Kururi DomainProduced Arai Hakuseki

Kururi Domain was a domain that governed the Kururi area of Kimitsu City, Chiba Prefecture. It was founded by Osuga Tadamasa, the eldest son of Sakakibara Yasumasa, one of the four great generals of the Tokugawa clan, and was ruled by three families - the Osuga (Matsudaira), Tsuchiya, and Kuroda - until the end of the Edo period. It is also known as the domain where Arai Hakuseki, who served the 6th and 7th shoguns and carried out the "Shotoku era", was born. Let's take a look at the history of the Kururi Domain.

The Osuga (Matsudaira) and Tsuchiya Clan Periods

Kururi Domain was founded by Osuga Tadamasa, who was transferred to Yokosuka in 1601. He was the lord of Kururi Domain for only about 10 years, but during that time he developed the castle town and built the foundations of the domain.

Later, the lord of Kururi Domain was Tsuchiya Tadanao. He was the son of Tsuchiya Masatsune, a retainer of the Takeda clan. Tsuchiya Masatsune died fighting alongside Takeda Katsuyori, who was defeated by the combined forces of Oda and Tokugawa, at the Battle of Tenmokuyama. Tsuchiya Tadanao fled to Suruga with his mother for a time, but was eventually found by Tokugawa Ieyasu and became a page for the second shogun, Tokugawa Hidetada. He had quite a dramatic life, but died at the young age of 31, 10 years after becoming lord of Kururi Domain.

His successor, Tsuchiya Toshinao, was a daimyo highly trusted by the shogunate and had also served as a personal attendant to Tokugawa Hidetada.

The man who served as inspector for Toshinao was Arai Toshinao, the father of Arai Hakuseki, who was a central figure in the Shotoku era. It is said that Toshinao Tsuchiya called the young Arai Hakuseki "fire child" and admired his intelligence.

When Toshinao Tsuchiya died at the age of 69, his eldest son, Naoki Tsuchiya, succeeded him, but at the age of 44, he was stripped of his title for "insanity." At that time, Kururi Castle was also demolished, which shows how harsh the punishment was. Although the family would have been annihilated, it was taken into consideration that the family was a prestigious family since the Takeda clan of Kai, and they were allowed to continue to exist as hatamoto with a stipend of 3,000 koku.

Arai Hakuseki's father, Arai Toshinao, considered Tsuchiya Naoki "a lord not worthy of service" and never served at the castle. He was punished with "Hokko-gō", which prohibited him from future service. As a result, Arai Hakuseki grew up in poverty.

As he grew up, Arai Hakuseki served the chief advisor, Hotta Masatoshi, but Hotta Masatoshi met a tragic end when he was stabbed to death by the young councilor Inaba Masayasu, and Shiraishi became a ronin. However, Shiraishi was later discovered by the Confucian scholar Kinoshita Junan, who served him as his disciple and the Kofu Tokugawa family. The sixth shogun, Tokugawa Ienobu, came from this family, and Arai Hakuseki also became a key figure in the shogunate.

Arai Hakuseki abolished the "Edict to Show Compassion for Living Things" issued by the 5th Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, and implemented reforms such as the dubbing of currency. However, the gap between him and other Shogunate officials gradually widened, and by the time of the 8th Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune, he was overthrown, and the revised regulations on reception of Korean envoys and the various laws for the samurai were completely overturned.

Arai Hakuseki then devoted himself to writing, and passed away at the age of 68. A bronze statue of Arai Hakuseki still stands at Kururi Castle, conveying his connection to the Kururi domain.

The Kuroda era

After the Tsuchiya family was abolished, the Kururi domain came under direct control of the shogunate for 63 years and was without a lord.

Later, Naozumi Kuroda was transferred from Numata Domain in Kozuke to restore the Kururi Domain, which was then ruled by the Kuroda family for nine generations until the Meiji Restoration.

From the time the Kuroda family began to rule the Kururi domain, the domain's finances had been deteriorating, and efforts to rebuild the domain's finances began around the time of the third domain lord, Kuroda Naoharu, but no notable results were achieved.

One of the reasons the Kuroda family's finances deteriorated was the "Osaka Castle Kaban (Osaka Kaban)." This was the guarding of Osaka Castle, which took a yearly rotation. It was one of the positions held by minor daimyo, and was given a salary of 10,000 koku, but travel expenses to Osaka and other expenses had to be covered by the family's own pocket.

The lord of the Kurume domain often had to serve as a kaban (official official) for Osaka, and suffered huge expenses each time he did so.

The Kuroda clan entered the Meiji era without any notable achievements, but at the end of the Meiji period they ordered Mori Katsuzo, a family member of the clan elders, to compile the clan histories "Kururihansei Iban" and "Amakino Itteki." These two books contain detailed descriptions of the internal affairs of the small clan ruled by the fudai daimyo, and are valuable local documents.

Summary of Kururi Domain

Because Kururi Domain was a small domain close to Edo, it was once under the direct control of the shogunate, but was eventually ruled by the Kuroda family, a fudai daimyo, until the end of the Edo period.

Other than producing Arai Hakuseki, there were no notable events from this domain, but "Kururihansei Iban" and "Amaki no Itteki," compiled at the end of the Meiji period, are valuable documents that give a glimpse into the inner workings of a small domain.