Morioka Domain

 was a "tozama" feudal domain of Edo period Japan. It was ruled throughout its history by the Nanbu clan. It was called during the early part of its history. It was located in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, covering the eastern half of what is now Aomori Prefecture and the northern two-thirds of what is now Iwate Prefecture and the Kazuno District of what is now Akita Prefecture. The domain was centered at Morioka Castle in the city of Morioka. For most of its history, Morioka Domain had an official "kokudaka" of 100,000 "koku", although its actual revenues were much higher. Towards the end of the Edo period, the domain’s status was raised to 200,000 "koku".
History.
The Nanbu clan was a branch of the Seiwa Genji originally from Kai Province, who settled in what is now the town of Nanbu, Aomori after the conquest of the Hiraizumi Fujiwara by Minamoto no Yoritomo. Along with the Shimazu clan of Satsuma Province, the Nanbu clan has the distinction of being one of the two clans which held onto their territories for over 700 years, from the Kamakura period to the Meiji Restoration.
In July 1590, the 26th chieftain of the Nanbu clan, Nanbu Nobunao, made an oath of fealty to Toyotomi Hideyoshi at the Siege of Odawara, and was officially confirmed as "daimyō" of seven districts of northern Mutsu province (Nukanobu, Hei, Kazuno, Kuji, Iwate, Shiwa and Tōno). Hideyoshi assisted in the suppression of the Kunohe Rebellion of 1591 which secured Nobunao's position as head of all the branches of the Nanbu clan. However, Hideyoshi also recognised the independence of the Tsugaru clan, former Nanbu retainers, and their control over the three districts of Tsugaru Peninsula, but gave the Nanbu clan the additional districts of Hienuki and Waga as compensation. Nanbu Nobunao relocated his seat from Sannohe Castle to the more central location of Morioka, and began work on Morioka Castle and its surrounding castle town in 1592.
In 1600, following the Battle of Sekigahara, Nanbu Nobunao's son Nanbu Toshinao was confirmed by Tokugawa Ieyasu as "daimyō" with an assessed "kokudaka" of 100,000 "koku". This marks the official start of Morioka Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate.
In 1627, in order to strengthen its southern border against the Date clan of Sendai Domain, a branch of the Nanbu clan from Ne Castle near Hachinohe was relocated to Tōno, forming a subsidiary line.
In 1634, Nukanobu District was divided into the four districts of Sannohe, Ninohe, Kunohe and Kita by order of the "shōgun" Tokugawa Iemitsu, giving the Nanbu clan control over a total of 10 districts of Mutsu province.
In 1664, the 20,000 "koku" Hachinohe Domain was split from Morioka Domain as a nominally subsidiary domain. However, relations between Morioka and Hachinohe were often strained and Hachinohe was considered independent, rather than a subsidiary. Morioka Domain was thus reduced to 80,000 "koku", but was able to develop new rice lands, and reverted to 100,000 "koku" status in 1683. The 5th "daimyō", Nanbu Yukinobu, reduced the domain to 92,000 "koku" by setting up his two younger brothers as "hatamoto" with 5000 "koku" and 3000 "koku" each.
In 1808, the Tokugawa shogunate assigned the Nanbu clan responsibility for the defence of a portion of southern Ezo. The nominal "kokudaka" for Morioka clan was raised to 200,000 "koku" and their status from "castle-holding "daimyō"" to "province-holding "daimyō"". However, this increase in status came without any actual increase in territory, and the additional actual revenues from trading posts established in Ezo was small. The result was to plunge the domain’s finances, already suffering from repeated crop failures due to inclement weather and reduction in output from its copper mines, into the red.
In 1819, the subsidiary Shichinohe Domain was created out of 6000 "koku" of new rice land combined with a 5000-"koku" "hatamoto" holding.
In 1821, the Sōma Daisaku incident, in which a retainer of the Nanbu clan attempted to assassinate the "daimyō" of Tsugaru Domain occurred. The Nanbu clan and the Tsugaru clan had been enemies for centuries. This was the same year during which the domain faced its most serious crisis. The 11th "daimyō", Nanbu Toshimochi, died at the age of 13 before he could be formally received in audience by "shōgun" Tokugawa Ienari. Fearing that this could be used by the shogunate as a cause for attainder, the domain leaders substituted a cousin of similar age and appearance to take his place.
In 1840, a han school was established, and began promoting studies in "rangaku" (western science), especially western medicine.
During the Bakumatsu period, in 1857 the 14th "daimyō" of Morioka, Nanbu Toshihisa, married the third daughter of Tokugawa Nariaki of Mito Domain. With the start of the Boshin War, the domain initially attempted to remain neutral, but bowed to pressure from Sendai Domain and joined the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei. Morioka forces attacked the pro-Imperial Tsugaru Domain and Akita Domain. As a result, the new Meiji government treated Nanbu clan harshly at the end of the war by seizing the territory and expelling the Nanbu clan to the vacant Shiroishi Castle, where a new 130,000 "koku" domain was created out of former Sendai Domain lands in early 1868.
Six months later, the Nanbu petitioned to return to Morioka, to which the government agreed provided that they paid a penalty of 700,000 gold "ryō". Although this sum proved impossible amount to raise, the Nanbu were allowed to return shortly before the abolition of the han system. The lands of former Morioka Domain became Morioka Prefecture, which subsequently became part of Iwate Prefecture in January 1872.
Bakumatsu period holdings.
Like most domains in the han system, Morioka Domain consisted of discontinuous territories calculated to provide the assigned "kokudaka", based on periodic cadastral surveys and projected agricultural yields. At the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, the domain consisted of the following holdings:
In popular culture.
In fiction, the Morioka domain is the setting for sections of the novel "Mibugishiden", as well as the film "The Twilight Samurai".