Yamakami Domain Explained

Native Name:Japanese: 山上藩
Conventional Long Name:Yamakami Domain
Common Name:Yamakami Domain
Subdivision:Domain
Nation:Japan
Government Type:Daimyō
Capital:Yamakami jin'ya
Coordinates:35.0789°N 136.3038°W
Today:part of Shiga Prefecture
Year Start:1698
Year End:1871
Era:Edo period

was a Fudai feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It was located in southeastern Ōmi Province, in the Kansai region of central Honshu. The domain was centered at Yamakami jin'ya, located in what is now the Yamakami neighborhood of the city of Higashiōmi in Shiga Prefecture.[1]

History

Yamakami was located in a strategically important location on a road connecting Ōmi with Ise Province and the area was hotly contested by various warlords in the Sengoku period. Yamakami Domain was created for Inagaki Shigetada, a hatamoto in the service of Shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna who rose through the ranks of the Shogunate bureaucracy, including serving as a wakadoshiyori. He gained additional fiefs with his promotions, eventually meeting the required kokudaka to be allowed to establish a cadet branch of the Inagaki clan. Inagaki Shigetada constructed a jin'ya and jōkamachi, but the domain's financial situation became critical during the time of the 3rd daimyō, Inagaki Sadayoshi, when both of the domain's Edo residences burned down in a fire. Fiscal reforms ended in failure, and under his successors the domain's situation went from bad to worse with repeated crop failures and the Great Tenmei famine. Appointments to the posts of Osaka kaban and Sōshaban within the shogunal administration were also a serious drain on resources. [2]

During the Bakumatsu period, the 8th daimyō, Inagaki Motokiyo, served as Ōbangashira and Kaigun Bugyō and was a staunch supporter of the Shogunate. However, when he fell ill and was replaced by Inagaki Motoyoshi at the start of the Boshin War, the domain quickly changed sides to the imperial cause. As with all domains, Yamakami Domain was abolished in 1870 with the abolition of the han system. It subsequently was incorporated into Ōtsu prefecture, and then Shiga Prefecture. [2]

Bakumatsu period holdings

As with most domains in the han system, Yamakami Domain consisted of a discontinuous territories calculated to provide the assigned kokudaka, based on periodic cadastral surveys and projected agricultural yields.[3] [4]

List of daimyō

right|200px|thumb|Inagaki Motoyoshi, final daimyō of Yamakami, post-Meiji restoration

Name Tenure Courtesy title Court Rank kokudaka
11698–1707Aki-no-kami (安芸守) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 13,000 koku
21708–1720Nagato-no-kami (長門守) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 13,000 koku
31720–1740Aki-no-kami (安芸守) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 13,000 koku
41740–1792Nagato-no-kami (長門守) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 13,000 koku
51792–1823Wakasa-no-kami (若狭守) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 13,000 koku
61823–1834Nagato-no-kami (長門守) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 13,000 koku
71834–1860Nagato-no-kami (長門守) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 13,000 koku
81860–1869Wakasa-no-kami (若狭守) Junior 5th Rank, Lower Grade (従五位下) 13,000 koku
91869–1871-none- 3rd Rank (正三位) 13,000 koku

See also

References

Notes and References

  1. Book: Nakayama . Yoshiaki . 江戸三百藩大全 全藩藩主変遷表付 . 2015 . Kosaido Publishing . 978-4331802946.
  2. Book: Oishi . Gaku . 江戸五百藩-ご当地藩のすべてがわかる . 2020 . Chuokoron-Shinsha . 978-4128001354.
  3. [Jeffrey Mass|Mass, Jeffrey P.]
  4. Elison, George and Bardwell L. Smith (1987). Warlords, Artists, & Commoners: Japan in the Sixteenth Century, p. 18.