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Fiefs as of 1867
The following is based on the only comprehensive listing of daimyo that I have found in the English language,
Papinot's Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan. It lists han
"fiefs" by province at the time right before the Imperial Restoration. In this compendium, information from Papinot
is augmented by data from
a Japanese website, Edo
300 Han HTML Charts (www.asahi-net.or.jp/~me4k-skri/han/hantop.html).
Information is incomplete. The survey is missing: population and household
numbers for the domains; year of birth, accession, abdication, and death for
many of the daimyo; information on castle status and defensive strength; etc.
More detailed information will be added in the future as they become available.
Daimyo clans are listed by region, from north to south. Within regions, the
provinces are in order of proximity to Kyoto.
Notes
Based on koku of rice per year. This may be either revenue from taxation, or
a direct payment from the Bakufu or possibly from a richer branch of the clan.
If the former, it is based on an official survey of productivity of a domain,
usually agricultural. If it is known to be the latter, it will be listed as "Stipend."
Daimyo during the Tokugawa Period were split into three classes based on
their relationship to the Tokugawa clan at the time of the Battle of Sekigahara
(1600).
Daimyo clans who were allied to the Tokugawa at the Battle of Sekigahara.
There were around 176 during the Tokugawa Period. All important
functions were reserved for them.
Daimyo clans who were not allied to the Tokugawa at the Battle of
Sekigahara, but subsequently submitted to Ieyasu's rule. There were more or
less 86 during the Tokugawa Period.
Daimyo families related to the Tokugawa. They were:
- Sanké "Three Houses" -- Descendants of three of Ieyasu's sons:
7th son Yoshinao (Owari), 8th son Yoshinobu (Kii), and 9th son Yorifusa (Mito).
- Sankyo "Three Lords" -- Tokugawa branch families of Shimizu,
Tayasu, and Hitotsubashi, who resided in Edo, descended from two sons and
a grandson of the 8th Tokugawa Shogun Yoshimune.
- Kamon "Within the Gate" -- Descendants of sons of the first
three Tokugawa Shoguns and branches of the Sanke, including Fukui (Echizen),
Saijo (Iyo), Matsue (Izumo), and Takamatsu (Sanuki), who used the name
Matsudaira.
The daimyo class is followed by the rank number. At the top is the Shogun,
and the rest are ranked based on their audience room at Edo Castle, numbered
from 1 to 8. The lower the number, the higher the rank and influence factor.
Ranking was based on the classification and domain size in terms of koku.
Ranks regularly fluctuated temporarily, from one daimyo to successive daimyo, for one
reason or another: demotion for inappropriate behavior, promotion for special
services rendered, etc. The rank number that is listed for each clan represents an average of sorts of
all the successive daimyo of the clan. Ranks of individual daimyo can be found in
Edo 300 Han HTML
Charts.
Daimyo were officially designated as castle lords or not. Discrepancies however are not uncommon:
- I could not find a castle for many daimyo designated as a castle lord
- Some daimyo designated as non-castle lords did have one or more castles in
their domain
NOTE: A source in Wikipedia
estimates that there were once five thousand castles in Japan.
Castles often have the same name as the domain in which it is located. Many
became centers of commerce and a town built around the compound.
Detailed information on individual castles is beyond the scope of this survey. In general:
- Yamashiro "mountaintop castles" are more difficult to seize than
hirayamashiro "hilltop
castles"
- Hilltop castles are more difficult to seize than hirashiro "flatland castles"
Defense rating of castles also depends on:
- Size of main keep
- Size and quantity of turrets and other defensive buildings
- Size and quality of walls
- Material used
- Size and quantity of moats
- Natural defenses such as rivers and hills
- Quality of maintenance
- Number and quality of defenders
- Defensive weapons
- Other defensive measures
In this survey, if the headquarters is listed as being a municipal office, it
can be anything from a major farm house to a town mansion to a small fortress. The
translation of the term officially used for non-castle headquarters is
"encampment," as they were originally often just that as armies moved
frequently during campaigns and headquarters were only temporary.
The initial source for individual clan mon is from Edo 300 Han HTML Charts.
The actual design was determined from the Matsuya Piece-Goods Store's
compilation of Japanese family crests, if available therein. The electronic
files used to create the graphics for this survey are from:
- Wikipedia
- Wikimedia Commons
- Other websites (see "Bibliography")
- Various Dover
Publications books
- Created from scratch
Lists the order of daimyo and prior ancestry.
When there are more than one name listed for a daimyo, they are either known names of the
daimyo, or conflicts between sources. In the case of the latter, the first name
is from Edo 300 Han HTML Charts and the second
is from Papinot.
Almost all the text is verbatim from Papinot, with some copy editing. Many
are described in more than one domain for immediate access. The descriptions are
essentially identical.
Sources
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