【Tsunoban】Comparison of Weights and Measures/Currency 185

Greetings, I am Tsunomu Miyake. This is a continuation of the comparison of weights and measures.

In the Edo period, there were nearly 300 daimyo in the provinces, exercising a certain degree of autonomy with the Tokugawa shogunate as their suzerain. Historically, the territories and governing structures they ruled are called "han" (domains). Like the shogunate, the various domains actively carried out domain reforms to adapt to the changing times and escape financial crises. Having looked at Oshu, Shimotsuke, Hitachi, Boso, Sagami, and Musashi, next is Kozuke.

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A Brief History of Kozuke

Kozuke Province corresponds to present-day Gunma Prefecture; it is surrounded by mountains to the northwest, opens to the southeast, and occupies the upper reaches of the Tone River. It borders Shimotsuke to the east, faces Musashi to the south, leads to Shinano from the Usui Pass via the Tosando road to the west, and reaches Echigo by crossing the Mikuni Pass to the north. In other words, it was a strategic point connecting Shinano and Echigo with Bando, and like Shimotsuke and Musashi, it flourished as a land of horse pastures. The Nitta Manor in the southeast (present-day Ota City) is the birthplace of Nitta Yoshisada, who destroyed the Kamakura Shogunate, and it is adjacent to the Ashikaga Manor in the southwest of Shimotsuke, separated by the Watarase River.

After Nitta Yoshisada was destroyed for opposing Ashikaga Takauji, Takauji appointed his maternal cousin, Uesugi Noriaki, as Kanto Shitsuji (later Kanto Kanrei) to assist the Kamakura Kubo, and made him the military governor (shugo) of Kozuke and Izu. Thereafter, the Uesugi clan inherited the position of Kanto Kanrei, but due to the nature of their duties, they resided in Kamakura and left the governance of Kozuke to the deputy military governor, the Nagao clan. Later, the Uesugi clan also served as the military governor of Musashi, but the Kanto region was devastated by conflicts with the Kamakura Kubo and internal strife, and in the Sengoku period, the Later Hojo clan advanced into the Kanto from Izu.

The Uesugi clan resisted but was defeated, losing Sagami, Musashi, and Kozuke, and fled to Nagao Kagetora (the Uesugi Kenshin), the deputy military governor of Echigo, to plan the recapture of the Kanto. Kagetora, who later inherited the headship of the Uesugi family and the position of Kanto Kanrei, led his troops to invade the Kanto and threatened the Later Hojo clan, but he also became embroiled in a conflict with Takeda Shingen over Shinano, and the conquest of the Kanto was not achieved. After the struggles between the Uesugi, Takeda, and Later Hojo, the Takeda clan was destroyed by Nobunaga and the Later Hojo clan by Hideyoshi, and Kozuke became the territory of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was transferred to the Eight Provinces of the Kanto.

Ieyasu gave his senior vassal Ii Naomasa 120,000 koku in Minowa (later Takasaki), Sakakibara Yasumasa 100,000 koku in Tatebayashi, and distributed fiefs to Hiraiwa Chikayoshi in Umayabashi (Maebashi), Honda Yasushige in Shirai, Okudaira Nobumasa in Miyazaki (Obata), and Yoda Yasukatsu in Fujioka. Numata in northern Kozuke was considered the territory of Sanada Masayuki, but because it was an exclave from his main territory of Ueda in Shinano, his son Nobuyuki (Nobuyuki) was dispatched there. Many other domains were established in Kozuke, but let's look at the representative ones from the south.

Tatebayashi Domain

The Tatebayashi Domain existed in Ora District at the southeastern end of Kozuke Province, in the present-day city of Tatebayashi, Gunma Prefecture. It began when Ieyasu made Sakakibara Yasumasa the lord of Tatebayashi Castle after his transfer to the Kanto and granted him 100,000 koku. Yasumasa was a famous general who had served Ieyasu since he was young and achieved great merit; his practical ability was recognized, and he was appointed as the Kanto So-bugyo (General Magistrate of Kanto), and it seems he was often away from his domain due to his busy schedule. When he died in the 11th year of Keicho (1606), his son Yasukatsu succeeded him, but he died of illness in Kyoto in May of the 20th year of Keicho (1615), when the Summer Siege of Osaka ended, and his older brother Tadamasa's son, Tadatsugu, inherited the headship and territory at the age of 10.

When Tadatsugu was transferred to Shirakawa in Mutsu with an increase to 140,000 koku in the 20th year of Kanei (1643), Tatebayashi became shogunate territory, but in the first year of Shoho (1644), the Ogyu Matsudaira family entered with 60,000 koku. After that, shimpan and fudai daimyo families were swapped in and out over short periods, and although Tokugawa Tsunayoshi entered with 250,000 koku before his accession as shogun, it fluctuated around 50,000 to 60,000 koku. Although it was valued as a strategic point for land and water transportation and as a place with deep ties to the Tokugawa family, it was never ruled by the same domain lord family for a long period.

Maebashi Domain

The Maebashi Domain was established northwest of Tatebayashi, in the northern part of Gunma District, Kozuke Province, in the present-day city of Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture. The Maebashi Castle, where the lord resided, was originally called Umayabashi Castle, and it is presumed to have been built at the end of the 15th century by the Nagano clan, a powerful local family of the "Minowa-shu" who occupied Gunma District. The Nagano clan followed the Uesugi clan of the Kanto Kanrei and the Nagao clan, the deputy military governors, but in the mid-16th century, they defected to follow the Later Hojo clan, and were subsequently destroyed by Nagao Kagetora/Uesugi Kenshin. Umayabashi Castle was thereafter contested between the Uesugi, Later Hojo, and Takeda clans, and was taken over by Tokugawa Ieyasu after the destruction of the Later Hojo clan.

Ieyasu granted his senior vassal Hiraiwa Chikayoshi 33,000 koku and made him the lord of Umayabashi Castle, and after the Battle of Sekigahara, when Chikayoshi was transferred to Kofu, he appointed his fellow senior vassal Sakai Shigetada. Shigetada's son, Tadayo, was granted 5,000 koku in Kawagoe, Musashi, separately from his father, and became an important figure in the shogunate cabinet as a senior councilor (karo) to Tokugawa Hidetada; in the 6th year of Keicho (1601), he was granted 10,000 koku in Nawa District, Kozuke Province (present-day Maebashi City, Isesaki City, etc.) and was ranked as a daimyo. He continued to receive increases, obtaining 47,000 koku in Kozuke Province and 5,000 koku in Omi, and when he inherited his father's legacy in the 3rd year of Genna (1617), he became a high-ranking official with a total of 85,000 koku. He continued to receive increases, becoming a daimyo with over 122,500 koku, and in the generation of his son Tadayuki, he reached over 150,000 koku by adding the 30,000 koku Itahana territory in Kozuke Province. However, Tadayo and Tadayuki died in the same year, and Tadayuki's son, Tadakiyo, succeeded him.

The young Tadakiyo inherited 100,000 koku of the legacy, returned 30,000 koku to the shogunate, and distributed the remaining 20,000-plus koku to his younger brother Tadayoshi (Nawa Domain/Isesaki Domain). It seems that Umayabashi was renamed Maebashi from his time. As he grew up, he served as a senior councilor (roju) and chief senior councilor (tairo) under Iemitsu's son, Ietsuna, and wielded great power. When Tadayoshi was transferred to Komoro in Shinshu with an increase to 30,000 koku in the 2nd year of Kanbun (1662), the 20,000-plus koku Isesaki territory returned to the Maebashi Domain, and in the 8th year of Enpo (1680), he was granted 20,000 koku in Kururi, Kazusa, returning to 150,000 koku, but in the same year, Ietsuna passed away and Tsunayoshi became shogun, leading to his downfall, and he died the following year.

His son Tadahiro was ordered by Tsunayoshi to divide the 20,000 koku of Isesaki to his younger brother Tadahiro, and thereafter the Isesaki Domain continued for 9 generations and 190 years under the Sakai family until the abolition of the han system. Tadahiro was alienated by the Tsunayoshi administration, and suffered disasters such as the repeated flooding of the Tone River which devastated the domain and even damaged the castle. His son Tadasuke was granted the headship but died young, and his grandson Chikayoshi was also young and sickly, so Tadahiro spent his later years as a guardian with many worries. Fortunately, he was treated well under the Yoshimune administration, but Chikayoshi had no biological children, and his adopted son Chikamoto and his younger brother Tadayasu succeeded him.

Around this time, the Maebashi Domain's finances had deteriorated extremely. In addition to having to maintain the status of a senior fudai vassal with 150,000 koku, the funeral expenses for the successive sickly domain lords who died young piled up, and Tadayasu was appointed as the Osaka Castle Deputy and then as a senior councilor (roju), increasing the expenses associated with his duties in the shogunate cabinet. In the first place, the domain was not wealthy, as it was volcanic ash soil and suffered from repeated flooding of the Tone River, and the castle itself was damaged year after year because it used the rapid currents of the Tone River for defense. Cornered, the Maebashi Domain planned a transfer to the wealthy western provinces, and in the first month of the 2nd year of Kan'en (1749), the transfer to Himeji in Banshu was finally realized. However, in addition to the costs of the transfer, the typhoon damage in the Himeji Domain territory added to the burden, and the Sakai family's finances became even more impoverished.

　The person who replaced him as the lord of the Maebashi Domain was the former lord of the Himeji Domain, Matsudaira Tomonori. Although the kokudaka was the same at 150,000 koku, this domain also faced a financial crisis that made it difficult to even repair Maebashi Castle, and as mentioned above, he moved to Musashi Kawagoe Castle, and the Maebashi Domain territory was incorporated into the Kawagoe Domain. Maebashi Castle was demolished, and this state continued until the end of the Edo period.

Takasaki Domain

　Located southwest of Maebashi was the Takasaki Domain. The residence, Takasaki Castle, was formerly known as Wada Castle, and it is said to have been built in the early Kamakura period by Yoshinobu, the son of Wada Yoshimori. Situated on the east bank of the Karasu River, it was at the junction of the Nakasendo and Mikuni Kaido roads, making it a strategic point controlling traffic between Shinano/Echigo and the Bando region. Even after the Wada Battle, the Wada clan of this area continued as lords of the castle, and from the Northern and Southern Courts period, they were subject to the Uesugi clan, the Kanto Kanrei. However, in the Sengoku period, they followed the Later Hojo and Takeda clans, and welcomed Nobunari, the son of Takeda clan senior vassal Atobe Katsusuke, as an adopted son-in-law. When the Later Hojo clan fell, Wada Castle was confiscated by Ieyasu.

　Ieyasu appointed his senior vassal, Ii Naomasa, as the lord of Minowa Castle (present-day Minowa-machi, Takasaki City) and granted him 120,000 koku, the largest amount among his vassals at the time. Minowa Castle was a mountain castle built by the local Nagano clan during the Sengoku period and was an important defensive stronghold contested by the Takeda and Later Hojo clans. However, in 1597, Naomasa was ordered by Ieyasu to move to Wada Castle, and the following year he repaired Wada Castle, renamed it "Takasaki Castle," and built a castle town. A post town was also built along the Nakasendo road within the territory, which would prosper economically for generations to come.

　After the Battle of Sekigahara, Naomasa was granted an additional 60,000 koku for his service and was transferred to Sawayama in Omi Province, which had been the territory of Ishida Mitsunari, with 180,000 koku (Hikone Domain). The Takasaki Domain territory was governed by a magistrate for a while, and in 1604, Sakai Tadatsugu's son, Ietsugu, was enfeoffed with 50,000 koku. When Ietsugu was transferred to Echigo Takada with 100,000 koku in 1616, Matsudaira Yasunaga ruled for one year and Matsudaira Nobuyoshi for two years, after which Ando Shigenobu entered with 56,000 koku in 1619, and the family continued for three generations over 76 years. Also, Naomasa's son, Naotsugu, was enfeoffed in Annaka, west of Takasaki, out of his father's former territory, establishing the Annaka Domain.

　In 1695, when Ando Shigehiro was transferred to Bitchu Matsuyama with an increase in stipend, Matsudaira Terusada, a chamberlain to Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, became the lord of the Takasaki Domain, and his stipend was increased to 72,000 koku. However, when Tsunayoshi passed away in 1709 and Ienobu became shogun, Terusada was dismissed from his position as chamberlain and demoted/transferred to Echigo Murakami.

　In his place, Ienobu's chamberlain, Manabe Akifusa, became the lord of the Takasaki Domain with 50,000 koku and worked with Arai Hakuseki to control the shogunate administration (Shotoku no Chi). However, when Ienobu passed away in 1712 and his son Ietsugu also passed away in 1716 while still a child, and Yoshimune was brought in from the Kishu Tokugawa family to become shogun, Akifusa and Hakuseki fell from power, and Terusada regained his position as lord of the Takasaki Domain. Terusada was appointed to the rank of Roju by Yoshimune, his adopted son Terunori succeeded him, and thereafter the family inherited the domain as lords for nine generations over 126 years (10 generations over 186 years if including the period before and during Terusada's demotion) until the abolition of the han system.

　Terunori's son, Terutaka, rose to the position of Chief Roju, but in 1781, when he announced a tax on silk, a specialty product of Kozuke Province, a large-scale uprising broke out, leading to the siege of Takasaki Castle (Silk Uprising). The tax was hastily withdrawn, and a disheartened Terutaka passed away that same year. His son Terukazu succeeded him, but during his time, Mount Asama erupted, volcanic ash piled up in the territory, and he faced many difficulties, including a great famine, flooding of the Tone River system, and the resulting nationwide uprisings and riots.

　Amidst these circumstances, Terukazu ordered the district magistrate Oishi Hisayoshi to write "Jikata Hanreiroku," a guidebook for governing the territory. Such books were called Jikatasho, and were used by local officials and village officials as references for their duties, which were necessary for conducting fair and impartial civil and agricultural administration.

Annaka Domain

　Located west of Takasaki in Usui District, Kozuke Province, was Annaka Domain. Usui District is located east of the Usui Pass on the border between Shinano and Kozuke, and was a strategic point where checkpoints and post towns for the Tosando in ancient times and the Nakasendo in the early modern period were established. Annaka was formerly called Nojiri, and was renamed around the Muromachi period when the Annaka clan migrated from Echigo. The Annaka clan were local samurai serving the Yamanouchi Uesugi clan, the Kanto Kanrei, but they were swayed by the struggles between the Later Hojo, Takeda, and Uesugi Kenshin, and fell into decline after the Later Hojo clan was destroyed.

　Ieyasu granted Usui District, including Annaka, to Ii Naomasa, but after Naomasa was transferred from Takasaki, Kozuke to Sawayama, Omi (later Hikone) following the Battle of Sekigahara, his former territory became direct shogunate land, and a magistrate was installed. However, Naotsugu, who succeeded to the head of the family after Naomasa's death, could not keep the vassal band together, and after the Siege of Osaka, he was transferred from Hikone to Annaka with a reduction to 30,000 koku, and the headship of the Hikone Domain was handed over to his half-brother Naotaka. Naotsugu changed his name to Naokatsu and moved to Annaka, and in 1632, he retired and handed it over to his son Naoyoshi.

　Naoyoshi was transferred to Nishio in Mikawa Province with an increase in 1645, and Mizuno Mototsuna entered with 20,000 koku, but his son Moto-tomo went insane in 1667 and was stripped of his rank. Afterward, Hotta Masatoshi ruled for 14 years, the Itakura family for 21 years over two generations, and the Naito family for 47 years over three generations, and in 1749, the Itakura family entered again and continued for 122 years over six generations until the abolition of the han system.

Numata Domain

　The Numata Domain ruled over Numata in Tone District, northern Kozuke (present-day Numata City), north of Maebashi. Just as Annaka was on the Tosando/Nakasendo and controlled the border between Kozuke and Shinano, Numata was on the Mikuni Kaido and controlled the border between Kozuke and Echigo. Also, Ominakami Mountain at the northern end of Tone District is the source of the Tone River, and the Mikuni Kaido is a difficult road that goes north along its tributary, the Akaya River, and crosses the Echigo Mountains at the Mikuni Pass to reach Echigo.

　In the Numata Basin, rivers flowed into the Tone River from the surrounding mountains, and it flourished from ancient times as a collection point for goods such as timber. In the Kamakura period, the Otomo clan from Sagami, followed by a branch of the Miura clan, entered and called themselves the Numata clan, and remained established as local samurai until the end of the Sengoku period. The residence, Numata Castle, was contested between the Uesugi, Later Hojo, and Takeda clans, and was finally seized by Sanada Masayuki, a vassal of the Takeda clan and lord of Ueda Castle in Shinano Province, who destroyed the Numata clan.

　Soon after the Takeda clan was destroyed, Numata Castle was confiscated by Nobunaga's vassal, Takigawa Kazumasu. However, immediately after, Nobunaga was killed in the Honno-ji Incident, and Masayuki surrendered to the Later Hojo clan and regained Numata Castle. The Later Hojo clan fought with Tokugawa Ieyasu over the former Takeda territory, but Masayuki switched from the Later Hojo clan to Uesugi Kagekatsu and would not hand over Numata Castle. Although it was decided to be handed over to the Later Hojo clan by Toyotomi Hideyoshi's ruling, a dispute arose over the handover, which led to Hideyoshi's Odawara Conquest.

　After the war, Hideyoshi confirmed the Numata territory to the Sanada family. Masayuki entrusted the 27,000 koku Numata territory to his son Nobuyuki (later Nobuyuki), but he had Ieyasu's adopted daughter (Honda Tadakatsu's daughter) as his wife, and during the Battle of Sekigahara, he defied his father and joined the Eastern Army. After the war, Masayuki was exiled to Kishu, and Ieyasu granted Nobuyuki 95,000 koku, including Masayuki's Ueda territory (Shinshu Ueda Domain). Nobuyuki continued to stay at Numata Castle, moved to Ueda in 1616, and was transferred to Shinshu Matsushiro in 1622, but the 30,000 koku Numata territory was inherited as an exclave by his son Nobuyoshi, grandson Kumanosuke, and Nobuyoshi's younger brother Nobumasa.

　Nobumasa became the lord of the Matsushiro Domain in 1656 but died two years later. He designated his son Yukimichi as his successor, but because he was a two-year-old child, Nobutoshi, Nobuyoshi's son and Kumanosuke's younger brother, claimed the succession. After a disturbance involving the shogunate and various families, Yukimichi inherited the Matsushiro Domain and the headship as per the will, and Nobutoshi was made an independent lord with 30,000 koku in Numata. However, to compete with the 100,000 koku Matsushiro Domain, Nobutoshi conducted a land survey and reported an excessive actual yield of 144,000 koku (the actual amount was 60,000 koku), so the shogunate imposed official duties corresponding to that kokudaka, and the people of the territory suffered from heavy taxes and forced labor.

　The people of the Numata Domain often made direct appeals to the shogunate, and as a result of an investigation, the shogunate confiscated the domain from Nobutoshi in November 1681, placed him in the custody of the Yamagata Domain, demolished the castle, and made the Numata territory shogunate land. More than 20 years later, in 1703, Honda Masanaga entered with 20,000 koku, the Numata Domain was revived, and it continued for three generations over 27 years. Next, Kuroda Naokuni and Naozumi ruled for two generations over 12 years, and in 1742, the Roju Toki Yoritoshi entered with 35,000 koku, and thereafter, the Toki family continued as lords of the domain for 12 generations over 130 years until the abolition of the han system.

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In Kozuke Province, there were other domains such as the Yoshii Domain in Tago District (present-day Yoshii-machi, Takasaki City), the Obata Domain in Kanra District (present-day Obata, Kanra-machi), and the Nanokaichi Domain (present-day Nanokaichi, Tomioka City), but all of these were small domains of 20,000 koku or less. From next time, we will leave the Kanto region and look at the Chubu region, starting with Echigo, Shinano, Kai, Izu, Suruga, and so on.

[To be continued]

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