Hirosaki Domain (2/2)Tsugaru family continues to rule

Tsugaru Nobuyasu, the 7th generation lord who succeeded him, tried to carry on the wishes of the 6th generation lord, but large-scale disasters such as the Tenmei famine occurred, and instead he ended up increasing debts from the shogunate.
Nobuaki Tsugaru, the 8th lord of the domain, tries to turn some of his vassals into farmers and samurai in order to revive the fields that have been devastated by continuous famine. At first there was strong opposition, but eventually many feudal retainers accepted it and the fields began to recover. At the same time, he implemented policies to rebuild the domain's administration and prepare for famine, such as frugal edicts, significant reductions in expenses, and food stockpiling through the establishment of warehouses. Furthermore, the Hirosaki domain's finances were rebuilt by opening domain schools, disseminating education, and enacting domain laws. However, Nobuaki Tsugaru suddenly died at the young age of 30, and his adopted son Yasuchika Tsugaru succeeded him as the 9th lord of the domain.

When Tsugaru Yasuchika was the lord of the domain, his family rank was higher than that of the Morioka domain, as his stone height was higher than that of the domain. This led to the ``Soma Incident,'' in which Morioka clan officials who found this uninteresting attempted to assassinate Tsugaru Yasuchika, who was returning from Edo to Hirosaki after completing his sankin kotai.
The Nanbu family and the Tsugaru family, the lords of the Morioka domain, had a relationship dating back to the Azuchi-Momoyama period. For this reason, the Soma Incident was also called the ``Michinoku Chushingura,'' and it became a big hit as it was widely featured in plays and reading materials. The assassination failed and the mastermind was beheaded.

Furthermore, Yasuchika Tsugaru and Nobuyuki Tsugaru, the 10th lord of the domain, had ambitions to become involved in the shogunate administration. For this reason, two generations of parents and children married daughters of high status in an effort to strengthen clan relations. However, this policy did not go well, and the burden of money distributed to various parties for marriage once again worsened the domain's finances.

The person who performed the shirinugui was Tsugaru Junsho, the 11th lord of the domain. Following the example of Nobuaki Tsugaru, who was said to be a great prince, he developed new rice fields and restored devastated fields, strengthened military armaments with Western-style armaments, forged cannons and strengthened coastal defense, and improved academic knowledge by establishing medical museums and Dutch schools. We provided encouragement, etc.

Hirosaki domain after the end of the Edo period

At the end of the Edo period, Tsugaru Tsugaru, who became the 12th feudal lord, sided with the new government's forces at a time when much of the Tohoku region, including the Aizu domain, was siding with the former shogunate army. For a time, he participated in the Ou-etsu clan alliance, but he defected to the new government army and achieved great results in the Hakodate War and other battles. Therefore, after the abolition of the feudal domain and the establishment of prefectures, he was appointed a count and became a director of the 15th National Bank. He also leased the entire site of Hirosaki Castle, opened it to the public as Hirosaki Park, and worked to protect the castle buildings.

summary

The Hirosaki clan was ruled by the Tsugaru clan from the early Edo period until the end of the Edo period. Normally, a domain like this ruled by one family had a stable reign, but the Hirosaki domain had frequent family disturbances. Natural disasters were also likely to occur, and successive feudal lords had a hard time dealing with them. However, it can be said that the Hirosaki clan was able to hold out because a great prince was born every few generations. The Tsugaru clan's lineage still remains in the current imperial family, and Her Imperial Highness Hanako, the wife of Prince Hitachi Prince Masahito, is its descendant.