Uwajima Domain (1/2)Ruled by the Date family

The Uwajima Domain was ruled by the Uwajima Date family, whose ancestors were Todo Takatora, Tomita Nobutaka, and Date Masamune's eldest son, Date Hidemune, although he was an illegitimate son.
The Uwajima domain has been repeatedly attacked by natural disasters, and its castle has been severely damaged twice. Let's take a look at the history of the Uwajima clan.

Uwajima domain before the Edo period

The Uwajima domain was sealed off by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Todo Takatora built Uwajima Castle, developed the castle town, and laid the foundations for the domain.
Todo Takatora is known as a master castle builder, and in 1601 he built Heijo Kanekai Castle, which had both medieval and early modern characteristics.
Uwajima Castle is also known as one of Japan's three major sea castles, and functioned as the domain office of the Uwajima clan until the end of the Edo period.

Although there was a flood of local feudal lords, such as the Matsuba Riot, it did not shake up his reign, and Todo Takatora achieved military merit in the Battle of Sekigahara and other battles, and in 1608, he acquired additional stone from the Isetsu domain. , will be transferred.

Uwajima domain administration in the early Edo period

Nobutaka Tomita was transferred from the Isetsu domain to the Uwajima domain to replace Takatora Todo. Nobutaka Tomita was awarded 101,900 koku by the Uwajima domain for his efforts with the eastern army at the Battle of Sekigahara.
The history of the Uwajima clan started from here.

Nobutaka Tomita tried to stabilize the Uwajima clan's finances by actively engaging in shipping and drilling projects.
However, the scandal that occurred within his family when he was in the Isetsu domain resurfaced. During the time of the Isetsu domain, the shogunate did not deal with this scandal. However, the second scandal was viewed as a problem by the shogunate, and Nobutaka Tomita was ambushed in 1613. Nobutaka Tomita himself had little to do with this scandal; rather, it was a disturbance caused by his wife's blood relations. Despite this, Nobutaka Tomita was arrested and ordered to be confined.

Furthermore, there is a section that says that this scandal was a pretext and that Nobutaka Tomita was amended because he was involved in the ``Okubo Nagayasu Incident'', a purge incident in the early Edo period.

After Nobutaka Tomita was transferred to the Uwajima domain, Date Hidemune, the eldest son of Date Masamune, was transferred to the Uwajima domain.
Although Date Hidemune was the eldest son, he was treated as an illegitimate child because he was the son of a concubine.
When he was young, he was taken hostage by the Toyotomi family and treated as an adopted child of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, taking one character from his name and calling himself ``Hidemune''.
During the Battle of Sekigahara, he was held hostage by Masamune Date at the house of Hideie Ukita.

Although Date Hidemune had such a turbulent life, Date Tadamune was born to Aihime, the legal wife of his father Date Masamune, and he safely became an adult, making it difficult for Date Hidemune to succeed the Sendai domain.

Therefore, there is an opinion that his father, Date Masamune, worked hard to make his son the lord of the Uwajima domain.
In fact, when Hidemune entered the Uwajima domain, Date Masamune assigned him a vassal and gave him 60,000 ryo of funds.

However, Kimiyori Yamaga, who accompanied him from Sendai to Uwajima at this time, later fell out with Hidemune Date, and his political enemy Motochika Sakurada and his group murdered his entire family except for his eldest son, his mother, and his wife. I'll put it away. This was a commotion called the ``Japanese Spirit Incident,'' and as a result of this, Date Hidemune and Date Masamune became estranged for a time.

Kimiyori Yamaga is said to have been a loyal vassal who admonished Date Hidemune for his tendency to spend money, promoted frugality, and made efforts to reduce the annual tax burden.
For this reason, Kimiyori Yamaga was deified as ``Warei-sama'' after his death, and ``Warei Shrine'' to enshrine him was also built by Hidemune Date.
Since Kimiyori Yamaga was famous as a loyal vassal, Hidemune Date, who abandoned him, did not have a good reputation in Uwajima.

However, he was a strong-willed man who spent most of his childhood as a hostage at the end of the Sengoku period, and was responsible for the management of the Uwajima clan, including detecting territory, fixing the annual tax, and introducing the Kuramai system in which retainers were paid rice in kind. Created the foundation of feudal government.

After Hidemune Date's death, his third son, Munetoshi Date, succeeded him as the lord of the domain. Hidemune Date's eldest son was in poor health, and his second son, Munetoki Date, took charge of the domain as regent after Date Hidemune fell ill with paralysis and was unable to take over the domain, but he died earlier than his father. Ta.
Although he established a land inspection system and a village official system, and also created a paper monopoly system, the domain's finances were in dire straits due to continued expenses such as the major renovation of Uwajima Castle and the construction of a retirement home for his father.
Furthermore, Date Hidemune's fifth son, Date Munezumi, was given 30,000 koku without Date Munetoshi's knowledge and became the first lord of the Iyo Yoshida domain.

There are various theories as to why this commotion occurred, but it became a huge commotion that even the Sendai Date clan was involved in, and in the end, the feudal lord, Date Munetoshi, relented and recognized the establishment of the Iyo Yoshida clan.

However, as a result of this, the Uwajima clan and the Iyoyoshida clan fell out of favor and had many boundary disputes.
Furthermore, the Uwajima domain was hit by natural disasters such as earthquakes, droughts, and floods, and suffered from a serious financial crisis.
For this reason, Date Munetoshi promoted frugality and frugality, and the third generation lord, Date Muneaki, and the fourth generation lord, Date Muratoshi, continued this policy, but no notable results were achieved.

Uwajima domain from the middle of the Edo period to the end of the Edo period

The fifth lord of the domain, Date Murako, promoted independence from his main family, the Sendai Date domain, and ostensibly made peace with the Sendai Date domain, with which he had been on bad terms for a long time. However, lumps remained in both homes, and he was not completely young.