Koriyama DomainRuled by the descendants of Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu

Koriyama Domain was a domain located in Koriyama City, Nara Prefecture, with Koriyama Castle as its domain headquarters. During the Toyotomi administration, Koriyama Castle was ruled by Toyotomi Hideyoshi's half-brother, Hashiba (Toyotomi) Hidenaga, and at one time flourished as a castle town with a fief of 1 million koku. Later, it became one of the main battlefields during the Siege of Osaka, and both Koriyama Castle and the castle town suffered great damage. Let's take a look at the history of Koriyama Domain.

Before the establishment of Koriyama Domain

The power of temples and shrines was strong in Koriyama, and until the end of the Sengoku period, the area was a place of repeated skirmishes between the temple and shrine powers and small powerful clans. The Tsutsui clan, which produced Tsutsui Junkei, grew in power and came into conflict with Matsunaga Hidehisa, who had invaded Yamato Province. Matsunaga Hidehisa took Tsutsui Castle, which had once been the residence of the Tsutsui clan, and took control of Yamato. However, Matsunaga Hidehisa rebelled against Oda Nobunaga, who had supported his advance into Yamato, and was destroyed in a manner that was close to self-destruction. After that, Koriyama was returned to the hands of the Tsutsui clan, and was then given to Toyotomi Hideyoshi's half-brother, Hashiba Hidenaga.

Hidenaga Hashiba significantly expanded Koriyama Castle, which had been built by Junkei Tsutsui, to befit a feudal lord with a fief of 1 million koku, and also worked hard to develop the castle town. However, Hidenaga Hashiba died of illness before he could achieve his goals, and his adopted son Hideyasu Toyotomi also died suddenly at the age of 17, so the Koriyama area was given to Nagamori Masuda, one of the five magistrates.

Masuda Nagamori sided with the Western Army in the Battle of Sekigahara, and had his territory taken away. Once again without a lord, Koriyama was left in the care of Tsutsui Sadakage, who was of the Tsutsui clan, and his younger brother, Yoshiyuki. In 1615 (Keicho 20), when the Summer Siege of Osaka broke out, the Toyotomi and Tokugawa armies clashed in Koriyama. On this occasion, Tsutsui Sadakage and Yoshiyuki quickly abandoned Koriyama Castle and fled. Afterwards, with the Toyotomi army quickly being destroyed, Sadakage and Yoshiyuki are said to have committed suicide out of shame at their defeat.

From the establishment of Koriyama Domain to the end of the Edo period

After the Summer Siege of Osaka, Mizuno Katsunari became the lord of Koriyama Domain and was established. However, after a short time, he was transferred, and Matsudaira Tadaaki was transferred to the lord's place instead. He too was transferred 20 years after he became the lord.

Later, Honda Masakatsu, grandson of Honda Tadakatsu, took over as lord of the domain. Originally, the lord of Koriyama was supposed to be his cousin Honda Masatomo's child, but as he was still a child, Masakatsu became lord of the castle on the condition that he would do so until Masatomo's child came of age. However, Masakatsu broke that promise and tried to pass the baton to his own son Masatoshi. So Masakatsu curryed favor with Sakai Tadakiyo, chief advisor to the fourth shogun, Tokugawa Ietsuna, in an attempt to smoothly pass the family headship to his own son Masatoshi.

This plan ultimately failed, and the shogunate ordered the Koriyama Domain to hand over 90,000 koku of its 150,000 koku fief to Masatomo's legitimate son Masanaga, and the remaining 60,000 koku to Masatoshi. Masatoshi was not satisfied with this and tried to poison Masanaga to monopolize the fief. However, this plot also failed with the downfall of Sakai Tadayasu, and in 1682, Honda Masatoshi was found guilty of poisoning Honda Masanaga and had his fief confiscated.

Matsudaira Nobuyuki was put in charge of the Koriyama Domain, replacing the Honda family, whose lineage became extinct after the turmoil. He demonstrated his political skills by cleaning up the aftermath of a fire that occurred while he was lord of the domain and rebuilding the castle town, but a few years after becoming lord he was appointed as a senior councilor and left Koriyama.

After that, Honda Tadahira, a descendant of Honda Tadakatsu, became the feudal lord again, and the Honda family rule began. The finances of Koriyama Domain were already deteriorating during Honda Tadahira's time. Honda Tadahira attempted tax reform but failed, and died without leaving an heir. His younger brother Honda Tadatsune succeeded him, and the family continued for five generations, but the fourth lord Honda Tadamura died at the age of 13, and the fifth lord Honda Tadateru died at the age of 5, bringing the family line to an end. During the time the Honda family ruled the domain, the finances continued to deteriorate.

After the Honda line died out, the eldest son of Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu, who served as a chamberlain to the fifth shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, was transferred to the domain. The Yanagisawa family, whose ancestor was Yanagisawa Yoshisato, ruled the Koriyama domain until the end of the Edo period. Records show that Yanagisawa Yoshisato was a scholarly lord and was loved as a wise ruler.

His successor, Yanagisawa Nobuhiro, did not leave behind any outstanding achievements, but the diary he wrote in Edo after his retirement is a valuable resource for learning about the political and social situation of the time. The diary also contains detailed records of the weather, which was useful in researching the bad weather that caused the Tenmei famine. After that, there were no notable incidents in Koriyama Domain until the Meiji Restoration under the sixth lord, Yanagisawa Yasunobu, although there were minor disturbances such as destruction of buildings.

Furthermore, the last feudal lord, Yanagisawa Yasunobu, focused on industrial development after the abolition of the feudal domains and establishment of prefectures, and in 1887 he established a fish research institute at his own expense and began researching goldfish. This led to Koriyama City becoming famous as a goldfish production area today. Yanagisawa Yasunobu was also enthusiastic about promoting education, and made a large donation to Nara Prefectural Koriyama High School.

Summary of Koriyama Domain

Although Koriyama Domain experienced some family disputes and famines, it did not experience any economic crisis that threatened to bankrupt its finances until the end of the Edo period. The Yanagisawa family still exists today, and the current head of the family, Yasunori Yanagisawa, is an educator who has served as president of Nara University of Education and Tezukayama Gakuen.