Karatsu Domain

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The Karatsu Domain (唐津藩, Karatsu-han^?) was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in Hizen Province, in Kyūshū. Its seat of government was in Karatsu Castle, in modern-day Karatsu, Saga.

[edit] History

The Karatsu domain was founded in 1593, by Terazawa Hirotaka, who was granted lordship of Karatsu and a landholding of 83,000 koku. He was also made bugyō of Nagasaki. The Terazawa clan took part in the Battle of Sekigahara, and received 40,000 more koku of land, bringing the size of the domain up to 123,000 koku. The Terazawa also took part in the shogunate's expedition to suppress the Shimabara Uprising. The family held on to Karatsu until 1647, when Hirotaka's son Katataka committed suicide; due to a lack of heir, the family came to an end and the domain was confiscated by the Tokugawa shogunate.

Several families were rotated through Karatsu for the next century: two generations of the Ōkubo clan; three generations of the Ogyū-Matsudaira clan, four generations of the Doi clan, and four of the Mizuno clan, including the famous reformer Mizuno Tadakuni. The domain then passed into the hands of Ogasawara Nagamasa^[1], whose family remained there until the Karatsu domain was abolished in 1871. During the Boshin War of 1868-69, Ogasawara Nagamichi, the de facto ruler of Karatsu, led a group of his retainers on the side of the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei; after the fall of this alliance he went to Ezo and fought under the forces of the Ezo Republic. At the same time, Karatsu's domain-based administration was forced to pledge military support to the Imperial Japanese Army.

Ogasawara Naganari, the Meiji-era admiral, was a descendant of the Ogasawara branch which ruled Karatsu.

[edit] List of lords

• Terazawa clan, 1593-1647 (Tozama; 83,000->123,000 koku)^[2]

	Name	Tenure
1	Terazawa Hirotaka (寺沢広高, Terazawa Hirotaka?)	1593-1633
2	Terazawa Katataka (寺沢堅高, Terazawa Katataka?)	1633-1647

• Ōkubo clan 1649-1678 (Fudai; 83,000 koku)^[3]

	Name	Tenure
1	Ōkubo Tadamoto (大久保忠職, Ōkubo Tadamoto?)	1649-1670
2	Ōkubo Tadatomo (大久保忠朝, Ōkubo Tadatomo?)	1670-1678

• Matsudaira (Ogyū) clan 1678-1691 (Fudai; 70,000->60,000 koku)^[4]

	Name	Tenure
1	Matsudaira Norihisa (松平乗久, Matsudaira Norihisa?)	1678-1686
2	Matsudaira Noriharu (松平乗春, Matsudaira Noriharu?)	1686-1690
3	Matsudaira Norisato (松平乗邑, Matsudaira Norisato?)	1690-1691

• Doi clan 1691-1762 (Fudai; 70,000 koku)^[5]

	Name	Tenure
1	Doi Toshimasu (土井利益, Doi Toshimasu?)	1691-1713
2	Doi Toshizane (土井利実, Doi Toshizane?)	1713-1736
3	Doi Toshinobu (土井利延, Doi Toshinobu?)	1736-1744
4	Doi Toshisato (土井利里, Doi Toshisato?)	1744-1762

• Mizuno clan 1762-1817 (Fudai; 60,000 koku)^[6]

	Name	Tenure
1	Mizuno Tadatō (水野忠任, Mizuno Tadatō?)	1762-1775
2	Mizuno Tadakane (水野忠鼎, Mizuno Tadakane?)	1775-1805
3	Mizuno Tadaaki (水野忠光, Mizuno Tadaaki?)	1805-1812
4	Mizuno Tadakuni (水野忠邦, Mizuno Tadakuni?)	1812-1817

• Ogasawara clan 1817-1871 (Fudai; 60,000 koku)^[7]

	Name	Tenure
1	Ogasawara Nagamasa (小笠原長昌, Ogasawara Nagamasa?)	1817-1823
2	Ogasawara Nagayasu (小笠原長泰, Ogasawara Nagayasu?)	1823-1833
3	Ogasawara Nagao (小笠原長会, Ogasawara Nagao?)	1833-1836
4	Ogasawara Nagakazu (小笠原長和, Ogasawara Nagakazu?)	1836-1840
5	Ogasawara Nagakuni (小笠原長国, Ogasawara Nagakuni?)	1840-1871

[edit] References

• (Japanese) Karatsu domain on "Edo 300 HTML" (9 Oct. 2007)
• Bolitho, Harold (1974). Treasures among Men. New Haven: Yale University Press.
• Rein, Johannes (1884). Japan: Travels and Researches Undertaken at the Cost of the Prussian Government. New York: A.C. Armstrong & Son.