Kofu DomainIt was also under the direct control of the shogunate.

Kofu was a key transportation point controlled by the Takeda clan until the middle of the Sengoku period. After the Takeda clan was defeated by the Oda clan and Oda Nobunaga was killed in the Honnoji Incident, the ownership of Kofu was fought over by the Later Hojo clan, the Tokugawa clan and the Uesugi clan, and a war called the Tensho Jingo War broke out.

Eventually, Kofu became a key location for the Edo Shogunate, and was made into a related domain called the "Kofu Domain" and also a direct domain.
Let's take a look at the history of the Kofu domain.

Kofu, a key location in the Edo Shogunate

Kofu is a key location in the Kanto region that was developed by Takeda Harunobu, who was famously known as Takeda Shingen, in the mid-Sengoku period. Until Tokugawa Ieyasu was transferred to Edo, Kai was one of the most developed castle towns in the Kanto region, alongside Odawara, which was ruled by the Hojo clan.

After the Takeda clan was defeated by the Oda clan, and the Oda clan's power was weakened by the Honnoji Rebellion, the Later Hojo clan, the Tokugawa clan, and the Uesugi clan fought over the ownership of the Kofu area, and the Tensho Jingo Rebellion broke out. This rebellion increased the power of the Sanada clan, local lords of Shinshu, and also led to the decline of the Later Hojo clan's power.

Kofu Castle was built by order of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and was ruled by Toyotomi government's senior vassals such as Toyotomi Hidekatsu and Asano Nagamasa. When Tokugawa Ieyasu won the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and established the Edo Shogunate, Kofu became a direct domain with Tokugawa Ieyasu's eighth son, Tokugawa Sengyo, and his ninth son, Tokugawa Yoshinao, serving as nominal lords.

Since the eighth and ninth sons were also young, the actual administration of the domain was carried out by guardians such as Hiraiwa Chikichi. Later, Tokugawa Tadanaga, the third son of the second shogun Tokugawa Hidetada, became the castle lord and ruled the domain.

Tokugawa Tadanaga's childhood name was Kunichiyo, and he was the younger brother of the third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu. He was loved by his mother, Go (Toyotomi Tatsuko), and there is a famous anecdote that he was a bright child who was hoped to become the third shogun, but after coming of age, he behaved badly and was demoted from his position as feudal lord.

Later, Tokugawa Tsunashige, the third son of the Shogun Iemitsu, established the Kofu Domain, which was later succeeded by Tokugawa Tsunatoyo, who would later become the sixth Shogun, Tokugawa Ienobu, and the position of feudal lord passed to Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu. This was a very rare example of the position of feudal lord being passed down from Shogun to chamberlain.

The Kofu domain was abolished

In 1724, the 9th year of the Kyoho era, the eighth shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune, implemented the Kyoho Reforms with the aim of reforming the shogunate's finances.
As part of this, the Kofu Domain was made a direct domain and Yanagisawa Yoshisato, who succeeded Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu, was transferred to the Koriyama Domain in Yamato Province, which became a direct domain of the shogunate. The Kofu Domain was effectively abolished.

However, ten years later, in 1734 (the 19th year of the Kyoho era), an incident occurred that would later be called the "Castle Money Loss Incident." In this incident, the treasure house of Kofu Castle was broken into and approximately 1,400 ryo (approximately 180 million yen) was stolen. It took nine years for the alleged culprit to be arrested, and several officials who were guarding the castle were punished. Feeling that their prestige had been damaged, the shogunate even offered a bounty similar to that of today in an attempt to find the culprit, but even today it remains a mystery as to whether the alleged culprit was actually the culprit.

By the way, the perpetrator was paraded through the city and then executed.
This incident was sensationalized at the time and even gave rise to fiction such as "Kokinroku."

Furthermore, two large-scale uprisings occurred: the Taimasu Uprising in 1792 (Kansei 4) and the Tenpo Uprising in 1836 (Tempo 7). Both were caused by opposition to heavy taxes and rice hoarding, and both were suppressed by the shogunate and the ringleaders executed. However, the Tenpo Uprising occurred at the same time as the Oshio Heihachiro Rebellion, and social unrest spread. There are records that the number of gamblers, an anti-social entity at the time, also increased in Kai Province.

In other words, although Kofu became a direct territory of the shogunate, famines and unrest continued, making it a thorn in the side of the shogunate.

The Battle of Koshu Katsunuma

At the end of the Edo period, Kofu was the site of the famous Battle of Koshu-Katsunuma, where Kondo Isami of the Shinsengumi fought in an attempt to make a comeback. The former Shogunate forces led by Kondo considered Kofu an important base as part of the defense of Edo, and marched to defend Kofu Castle. However, Kondo acted as if his goal of recapturing Kofu Castle and becoming a feudal lord had already been decided, leading to a weakening of morale and a fall behind the Meiji government forces, which led to a failure to capture Kofu Castle. The main force of the new government forces was made up of the western domains of Satsuma and Choshu, and they overwhelmed the former Shogunate forces with modern equipment and tactics, and the Battle of Kashio was decided in just two hours, with Kondo being captured and eventually executed.

This battle, along with the Battle of Goryokaku, is one of the most famous battles involving the Shinsengumi, and has been filmed many times. The defeat at Koshu Katsunuma prompted Tokugawa Yoshinobu to choose the bloodless surrender of Edo Castle.

summary

The Koshu Domain has a long history as a direct domain of the shogunate, and most of its lords were members of the Tokugawa family. It was a prosperous area known as Little Edo, but it was also a dramatic domain, with many uprisings and destructions, and it was the site of the battle that led to the overthrow of the shogunate.

Since the Meiji period, grape cultivation has flourished in Koshu, and the area is now world-famous as a major producer of domestic wine.