[Yamagata Prefecture during the Boshin War] What were the decisions of the Shonai, Yonezawa, Yamagata, Uenoyama, Tendo, and Shinjo domains?

During the Boshin War, a battle was fought in Yamagata Prefecture over the Shonai clan, which was regarded as an enemy of the Imperial Court, along with the Aizu clan.

Other than the Shonai domain (170,000 koku) and the Yonezawa domain (180,000 koku), the prefecture was a small domain with less than 50,000 koku, and although they were affected by the movements of the larger domains, each of them struggled to survive.

The strongest Shonai domain in Tohoku, trusted by the people and supported by wealthy merchants.

The 11th feudal lord, Tadatsugu Sakai, is a direct descendant of Tadatsugu Sakai, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Tokugawa, and is the 17th head of the Sakai family.

There were two branch domains, Tsurugaoka Castle in Tsuruoka City and Kamegasaki Castle in Sakata City.

During the war, they defeated the government army at the Battle of Kiyokawaguchi, captured Shinjo Castle, Tendo Castle, and even Yokote Castle in Akita, showing overwhelming strength.

Half of the total 4,000 soldiers were volunteer soldiers from townspeople and farmers, and they fought to the end even though they suffered over 300 casualties.

Why was the Shonai clan regarded as an enemy of the Imperial Court?

The feudal lord, Tadaatsu, was appointed as the director of Edo City as a powerful feudal lord, and he took charge of the Shincho-gumi security organization, restoring public order in Edo City, which had been in a state of deterioration.

Upon learning that Satsuma, which had received a secret edict from the imperial court to overthrow the shogunate, was organizing robbers of the Satsuma government and provoking them through criminal acts, the Shonai clan, along with other clans, burnt down the Edo mansion of the Satsuma clan at the behest of the shogunate.

This sparked the Boshin War, which earned the Satsuma clan's grudge and made them enemies of the Imperial Court.

Please note that the Shonai clan did not join the alliance of clans, but instead formed an alliance with the Aizu clan.

The Honma family, wealthy merchants who supported the Shonai clan

The Honma family, a wealthy merchant from Sakata, supported the Shonai clan financially, purchasing the latest weapons with donations, and the Shonai clan was better equipped than the government army.

In addition, after the war, the feudal lord, Tadaatsu, was placed on probation and his territory was confiscated, but feudal samurai, merchants, and landowners, mainly the Honma family, donated 300,000 ryo to the Meiji government, and Tadaatsu became the lord of the domain with a reduction of 120,000 koku. is returning to.

This generous treatment of the Shonai domain is said to be thanks to Saigo Takamori of Satsuma.

INFORMATION

• Name: Tsurugaoka Castle Ruins
• Address: 4 Baba-cho, Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture 997-0035
• URL: Tsuruoka City HP

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Yonezawa clan, deputy leader of the Ouuetsu clan alliance

Narinori Uesugi, the 28th head of the Uesugi family and the 12th lord of the Yonezawa domain, was famous as a great ruler.

Before the war, the feudal opinion was divided, but Masanori acted as an intermediary between the Aizu domain and the new government out of a debt of favor that he was spared through the arrangement of Masayuki Hoshina, the lord of the Aizu domain, who was once on the verge of extinction. I'll try.

However, this made him suspicious of the new government and made him an enemy of the Imperial Court, making him a sub-leader of the Alliance of Domains.

Deference to the new government

The Yonezawa clan participated in the alliance, but upon receiving a recommendation from Toyosuke Yamauchi, the lord of the Tosa domain, who was a relative, they showed their obedience to the new government and withdrew from the alliance.

After the war, the estate was reduced from 180,000 koku to 140,000 koku, and Masanori passed on the headship of the family to his eldest son, Shigenori, and retired.

INFORMATION

• Name: Yonezawa Castle Ruins
• Address: 1-4-13 Marunouchi, Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture 992-0052
• URL: Trip to Yamagata HP

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The Yamagata domain is one of the small domains left between the big domains.

They followed the neighboring large domains and joined the alliance, but the lord, Tadahiro Mizuno, was 13 years old and was in Kyoto with his retired father, Tadakiyo, when he joined the alliance.

Motonobu Mizuno, the chief retainer of the Kunimoto clan, was responsible for joining the alliance and was executed, and Tadase and Tadahiro and their son were transferred to the Asahiyama domain in Omi (Shiga Prefecture) with 50,000 koku. .

INFORMATION

• Name: Yamagata Castle Ruins
• Address: 1 Kajo-cho, Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture, 990-0826
• URL: Yamagata Castle official website

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The second small domain, Uenoyama Domain, lies between the big domains.

It is located between the Yonezawa and Yamagata clans, and participated in the attack on the Kubota clan, which joined the government army in an alliance of clans.

As the Yonezawa domain in the south submitted, fearing an attack from behind, they withdrew their soldiers to show their submission, and after the war, the territory was reduced from 30,000 koku to 27,000 koku, and the lord of the domain, Matsudaira Nobutsune. retired, and his half-brother Nobuyasu took over as head of the family.

INFORMATION

• Name: Kaminoyama Castle Local Museum
• Address: 3-7 Motojonai, Kaminoyama City, Yamagata Prefecture 999-3154
• URL: Uenoyama Castle official website

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Tendo clan could not refuse orders from the new government

The lord of the Tendo domain was Nobumichi, the 9th generation from Oda Nobunaga's second son, Nobukatsu, and the 2nd lord of the Tendo domain.

Just before the war, he received an order from the new government to go to Kyoto, and due to illness, he sent his eldest son, Nobutoshi, to Kyoto, and when he was appointed to lead the Ou Chinbusushi, he sided with the government army.

He led the government army's attack on Shinjo, but Tendo Castle was burned down by the Shinjo army's fierce counterattack.

After that, they joined an alliance of feudal domains and surrendered to the government army, and Nobutoshi, the third lord of the domain, retired, but was later forgiven and became the lord of the domain again.

INFORMATION

• Name: Tendo Castle Ruins
• Address: Oaza Tendo Shiroyama, Tendo City, Yamagata Prefecture 994-0000
• URL: Tendo City HP

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The Shinjo domain vacillates between the feudal alliance and the government army.

The lord of the domain, the Tozawa clan, had been a powerful clan in Dewa since the Kamakura period, but after Sekigahara, they were transferred to Hitachi, and then returned to Dewa and founded the Shinjo domain.

When the government army attacking Shonai passed through the territory, they acted together, but were defeated.

After that, they fought together with the Shonai clan as an alliance of clans, but they left when the Kubota clan joined the government army.

Therefore, Shinjo Castle was attacked by the Shonai clan, and the 11th lord, Masazane Tozawa, moved to the Kubota clan, but it was added to after the war.

INFORMATION

• Name: Shinjo Castle Ruins
• Address: 6-86 Horibata-cho, Shinjo City, Yamagata Prefecture 996-0085
• URL: Shinjo City HP

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summary

During the Boshin War, the Shonai clan was the most powerful among the Yamagata prefecture clans, and this is said to be due to the economic support of wealthy Sakata merchants and the foresight to introduce new weapons.

There was a project in a certain magazine called ``Ranking of the Strongest Domains at the End of the Edo Period,'' and the Shonai Domain was ranked 5th, ranking higher than the Sendai Domain as the strongest domain in the Tohoku region.

“Boshin War and Ou-etsu Domain Alliance” Articles from other prefectures

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