Fukui Domain

The , also known as the , was a domain ("han") of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1601 to 1871. 
The Fukui Domain was based at Fukui Castle in Echizen Province, the core of the modern city of Fukui, located in the Chūbu region of the island of Honshu. The Fukui Domain was founded by Yūki Hideyasu, the son of "shōgun" Tokugawa Ieyasu, and was ruled for all of its existence by the "shinpan" "daimyō" of the Matsudaira clan. The Fukui Domain was assessed under the "Kokudaka" system and its value peaked at 680,000 "koku". The Fukui Domain was dissolved in the abolition of the han system in 1871 after the Meiji Restoration and its territory was absorbed into Fukui Prefecture.
History.
In the Sengoku period, the area around Fukui was known as Kita-no-sho, and controlled by Shibata Katsutoyo, the adopted son of Shibata Katsuie, one of Oda Nobunaga's leading generals, after the Asakura clan was dispossessed by Shibata Katsuie. After Shibata Katsutoyo died of illness during the Battle of Shizugatake in 1583, the area was given to the Aoyama clan. However, the Aoyama sided with the Western Army under Ishida Mitsunari during the Battle of Sekigahara and were thus dispossessed by the victorious Tokugawa Ieyasu. In 1601, Ieyasu awarded Echizen Province to his second son, Yūki Hideyasu as a 670,000 "koku" fief. Yūki Hideyasu was permitted to change his name to Matsudaira Hideyasu, and he rebuilt Fukui Castle and the surrounding "jōkamachi" as his capital. His son, Matsudaira Tadanao was of violent disposition and was on bad terms with Shōgun Tokugawa Hidetada, and was consequently dispossessed and banished to Kyushu. He was replaced by his younger brother, Matsudaira Tadamasa, with a reduction in "kokudaka" to 500,000 "koku". His descendants continued to rule over Fukui until the end of the Tokugawa shogunate.
Under Tadamasa's successor, Matsudaira Mitsumichi, the domain was reduced further with the creation of subsidiary domains as Yoshie Domain and Echizen-Maruoka Domain. the domain was plagued with financial difficulties through most of its history, due to frequent flooding, crop failure, epidemics and the profligate spending of its "daimyō". In 1661, Fukui became the first han to issue "hansatsu" (domain paper money).
In 1686, the domain faced a succession crisis and "O-Ie Sōdō" with the removal of Matsudaira Tsunamasa due to insanity was reduced from 475,000 "koku" to 250,000 "koku". A number of the later "daimyō" of Fukui were adopted into the clan from the Hitotsubashi-Tokugawa family, one of the "Gosankyō", the three lesser branches of the Tokugawa clan. 
During the Bakumatsu period, Matsudaira Yoshinaga (better known as Matsudaira Shungaku), was one of the leading political figures in the final years of the Tokugawa shogunate. The final "daimyō" of Fukui was Matsudaira Mochiaki, who served as imperial governor under the Meiji government until the abolition of the han system in 1871 and the creation of modern Fukui Prefecture.
Holdings at the end of the Edo period.
Like most domains in the han system, Fukui Domain consisted of several discontinuous territories calculated to provide the assigned "kokudaka", based on periodic cadastral surveys and projected agricultural yields,
In addition, Fukui Domain administered the extensive "tenryō" territories in Echizen Province on behalf of the Tokugawa shogunate, deriving substantial revenue from these holdings, which were not counted as part of its nominal "kokudaka".