Han system
The han (藩 han) or domain is the Japanese historical term for the estate of a warrior after the 12th century or to a daimyo in the Edo period and early Meiji period.[1]
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History [edit]
In the Sengoku period, Hideyoshi Toyotomi caused a transformation of the han system. The feudal system based on land became an abstraction based on periodic cadastral surveys and projected agricultural yields.[2]
In Japan, a feudal domain was defined in terms of projected annual income. This was different than the feudalism of the West. For example, early Japanologists like Appert and Papinot made a point of highlighting the annual koku yields which were allocated for the Shimazu clan at Satsuma Domain since the 12th century.[3]
In 1690, the richest han was the Kaga Domain with slightly over 1 million koku.[4] It was in Kaga, Etchu and Noto provinces.
Edo period [edit]
In the Edo period, the domains of daimyo are defined in terms of kokudaka, not land area.[5] Imperial provincial subdivisions and shogunal domain subdivisions were complementary systems. For example, when the shogun ordered daimyo to make a census of its people or to make maps, the work was organized along the borders of the provincial kuni.[6]
Richest hans in early Edo period [edit]
| Province | Castle town | Daimyo clan | Kokudaka | Clan Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaga | Kanazawa | Maeda | 1,022,000+[4] | tozama |
| Satsuma | Kagoshima | Shimazu | 720,000+[4] | tozama |
| Mutsu | Sendai | Date | 620,000[4] | tozama |
| Owari | Nagoya | Tokugawa | 610,000+[4] | sanke |
| Kii | Wakayama | Tokugawa | 550,000+[4] | sanke |
| Higo | Kumamoto | Hosokawa | 540,000+[4] | tozama |
| Chikuzen | Fukuoka | Kuroda | 520,000[4] | tozama |
| Aki | Hiroshima | Asano | 420,000+[4] | tozama |
| Chōshū | Yamaguchi | Mōri | 369,000[4] | tozama |
| Ise & Iga | Tsu | Tōdō | 363,000[4] | tozama |
Meiji period [edit]
In the Meiji period from 1868 to 1871, the title of daimyo in the han system was han-chiji or chihanji (domainal governor).[7]
In 1871, almost all of the domains were disbanded; and the prefectures of Japan replaced the han system.[1] At the same time, the Meiji government created the Ryūkyū Domain which existed from 1872 through 1879.[8]
See also [edit]
Notes [edit]
- ^ a b Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Han" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 283.
- ^ Mass, Jeffrey P. and William B. Hauser. (1987). The Bakufu in Japanese History, p. 150.
- ^ Appert, Georges. (1888). "Shimazu" in Ancien Japon, pp. 77; compare Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon; Papinot, (2003). Nobiliare du Japon, p. 55; retrieved 2013-3-23.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Totman, Conrad. (1993). Early Modern Japan, p. 119.
- ^ Elison, George and Bardwell L. Smith (1987). Warlords, Artists, & Commoners: Japan in the Sixteenth Century, p. 17.
- ^ Roberts, Luke S. (2002). Mercantilism in a Japanese Domain: the merchant origins of economic nationalism in 18th-century Tosa, p. 6
- ^ Lebra, Takie S. (1995). Above the Clouds: Status Culture of the Modern Japanese Nobility, p. 29
- ^ Matsumura, Wendy. (2007). Becoming Okinawan: Japanese Capitalism and Changing Representations of Okinawa, p. 38.
References [edit]
- Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 10-ISBN 0-674-01753-6; 13-ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128
- Totman, Conrad. (1993). Early Modern Japan. Berkeley: University of California Press. 10-ISBN 0520080262/13-ISBN 9780520080263; OCLC 246872663
