler of the Sendai Domain....

(1866–1917), r. 1868-1870
Date Muneatsu (1852–1907), r. 1870-1871

Political structure

The Sendai domain, like many other domains across the country, had its political center in its castle town (what became the modern city of Sendai). However, some retainers had their personal landholdings scattered throughout the domain's territory, as it was largely contiguous. Their presence provided a secondary, more local level of supervision. Certain of the higher-ranked retainers of Sendai even separated from the main domain and founded their own territories. Mizusawa Domain

Mizusawa Domain

The was a feudal domain in Mutsu Province of Japan during the Edo period. It was a subdomain of the Sendai Domain. Sometimes it was suggested that the domain be called "Naka-Tsuyama han"...

was one such short-lived subdomain. The Ichinoseki Domain, ruled by the Tamura family, was another subdomain, and survived to the end of the Edo period.

Retainer ranks and military structure

There were eleven main ranks into which the retainers of the Sendai domain were divided.

Ichimon 一門: blood relations of the Date clan. Held prestige but no actual political or administrative role.
Ikka 一家: The families who ran much of the high-level day to day affairs of the Date clan.
Jun ikka 準一家: Families who had lost their heads or had been incapacitated due to internal strife in the Date clan.
Ichizoku 一族: Fudai
Fudai
was a class of daimyo who were hereditary vassals of the Tokugawa in Edo period Japan. It was primarily the fudai who filled the ranks of the Tokugawa administration.-Origins:...

(long-standing) retainers of the Date clan.
Shukurō 宿労: Hereditary bugyō
Bugyo
', often translated as "commissioner" or "magistrate" or "governor," was a title assigned to government officers in pre-modern Japan; other terms would be added to the title to describe more specifically a given commissioner's tasks or jurisdiction....

(magistrates).
Chakuza 着　座: Retainers who had the right to report to the castle and present the lord with a sword and stirrups for new year's celebrations, and in return receive a cup of sake from the lord. This rank was founded after Date Masamune
Date Masamune
was a regional strongman of Japan's Azuchi-Momoyama period through early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful daimyo in the Tōhoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai...

's tenure as lord.
Tachi-jō 太刀上: Retainers who had the right to present the lord with a sword at new year's festivities, and in return received a cup of sake from the lord. This was a rank founded after Masamune
Date Masamune
was a regional strongman of Japan's Azuchi-Momoyama period through early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful daimyo in the Tōhoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai...

's tenure.
Meshidashi 召出: Retainers who had the right to appear at the domainal new year's festivities. As with chakuza and tachi-jō, this rank was founded after Masamune
Date Masamune
was a regional strongman of Japan's Azuchi-Momoyama period through early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful daimyo in the Tōhoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai...

's time.
Heishi 平士 and Ōbanshi 大番士: The main body of Sendai's fighting force, the rank was organized in Date Masamune
Date Masamune
was a regional strongman of Japan's Azuchi-Momoyama period through early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful daimyo in the Tōhoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai...

's time and revived during the tenure of the fourth daimyo Tsunamura
Date Tsunamura
was a daimyo in mid-17th century Tokugawa Japan whose life was at the center of the Date Sōdō or "Date Disturbance", a very famous noble conflict of the period....

. One kumi 組 (unit) consisted of 360 men, and the domain had 10 such units, setting their number at 3600.
Kumi-shi 組士: The men under the heishi and ōbanshi. Footmen, tea instructors, hawking assistants, entourage members, among others, all came from this category.
Sotsu 卒: Foot soldiers, coolies, lesser menials, and so on.

Boshin War

In 1868, Sendai did not have forces active in the Battle of Toba-Fushimi

Battle of Toba-Fushimi

The occurred between pro-Imperial and Tokugawa shogunate forces during the Boshin War in Japan. The battle started on 27 January 1868 , when the forces of the Tokugawa shogunate and the allied forces of Chōshū, Satsuma and Tosa domains clashed near Fushimi...

; however, it did have a liaison office in Kyoto which kept track of the developing situation. It was approached several times by the nascent imperial government with requests to assist in subduing Aizu. Sendai did provide some cooperation to the new government, and accepted its envoys, under 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...

, that spring. However, Date Yoshikuni

Date Yoshikuni

was a Japanese daimyo lord of the late Edo period, known primarily for being the commander-in-chief of the Northern Alliance of Confederated Domains during the Boshin War.During his tenure as lord he was also known by his courtesy title, Matsudaira ....

, the daimyo of Sendai, opposed the harshness shown against Aizu, saying that it was like "a sentence being passed on one who never had a trial." Despite its efforts at negotiating on behalf of Aizu, Sendai was largely cooperative with the Kyoto government for much of the spring of 1868. This came to an end in May 1868, when Sendai men discovered that the Chōshū officer Sera Shūzō (who had accompanied the imperial delegation) had written a slanderous letter indicating a desire to describe "all in the north to be enemies," and to ask for reinforcements to subdue the entire region by armed force.:

Naturally, the Sendai men were outraged that they too were to be punished despite their cooperation. A group of these men killed Sera, and pushed ahead with Sendai sponsorship of a northern coalition of domains. This became the Ouetsu Reppan Domei

Ouetsu Reppan Domei

-External links:**...

After Boshin

The Sendai domain was punished for its actions against the imperial army in the Boshin War, though not as severely as Aizu

Aizu

. Sendai's holdings were reduced; it was also made the center of the new government's operations in the north. Shiroishi Castle

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...

was also taken from Sendai, and given to the Nanbu clan

Nanbu clan

The ' 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...

which had been newly moved from Morioka Castle

Morioka Castle

is a castle in the city of Morioka, Iwate, Japan. Monument selected by the country. It was the place of residence of the Nanbu family of Morioka Han. It is also generally called , but strictly saying this indicates another castle.- General information :...

.

As with all others, the Sendai domain was abolished in 1873, by the haihan chiken
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...

order.

External links

Data on the Sendai domain and its lords' succession order (in Japanese)
The history of astronomy in the Sendai domain (in Japanese)
Homepage of the Sendai domain's Shiraoi-jinya in Hokkaido (in Japanese)
Ranking system of the Sendai domain's retainers (in Japanese)

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