Kaga Domain (2/2)Ruled by the Maeda family, a prestigious foreign clan.

Yoshinori Maeda's financial reforms provoked opposition from conservative factions within the domain, led by Naomi Maeda, a member of the Eight Houses of Maeda. After Maeda Yoshinori's death, Otsuki Denzo fell from power and was banished to Etchu Gokayama. Maeda Sotatsu, who succeeded Maeda Yoshinori, died of illness just a year and a half after assuming the position of lord. He was succeeded by his half-brother Shigehiro Maeda. The attempted poisoning of Shigehiro Maeda and his mother, Jojuin, was the beginning of the Kaga Riots. The investigation revealed that the perpetrator of the poisoning was a maid named Asao, but the person who ordered her to be poisoned was Shinnyoin, Maeda Yoshinori's concubine. Furthermore, a letter from Otsuki Denzo was found in Shinnyo-in's room, and this was taken as evidence of illicit communication. When Otsuki Denzo learned that Shinnyo-in had been captured, he committed suicide at his exile, and his inner-maid, Asao, was also murdered. Shinnyoin and his son Toshikazu Maeda were imprisoned, but Shinnyoin asked them to kill him, which they did.

This incident is said to have been caused by Shinnyo-in in collusion with Denzo Otsuki in order to have his own child, Toshikazu Maeda, become the lord of the domain. However, Shinnyo-in did not admit to the poisoning until the end, and Otsuki Denzo was under strict surveillance, making it difficult for him to secretly send letters. After this uproar, in the castle town of Kanazawa, there were many mysterious ``Record books'' that were said to have been written by Otsuki Denzo and Maeda Yoshinori, but now conservative Maeda Naomi has wiped out the Otsuki Denzo faction. There is a strong theory that the riot was fabricated for the purpose of the war. Kabuki plays such as ``Kagami Sankakushahon'' and ``Kagamiyama Soiwafuji'' are set during the Kaga Riots, and are still being performed today.

Successive changes of feudal lords and the burning down of Kanazawa Castle

The aftermath of the Kaga Riots continued into the era of the 8th and 9th feudal lords. The 8th lord, Shigeyasu Maeda, died of illness at the age of 19, and was succeeded by his half-brother Shigenori Maeda. Shigenori Maeda was originally an adopted child of another family, but upon the sudden death of the 8th feudal lord, he hurriedly took over as head of the family. At that time, the Kaga clan's finances were becoming even more difficult. Furthermore, on April 10, 1759, a huge fire broke out in Kanazawa, destroying 15,000 houses in Kanazawa's castle town as well as Kanazawa Castle. As the Kaga domain's finances were tight, they borrowed 50,000 ryo from the shogunate to survive the crisis and rebuild Kanazawa Castle. Haruno Maeda, the 10th feudal lord who succeeded him, loved learning and founded the domain schools Meirin-do and Keibukan next to Kenrokuen in 1792. Furthermore, Haruno Maeda, the 10th lord of the domain, was the 10th son of Yoshinori Maeda, the 6th lord of the domain, and since he was in no way in a position to succeed the head of the family, he became a priest at the age of 17. However, due to the early deaths of feudal lords, he suddenly returned to secular life and became a feudal lord. This is an episode that shows how the Kaga Riots left a huge scar on the Kaga clan.

Finances continue to tilt

After succeeding the 10th lord, Masahiro Maeda, the 11th lord of the domain, implemented economic policies to plan the lives of his subjects, including farmers, but all of them failed. On the other hand, the Ninomaru of Kanazawa Castle was destroyed in a fire, the territory was flooded and expenses increased, and the rice harvest continued to decline. Finally, there are years when the rice yield is less than 500,000 koku even though the rice yield is 1,000,000 koku. Maeda Nariyasu, the 12th lord of the domain, similarly worked on reforming the domain's administration, but due to drastic changes in the world, such as the arrival of Perry, a conflict broke out within the domain between samurai who were pro-respecting the emperor and those who were pro-opening the country, and Nariyasu Maeda Together with Masahito Honda, the chief retainer of the castle, he oppressed the samurai of the Sonno-joi faction.
Maeda Nariyasu also tried to get the Kaga domain involved in national politics in the same way as the Satsuma and Choshu domains, but it did not work out in the end.

Meiji period and Kaga domain

The last lord of the Kaga domain was Maeda Yoshiyasu, the 13th generation. Maeda Yoshiyasu had a conflict with his father, Maeda Nariyasu, and was finally ordered to be suspended in Kanazawa for ``disobeying the orders of the shogunate and abandoning the security of the imperial palace.'' He was released from restraint in 1865, and on April 4, 1866, he was handed over the headship of the family by Nariyasu, but he had no real power. Afterwards, when the Battle of Toba and Fushimi broke out, he decided to dispatch troops in order to "cooperate with Naifusamae", believing that the declaration of restoration of the monarchy was a plot by "Satsushu family vassals", but the battle ended in just three days. At the same time, he was harshly questioned by the Imperial Court regarding this advance as a ``subaku no kokuron,'' and he made the mistake of hastily turning back his army. After that, the Kaga domain unified its feudal theory under the rule of king king, but the Meiji era began without any notable success. In June 1869, he became governor of the Kanazawa domain, and in 1871, with the abolition of feudal domains and establishment of prefectures, he was relieved of his position as governor and moved to Tokyo, but soon died of tuberculosis.

summary

Although the Maeda family was a Tozama daimyo, they had a marriage relationship with the Tokugawa Shogun family and were treated as a prestigious family next to the Gosanke and Gosankyo. However, as time passed, the domain's finances suffered from deterioration, and although several reforms were made, all of them ended in failure. Even at the end of the Edo period, it was not as impressive as the success of the Satsuma and Choshu clans, and the impression is that both the 12th and 13th feudal lords were busy keeping the peace in their domain. Even so, the brilliance of Kaga Hyakumangoku still fascinates us.