[Yurihonjo City, Akita Prefecture] Yurihonjo City was sandwiched between the Kubota and Shonai clans and was occupied by the Honjo, Kameda, and Yajima clans.

Until the Edo period, the areas of Yamagata and Akita prefectures were treated as one country.

Yurihonjo City Mt. Chokai (2,236 m above sea level) which rises on the border with Yamagata Prefecture , and is a municipality that, together with Nikaho City, formed Yuri District, Akita Prefecture. Yuri District, Akita Prefecture, which was established in 1871 (Meiji 4), had many towns and villages since the Edo period, but in 2005 (Heisei 17), Yurihonjo City and Nikaho City were born due to the merger of towns and villages. Did.

Around 710 during the Asuka period, the area that roughly combined present-day Akita and Yamagata prefectures was designated as Dewa Province. From then until the Edo period, Dewa Province was treated as one country, and in 1868 (first year of the Meiji era), it was first divided into two, Uzen Province and Ugo Province. Uzen Province is roughly the area of ​​present-day Yamagata Prefecture, and Ugo Province corresponds to Akita Prefecture. In 1871 (Meiji 4), Ugo Province officially became Akita Prefecture, and in 1876 (Meiji 9), Uzen Province became Yamagata Prefecture.

During the Sengoku period, the Yuri region was ruled by more than 10 small powerful clans.

Until the Heian period, Yuri County, where Yurihonjo City is located, had a succession of rulers, including the Abe clan, the Kiyohara clan, and the Fujiwara clan, which had power in Mutsu Province, but the Fujiwara clan was destroyed by Minamoto no Yoritomo, and the rulers changed hands during the Kamakura period. From then on, we entered an era in which small-scale powerful families ruled over large groups. For a time, the Oi clan of Shinano Province (Nagano Prefecture) entered Yuri County under the orders of the shogunate, but from the end of the Kamakura period, the area entered a period of war again.

In the middle of the Muromachi period, when the Onin War (1467-1477) began, a group of the "Yuri Twelve Heads" rose to prominence. The “Twelve Yuri” are the Nikaho clan, the Koyoshi clan, the Kataho clan, the Takizawa clan, the Yajima clan, the Toumai clan, the Shimomura clan, and the Ishizawa clan. -There were actually more than 12 clans, including the Utecchi clan, Akaozu clan, Hanegawa clan, Iwaya clan, Ayukawa clan, and Serita clan. The era in which the "Twelve Yuri Heads" ruled Yuri County while competing for power continued until the end of the Sengoku period.

During the Edo period, three feudal domains were established in the Yuri region, which was not very large in area.

In the Edo period, the Mogami clan of the Yamagata domain, which currently ruled the Yamagata prefecture area, became the lord of Yuri district. However, the Mogami clan was severely punished by the Edo Shogunate in 1622 due to an internal conflict over the head of the family (the Mogami Disturbance) in the early Edo period, resulting in its downfall. In Yuri County, which was separated from the control of the Mogami clan, three small domains were established: the Honjo domain, the Kameda domain, and the Yashima domain, and the three domain system continued until the end of the Edo period. After the Meiji Restoration in 1871, the three domains became Honjo Prefecture, Kameda Prefecture, and Yajima Prefecture, but these three prefectures were soon incorporated into Akita Prefecture.

Yuri County is said to have been named because it was a village of lilies.

The ``Yuri'' in the name of Yurihonjo City comes from the name of the county decided during the Asuka period. In ancient documents from that time, it appears in different ways, such as "Yuri", "Yuri", and "Yuri", but it seems that it is pronounced "Yuri". It is said that it was unified with the current Yuri during the Genroku era of the Edo period.

What was the reason why this region was called "Yuri"? Mount Chokai, which rises to the south of Yurihonjo City, is home to a large colony of daylilies, a flower belonging to the lily family. On Tobishima (Sakata City, Yamagata Prefecture) off the coast of Mt. Chokai, a type of lily called Tobishima Daylily, which grows only naturally on Tobishima and Sado Island (Niigata Prefecture), colors the island in early summer. Considering this, it is natural to think that lilies were growing wild in the area around the base of Mt. Chokai, and the prevailing theory is that the county was given the name ``lily.''

After the fall of the Mogami clan, four clans were established in Yuri County, including the Nikaho clan.

In the Edo period, with the fall of the Mogami clan, the Honjo, Kameda, and Yajima clans were established in Yuri County, as well as the Nikaho clan in the Nikaho City area, known for its Kisakata. However, the first lord of the domain passed away within a year, and the Nikaho domain was abolished, with most of its territory becoming the domain of the shogunate, and then the Shonai domain.

How did the three clans that make up Yurihonjo City come into existence?

During the Battle of Sekigahara (1600), a struggle for supremacy following the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi between the Eastern army led by Tokugawa Ieyasu and the anti-Tokugawa Western army, the powerful families of Yuri District were generally on the Tokugawa side, but they were not very active. It wasn't the point. The battle ended in victory for the Tokugawa side, and Yuri's forces were criticized for their dishonesty, and many of their territories were confiscated. With the Yuri army gone, Yuri County became the territory of the Mogami clan, which had great military success, and Mitsushige Tateoka (Michishige Honjo) became the county's lord.

However, in 1622, their territory was confiscated due to the Mogami Rebellion (Mogami clan reform), and the Mogami family was reduced from 570,000 koku to 10,000 koku and moved to Omi Omori (Higashiomi City, Shiga Prefecture). Naturally, Mitsushige was also dismissed.

Three Yuri domains where local feudal lords who were not native to the area were appointed by order of the Edo shogunate.

After the fall of the Mogami clan, the territories of the former Mogami domain were Tadamasa Torii (Yamagata Domain, Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture), Tadakatsu Sakai (Shonai Domain, Tsuruoka City, Sakata City, Yamagata Prefecture), and Masamori Tozawa (Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture). Many domains were created by daimyo such as Masamori Tozawa (Masamori Tozawa) / Shinjo Domain (Shinjo City, Yamagata Prefecture). In Yuri District, the Honjo district (central part of Yurihonjo City) had Rokugo Masanori from Hitachi Province, and the Kameda District (northern part of Yurihonjo City) had Yoshitaka Iwaki from Shinano Province. entered and established the Honjo and Kameda clans. In the Yajima area (southern part of Yurihonjo City), the Uchikoshi clan, a powerful family ranked among the Yuri Twelve, returned as feudal lords, but later the Ikoma clan arrived from Sanuki Province.

The Rokugo clan ruled until the end of the Edo period and was the most prosperous Honjo domain in Yuri.

The Honjo domain was located in the central area of ​​Yurihonjo City, where the city hall is currently located, and developed into the center of the city. Honjo Castle (Tsurumai Castle) has been developed as Honjo Park, and Ugohonjo Station on the JP Uetsu Main Line is also the starting point of the Yuri Kogen Railway Chokai Sanroku Line.

In the Edo period, Mitsushige Tateoka, who was dispatched from the Mogami clan, built a castle on the south bank of the Koyoshi River, which was a key point of transportation, and called himself Honjosara as the feudal lord. However, in 1622, due to the Mogami Rebellion, Mitsushige was dismissed and Honjo Castle was demolished.

The following year, in 1623, Masanori Rokugo, who owned 10,000 koku of Hitachifuchu domain (Ibaraki Prefecture, Ishioka City/later Ishioka domain), increased his koku to 20,000 koku and moved to Honjo and established the Honjo domain. . Masanori restored Honjo Castle and made it his residence, and the Rokugo clan remained the lord of the Honjo domain for 11 generations until the Meiji Restoration.

A port (Furuyuki Minato) was established in Furuyuki (Furuyuki/Furuyuki-cho, Yurihonjo City) along the Koyoshi River, which flows into the Sea of ​​Japan, and Kitamae-bune, a cruise ship traveling between Osaka, Tohoku, and Hokkaido, came to stop there. , flourished greatly.

<Honjo Castle Ruins/Honjo Park> INFORMATON

• Facility name: Honjo Castle Ruins/Honjo Park
• Location: Ozaki, Yurihonjo City, Akita Prefecture
• Phone number: 0184-24-6376 (Yurihonjo City Tourism Culture and Sports Department Tourism Promotion Division)
• Freedom to stroll
• URL: Honjo Castle Ruins/Honjo Park
• access:
  • Railway/Approximately 18 minutes walk from Ugohonjo Station on the Uetsu Main Line
  • Car: Approximately 7 minutes from Honjo IC on the Nihonkai-Tohoku Expressway

GOOGLE MAP

The Kameda clan was given 20,000 koku and was ruled by the Iwaki clan until the end of the Edo period.

In 1623, Yoshitaka Iwaki, a lord of the Matsushiro clan from Kawanakajima, Shinano Province, moved to Kameda and was given 20,000 koku to establish the Kameda clan. The Iwaki clan built Kameda Castle and served as the lord of Kameda for 13 generations until the Meiji Restoration. The Kameda clan was located on the north side of the Koyoshi River, and the Iwaki Minato along the river, along with the Honjo clan's Furusetsu Minato on the opposite bank, were very crowded with Kitamaebune boats.

In 1626, Yoshitaka Iwaki was adopted by his uncle Yoshinobu Satake, the first lord of the Kubota domain, and changed his name to Yoshitaka Satake. After Yoshinobu's death, he became the second lord of the domain and solidified the foundation of the Kubota domain.

<Kameda Castle Ruins> INFORMATON

• Facility name: Kameda Castle Sato 88 Museum
• Address: Takagi 4, Iwaki Shimojada, Yurihonjo City, Akita Prefecture
• Phone number: 0184-74-2500
• Opening hours: 9:00-17:00 (until 16:00 from November to February)
• Closed: Mondays (the next day if Monday is a public holiday), December 28th to January 3rd
• Admission fee: General 210 yen, free for students etc.
• URL: Kameda Castle Sato Eighty-Eight Museum
• access:
  • Railway/About 20 minutes walk from JR Uetsu Main Line Ugo-Kameda Station
  • Car: Approximately 4 minutes from Nihonkai-Tohoku Expressway Matsugasaki-Kameda IC

GOOGLE MAP

The Ikoma clan's Yajima domain was relocated from Sanuki due to problems and its stone was reduced.

The Yajima domain is located in the southern part of Yuri District, bordering the Honjo domain to the north and the Shonai domain to the south at the foot of Mt. Chokai.

was ruled by the Oi clan (Yajima clan) Yamori Castle (Yajima Castle) during the Sengoku period In the Edo period, it came under the control of the Mogami clan, and in 1623, after the Mogami clan changed its name, Mitsutaka Utechi, , became the lord. However, the Uchikoshi clan was the feudal lord for only two generations, and little is known about what happened between then and the time when the Ikoma clan entered the castle from the Takamatsu domain (Kagawa prefecture) in 1660.

The Ikoma clan was the lord of the Takamatsu domain with an income of 170,000 koku, but in 1640, during the era of the third lord, Takatoshi, they were unable to control conflicts between their vassals, and their entire territory was confiscated by the shogunate. Masu. Instead, Yajima was relocated and given 10,000 koku as compensation for his suffering.                  

After Takatoshi's death, Yajima's 10,000 koku was divided and inherited by his two children, so Takakiyo, who inherited the domain with 8,000 koku, was disqualified from being a feudal lord as he was in violation of the principle that a person with more than 10,000 koku could become a lord. After Takakiyo, the Ikoma clan was demoted to the status of kotai yoriai, and until it was revived during the Meiji Restoration, it continued to be in a state of limbo, being a lord but not a feudal lord. A katayo yoriai is a status similar to that of a fudai daimyō, who is allowed to live in the territory but must also take part in sankin katai.

During the Meiji Restoration, the Ikoma domain was finally revived with permission from the new government, but after only three years, the domain was abolished and the prefecture was established, and the Yajima domain disappeared.

<Yamori Castle (Yajima Castle) Ruins> INFORMATON

• Facility name: Yashima Shrine
• Location: 3 Yamori, Jonai, Yajima-cho, Yurihonjo City, Akita Prefecture
• Phone number: 0184-56-2141 (Yashima Shrine)
• URL: Yamori Castle (Yajima Castle) Ruins
• access:
  • Railway/About a minute walk from Yajima Station on the Yuri Kogen Railway Chokai Sanroku Line
  • Car: Approximately 30 minutes from Honjo IC on the Nihonkai-Tohoku Expressway

GOOGLE MAP

The Boshin War, in which Kubota clan fought against the rebel forces on the side of the new government

, the Boshin War (1867) broke out between the new government and the forces that opposed it Initially, Echigo Province (Niigata Prefecture) was added to Mutsu Province and Dewa Province, and the various domains formed the Ou-etsu Domain Alliance and showed a stance of complete resistance against the new government. However, the Kubota clan left the alliance and had to face off against the allied forces. The three Yuri clans also joined the alliance, but all three clans sided with the Kubota clan and left the alliance.

After secession, all three domains, including the Kubota domain, were attacked by the allied Shonai domain and Nanbu domain, and all three domains suffered severe damage. The Honjo clan and the Yajima clan set fire to their camp and retreated, and the Kameda clan surrendered and joined the allied forces, resulting in most of Yuri being occupied by the allied forces. However, upon learning of their plight, the new government forces launched a major offensive against the allied forces, and the war situation improved. In the end, the new government army won, and the three Yuri clans were revived and became part of Ugo Province (Akita Prefecture).