Tsushima-Fuchū Domain Explained

Conventional Long Name:Tsushima-Fuchū Domain

Izuhara Domain
Common Name:Tsushima Domain
Subdivision:Han
Status Text:Domain of Japan
Government Type:Daimyō
P1:Tsushima Province
S1:Prefectures of Japan#Former prefecturesIzuhara Prefecture
Title Leader:Daimyō
Leader1:Sō Yoshitoshi (first)
Year Leader1:1588-1615
Leader2:Sō Yoshiakira (last)
Year Leader2:1862-1871
Capital: (1588–1687)
(1687–1871)
Today:Nagasaki Prefecture
Saga Prefecture
Year Start:1588
Year End:1871
Event End:Abolition of the han system
Era:Edo period
Image Map Caption:Location of Tsushima island

right|thumb|270px|Sō Yoshitoshi, founder of Tsushima-Fuchū Domainright|thumb|270px|Sō Yoshiyori, the 15th next to last daimyo of Tsushima-Fuchū Domainright|thumb|270px|Sō Yoshiaki, final daimyo of Tsushima-Fuchū Domain, also called the Tsushima Domain, was a domain of Japan in the Edo period. It is associated with Tsushima Province on Tsushima Island in modern-day Nagasaki Prefecture.[1] In the han system, Tsushima was a political and economic abstraction based on periodic cadastral surveys and projected agricultural yields.[2] In other words, the domain was defined in terms of kokudaka, not land area.[3] This was different from the feudalism of the West.

History

The Sō clan was one of few daimyō clans during the Edo period which continued to control the same fiefs it controlled previously. Although it fought against Tokugawa Ieyasu at the battle of Sekigahara, the Sō clan was allowed by the shogunate to continue to rule Tsushima and entrusted it to diplomatic negotiations and trade with Joseon Korea. Its services included receptions of Korean missions to Japan. The Fuchū domain sold imports and bought exports in Osaka and Kyoto. It negotiated trade and diplomacy with the Nagasaki Commissioner in Nagasaki. It had an office (waegwan) in Busan where daily trade and diplomatic service were conducted.

The Fuchū domain was given the status of a 100,000 koku-class han although its real production was below 30,000 koku, on account of its important diplomatic status, and economic wealth as a result of trade with Korea. In the late 17th century, it prospered in Korean trade and with silver mines, but from the 18th century, it suffered from trade depression and depletion of silver ores. Its economic reforms and the shogunate's constant aid did not improve its finances. Increasing threats of Western imperial powers weighed heavily on the Fuchū domain. In 1861, a Russian naval ship occupied a port of Tsushima. What was worse for Tsushima was a growing internal conflict between pro- and anti-shogunate retainers. In 1862, it concluded an alliance with the Chōshū Domain, which was one of the prominent leaders of the Sonnō-jōi movement. But the anti-shogunate faction was purged in 1864. The loss of human resources prevented Tsushima from playing a significant role at the Meiji Restoration.

The last daimyō of Tsushima, Sō Shigemasa (Yoshiaki) became Governor of Izuhara Prefecture in 1869 and after the Abolition of the han system was given the title of Count (hakushaku) in 1884. The diplomatic service with Korea was taken over by the new Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Holdings at the end of the Edo period

List of daimyōs

The hereditary daimyōs were head of the Sō clan and head of the domain.

Name Tenure Courtesy title Court Rank kokudaka
Sō clan, 1588 - 1871 (Tozama daimyo)
1Sō Yoshitoshi (宗義智)1588 - 1615Tsushima no kami (対馬の神) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 100,000 koku
2Sō Yoshinari (宗義成)1615 - 1657Tsushima no kami (対馬の神) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 100,000 koku
3Sō Yoshizane (宗義真)1657 - 1692Tsushima no kami, Gyobu Daisuke (津島 の 髪、 魚部 大輔) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 100,000 koku
4Sō Yoshitsugu (Yoshitomo) (宗義倫)1692 - 1694Tsushima no kami, Ukyo no daibu (津島 の 髪、 う居 の だいぶ) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 100,000 koku
5Sō Yoshimichi (宗義方)1694 - 1718Tsushima no kami (対馬の神) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 100,000 koku
6Sō Yoshinobu (宗義誠)1718 - 1730Tsushima no kami (対馬の神) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 100,000 koku
7Sō Michihiro (宗方熈)1731 - 1732Tsushima no kami, Minbu Daisuke (津島 の 髪、 民部 大輔) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 100,000 koku
8Sō Yoshiaki (宗義如)1732 - 1752Tsushima no kami, Gyobu Daisuke (津島 の 髪、 魚部 大輔) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 100,000 koku
9Sō Yoshishige (Yoshiari) (宗義蕃)1752 - 1762Tsushima no kami (対馬の神) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 100,000 koku
10Sō Yoshinaga (宗義暢)1762 - 1778Tsushima no kami (対馬の神) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 100,000 koku
11Sō Yoshikatsu[4] (宗義功(兄)1778 - 1785None (全然) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 100,000 koku
12Sō Yoshikatsu (宗義功(弟)1785 - 1812Tsushima no kami, Shikibu Daisuke (対馬の髪、式部大輔) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 100,000 koku
13Sō Yoshikata (宗義質)1812 - 1838Tsushima no kami, Sakone no shosho (対馬守、左近衛少将) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 100,000 koku
14Sō Yoshiaya (宗義章)1838 - 1842Tsushima no kami (対馬の神) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 100,000 koku
15Sō Yoshiyori (宗義和)1842 - 1862Tsushima no kami, Harima no kami (対馬守、播磨守) Junior 4th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 100,000 koku
16Sō Yoshiaki (Yoshiakira), later renamed Shigemasa (宗義達)1862 - 1871Tsushima no kami, Harima no kami (対馬守、播磨守) Junior 4th Rank, Upper Grade (従五位下) 100,000 koku
[5]

Genealogy (simplified)

[6]

See also

Notes and References

  1. http://www.japanese-castle-explorer.com/province.html?name=Tsushima "Tsushima Province" at JapaneseCastleExplorer.com
  2. [Jeffrey Mass|Mass, Jeffrey P.]
  3. Elison, George and Bardwell L. Smith (1987). Warlords, Artists, & Commoners: Japan in the Sixteenth Century, p. 18.
  4. The first Yoshikatsu died at a very young age and his younger brother was substituted for him with the acquiescence of the shogunate.
  5. [Edmond Papinot|Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph]
  6. http://reichsarchiv.jp/%E5%AE%B6%E7%B3%BB%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88/%E5%AE%97%E6%B0%8F#yositomo615 Genealogy (jp)