Kawagoe domainRuled by powerful daimyo who produced dairo and roju.

The Kawagoe domain was the largest domain in Musashi Province, located in present-day Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture. When Tokugawa Ieyasu was transferred to the Kanto region by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he established the Kawagoe domain by appointing his senior vassal, Shigetada Sakai, as the lord of Kawagoe Castle. Throughout the Edo period, it was an important domain for the Edo shogunate, which was ruled by families who served as tairo and roju. Let's unravel the history of the Kawagoe clan.

Why the Edo shogunate attached importance to the Kawagoe domain

Kawagoe is located in the center of Musashi Province (a country that includes present-day Tokyo, Saitama Prefecture, and Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture), and has been an important military base since ancient times. Kawagoe Castle was also built by the Uesugi clan, Kanto Kanrei, by ordering Dokan Ota to suppress the Ashikaga clan, the Kamakura kubo.

In the Edo period, shipping along the Shingashi River developed, and a variety of goods including timber and annual tax rice were transported from Kawagoe to Edo. If Kawagoe were to fall into enemy hands, supplies would no longer reach Edo and the city would be unable to maintain its functions. In addition, the Kawagoe Highway was established to connect Nihonbashi in Edo to Kawagoe, allowing people and goods to move back and forth. The Kawagoe Kaido is also connected to the Nakasendo, and there are records that it was designated as a round trip similar to the Gokaido. Today, Kawagoe is called ``Little Edo,'' but that name has been around since the Edo period, and it shows that it was a thriving and prosperous city like Edo.

Throughout the Edo period, the Edo shogunate attached great importance to the Kawagoe domain because it was such a key transportation hub, and all eight families that ruled the Kawagoe domain until the Meiji period, including the first lord, Shigetada Sakai, were affiliated with the domain. There were 21 feudal lords from the establishment of the domain to the Meiji era, and eight of them held important positions in the shogunate, such as tairo, tairokaku, and roju. This number follows the Sakura clan.

Lords of the Kawagoe domain who held important positions in the shogunate

Shigetada Sakai, the first lord of the Kawagoe domain, was a loyal vassal who served Tokugawa Ieyasu from an early age and survived many battles with his lord, including the Battle of Anegawa. Even after being granted the Kawagoe domain, he served in many capacities as a senior vassal of Tokugawa Ieyasu, including serving as a guard at Edo Castle and in charge of transporting supplies during the Osaka Siege. Furthermore, Shigetada Sakai's younger brother Tadatoshi Sakai and his son Tadakatsu Sakai also served as the lords of the Kawagoe domain. After Tadakatsu Sakai was dismissed as Roju, he was ordered to appear only on important resolutions. This is said to be the beginning of Tairo.

After the Sakai family was transferred, Masamori Hotta, who assumed the position of lord of the domain, was Kasuga no Tsune's grandson-in-law, and as a close aide to the third shogun, Iemitsu Tokugawa, he rose through the ranks from Rojū to Rojū. I accomplished it. He is also known as the person who died when Iemitsu died.

The person who became the lord after Masamori Hotta was Nobutsuna Matsudaira of the Okochi Matsudaira family. He served as Iemitsu's page from an early age, and even after growing up, he continued to serve as an important aide and was promoted to senior citizen. After Iemitsu's death, he also served as a close aide to the fourth shogun, Ietsuna.

The Okochi Matsudaira family ruled the Kawagoe domain for three generations, starting with Nobutsuna Matsudaira, but Nobutsuna was the only one who was given the command of roju.
Yoshiyasu Yanagisawa, who was favored by the fifth shogun, Tsunayoshi Tokugawa, also served as the lord of the Kawagoe domain. He also served as Roju and rose through the ranks from 500 koku to a great daimyō who eventually earned over 150,000 koku.

After Yoshiyasu Yanagisawa was transferred to Kai, the Akimoto family became the lord of the domain, and only the last lord of the domain, Ryocho Akimoto, rose to the level of rojū. However, he lost a battle with his political opponent Okitsugu Tanuma, resigned as Roju, and moved to the Yamagata domain in what could be called a demotion.

At this time, the Kawagoe domain was temporarily absorbed into the Maebashi domain and became an abandoned domain. However, when Tomonori Matsudaira, the lord of the Maebashi domain, moved his castle to Kawagoe Castle, the Kawagoe domain was revived, and the Maebashi domain was abolished. This is because the Maebashi domain was located in a location that was susceptible to flooding from the Tone River, and the water damage from the Tone River eventually reached its castle, Maebashi Castle.

Tominori Matsudaira died at the young age of 31, but the Maebashi Matsudaira family continued to rule the Kawagoe domain for about 100 years, spanning seven generations. Masanori Matsudaira, the fourth generation lord of the Maebashi Matsudaira family, was famous as a great ruler and reformed the domain's administration, rebuilding finances and taking famine countermeasures. These efforts have produced certain results, and the Maebashi Matsudaira family's finances are said to have recovered to some extent. Masanori Matsudaira also rebuilt the main castle palace of Kawagoe Castle. Although he did not hold important positions in the shogunate, he was a rare daimyo who did his best for the reign of Kawagoe.

Naokatsu Matsudaira, the last feudal lord of the Maebashi Matsudaira family, reorganized and revived the Maebashi domain and transferred it to the Maebashi domain.At the same time, he and the 14th shogun, Iemochi Tokugawa, negotiated with the Imperial Court, but eventually came into conflict with other shogunate clans. He retired from the shogunate government and never returned to the shogunate government.

Yasuhide Matsudaira of the Matsui Matsudaira family, who became the last feudal lord, became roju at the same time as he inherited the lordship of Tanagura after serving as foreign magistrate and Kanagawa magistrate. Three years later, he became the lord of the Kawagoe domain. During this period, the shogunate was in great turmoil, and Yasuhide Matsudaira supported the shogunate, being appointed and dismissed many times, but in the first year of the Meiji era, the Meiji government ordered him to refrain. . During that time, he filled in the moat of Kawagoe Castle to show his obedience to the Meiji government and protect Kawagoe Castle from the flames of war.

Kawagoe domain summary

Many of the daimyo who served as lords of the Kawagoe domain held important positions in the shogunate, and only a few ruled Kawagoe themselves. Some of the successive feudal lords are well-known from historical dramas and novels, such as Masayoshi Hotta and Yoshiyasu Yanagisawa. Kawagoe is not only a transportation hub, but is also known as a sweet potato production area, and sweets made with sweet potatoes are still famous today.