Ogi Domain

Ogi Domain (小城藩 Ogi-han) was a Japanese domain in the Edo period. It is associated with Hizen Province in modern-day Saga Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū.^[1]

In the han system, Ogi 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

Ogi Domain was originally a sub-domain of the Saga Domain, founded in 1642 for Nabeshima Motoshige, the eldest son of the first daimyō of Saga Domain, Nabeshima Katsushige. Although Motoshige was the eldest son, he was displaced in the line of succession for Saga Domain by his younger half-brother, Nabeshima Tadanao, whose mother was a daughter of Shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Motoshige was assigned holdings of 73,000 koku, and also served as an advisor to Shōgun Tokugawa Iemitsu His son Nabeshima Naoyoshi became second daimyō of Ogi and built a fortified house ( jin'ya ) to be the domain headquarters in what is now the city of Ogi. His son, Nabeshima Mototake rose to high positions within the Tokugawa Shogunate under Shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi; however, from his time onwards, the domain’s financial situation was very severe and on the verge of bankruptcy, causing relations with the main line at Saga Domain to become increasingly strained.

During the time of Nabeshima Naotaka, Ogi Domain was finally recognized as an independent domain directly reporting to the Shōgunate, and permission was granted to erect a castle; however, the domain lacked the finances to do so.

The Boshin War of the Meiji Restoration, Nabeshima Naotora, the 11th and final daimyō, supported the Satchō Alliance was called upon to lead Ogi’s forces against the Tokugawa remnants at Akita in northern Japan. For his loyalty to Emperor Meiji and efforts in the war, the revenues of Ogi Domain were raised by an additional 5,000 koku in August 1869. However, this reward was only nominal, as with the abolition of the han system less than two years later in 1871 Ogi Domain became part of the new Saga Prefecture.

Nabeshima Naotora and his heirs were granted the title of viscount (shishaku) under the kazoku peerage.

List of daimyo

The hereditary daimyo were head of the clan and head of the domain.

• Nabeshima clan, 1635-1868 (tozama; 52,000 koku)^[4]

	Name	Tenure	Courtesy title	Court Rank	Revenue
1	Nabeshima Motoshige (鍋島元茂)	1642-1654	Kii-no-kami	Lower 5th (従五位下)	73,000 koku
2	Nabeshima Naoyoshi (鍋島直能)	1654-1679	Kaga-no-kami	Lower 5th (従五位下)	73,000 koku
3	Nabeshima Mototake (鍋島元武)	1679-1713	Kii-no-kami	Lower 5th (従五位下)	73,000 koku
4	Nabeshima Motonobu (鍋島元延)	1713-1714	Kaga-no-kami	Lower 5th (従五位下)	73,000 koku
5	Nabeshima Naohide (鍋島直英)	1714-1744	Kaga-no-kami	Lower 5th (従五位下)	73,000 koku
6	Nabeshima Naokazu (鍋島直員)	1744-1764	Kii-no-kami	Lower 5th (従五位下)	73,000 koku
7	Nabeshima Naomasu (鍋島直愈)	1764-1794	Kaga-no-kami	Lower 5th (従五位下)	73,000 koku
8	Nabeshima Naotomo (鍋島直知)	1794-1804	Kii-no-kami	Lower 5th (従五位下)	73,000 koku
9	Nabeshima Naotaka (鍋島直堯)	1804-1850	Kii-no-kami	Lower 5th (従五位下)	73,000 koku
10	Nabeshima Naosuke (鍋島直亮)	1850-1864	Kaga-no-kami	Lower 5th (従五位下)	73,000 koku
11	Nabeshima Naotora (鍋島直虎)	1864-1871	Kii-no-kami	Lower 5th (従五位下)	73,000 koku

Geography

The lands of Ogi Domain were in Ogi District and portions of Saga District and Matsuura District in Saga Prefecture.

See also

• List of Han
• Abolition of the han system

References

Map of Japan, 1789 -- the Han system affected cartography

1. "Hizen Province" at JapaneseCastleExplorer.com; retrieved 2013-5-28.
2. Mass, Jeffrey P. and William B. Hauser. (1987). The Bakufu in Japanese History, p. 150.
3. Elison, George and Bardwell L. Smith (1987). Warlords, Artists, & Commoners: Japan in the Sixteenth Century, p. 18.
4. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon; Papinot, (2003). "Nabeshima" at Nobiliare du Japon, pp. 38-39; retrieved 2013-5-30.

External links

• "Kashima" at Edo 300 (Japanese)