Yonezawa Domain (2/2)Ruled by the Date and Uesugi clans.

Harunori Uesugi began rebuilding the country's finances by appointing Totsuna Takemata, who was knowledgeable about industry, and Yoshimasa Kaito, who was knowledgeable about finance. He also took the initiative to become frugal. Harunori Uesugi's drastic frugality, such as reducing the cost of living in his Edo mansion to a quarter of what it used to be and reducing the number of maids to less than 10, provoked opposition from his vassals, but Harunori Uesugi never changed his mind. did. As a result, senior vassals of the Uesugi family launched the ``Seven Family Rebellion'' demanding the cancellation of the reform, but in the end it ended in failure. Harunori Uesugi not only strived to be frugal and frugal, but also reopened a closed academic school as a domain school and Kojokan, created a place where people could study regardless of their social status, and spared no effort to attract talented people. In addition, he is working hard to develop industries other than rice, and has launched grand plans such as transplanting 1 million lacquer trees to relieve labor. However, the plan to transplant the lacquer trees ended in failure.
In 1785, at the young age of 35, he handed over the position of lord of the domain to Haruhiro Uesugi, the son of the previous lord Shigesada Uesugi, and retired, but he continued to guardianship the successor lords and essentially guide the domain administration until his death. Ta. Harunori Uesugi is better known by the name Yozan Uesugi, but he only took that name after shaving his head in 1802.
In addition, the message he delivered when handing over the headship of the family to Haruhiro Uesugi was passed down to successive generations of the lords as Uesugi's family precepts until the restoration of the Imperial Empire.

Yonezawa domain at the end of the Edo period

Thanks in part to the efforts of Harunori Uesugi, the finances of the Yonezawa clan, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, were successfully rebuilt under the 11th lord, Narisada Uesugi, and all debts were paid off. When he was the lord of the domain, the Great Tenpo Famine occurred, but Uesugi Saisada emulated the reign of Harunori Uesugi and said that he ate porridge and gave rice to his people, and that not a single person died of starvation. accomplish great things. It is also said that Uesugi Narisada abolished the practice of successive feudal lords of borrowing salaries from vassals and applying them to part of the domain's finances, and for the first time granted vassals an allowance.
Uesugi Saisada died in 1839 at the age of 52, and was succeeded by his son Uesugi Saiken.

Uesugi Masanori strived to reform the domain's administration and achieved great success by adopting Western-style training methods for the military. As a result of his efforts, he received an additional 30,000 koku from the shogunate. This was the first time since the Yonezawa clan began, and Uesugi Takanori was hailed as the greatest ruler since Uesugi Harunori.
However, in 1868, when the Boshin War broke out, the Yonezawa clan, along with the Aizu clan, with which it had close ties, became a target of subjugation by the new government. Uesugi Masanori initially tries to side with the new government, but when the new government suppresses his letter of submission, he becomes enraged and becomes a leader of the Ou-etsu clan alliance along with the Sendai clan. The Yonezawa clan was able to take back Niigata Port from the new government's forces through a fierce attack, but eventually, when the color of its flag deteriorated, it was the first to surrender and direct its troops to the Shonai clan's army. As a result, he was criticized as a "traitor" by the Ouetsu clan alliance. After the Meiji Restoration, the Yonezawa clan was accused of rebelling against the new government's army, and its yield was reduced to 140,000 koku. Uesugi Masanori then handed over the headship of the family to Shigenori Uesugi and retired.

Shigenori Uesugi, the last feudal lord, went to England to study after the feudal domain was abolished and the prefecture was established, and upon his return he became Okinawa's prefectural governor. He was highly praised for his honest personality and dedication to his work. In 1883, he became a member of the Senate, and the following year he became an earl. In 1896, he moved to Yonezawa and devoted himself to improving sericulture silk textiles and developing the industry. It seems that things were not very prosperous as he used his personal wealth to train human resources and build up industry in Okinawa and Yonezawa, but the residence of Count Uesugi (Kakumeikan), the residence of Shigenori Uesugi, still remains at the Yonezawa Castle ruins. I am.

Summary of Yonezawa Domain

The Yonezawa clan was founded by Kagekatsu Uesugi, who had sided with the Western army, and the domain's government began amid adverse circumstances, with the amount of koku reduced from 1.2 million koku to 300,000 koku. Although finances were in dire straits, they managed to rebuild the domain through the reforms of Harunori Uesugi and maintained it until the end of the Edo period. The Uesugi family continued to exist even after Shigenori Uesugi, and Kuninori Uesugi is currently the 17th head of the family. Mr. Kuninori has a doctorate in space engineering and was also involved in the development of Hayabusa. Mr. Kuninori has now retired, but he is said to be a lecturer at lectures related to Mr. Sugi. By the way, Ryuji Uesugi, a musician who was active as a conductor with the Bishamonten Orchestra, is his younger brother.