Usuki Domain (1/2)One family continues to rule from the beginning of the feudal era.

The Usuki Domain was a domain that existed in Usuki City, Oita Prefecture. It was ruled by the Inaba family from the time the domain was established until the Meiji Restoration. Let's unravel the history of the Usuki clan.

Usuki Domain before the Edo period

Before the Edo period, the land of Bungo, including the land of Usuki, was ruled by the Otomo family.
Usuki Castle was built by Sorin Otomo, a famous Christian feudal lord.
It is said that at the time the castle was built, there was a place of worship within Usuki Castle, and there was also a training ground for training monks in the castle town.

At that time, multiple feudal lord families were competing for supremacy in Kyushu, and among them, the Shimazu family took over neighboring feudal families one after another under its control, and was at war with the Otomo clan.

In 1586, Otomo Sourin holed up in Usuki Castle, a natural stronghold, and attacked the Shimazu clan in the ``Battle of Nyujima.'' Although he narrowly defeated the Shimazu clan, he himself died the following year.
Yoshimune Otomo, his eldest son who succeeded him, asked for his cooperation in conquering the Shimazu clan on the condition that he would become affiliated with the Toyotomi family. As a result, Toyotomi Hideyoshi conquered Kyushu, and the Otomo clan became the daimyo of the Toyotomi family.

However, Yoshimune Otomo was accused of fleeing in front of the enemy during the Bunroku era and was sentenced to prison.
This marked the end of the Otomo clan's rule over Bungo.

After that, until 1600, several feudal lords, including Kazuyoshi Ota, entered the castle as castle lords and carried out renovations of Usuki Castle.

Inaba clan's rule

After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 ended with the victory of the eastern army, Kazuyoshi Ota was exiled because he sided with the western army.

Instead, Sadamichi Inaba moved to Bungo. He was the maternal grandfather of Kasuga no Tsubone, and was also the son of Yoshimichi Inaba, one of the Nishi-Mino Sanninshu. The amount increased from 40,000 koku in Kamihachiman, Mino Province to 50,000 koku in Usuki.

Domains during the Edo period were often ruled by multiple daimyo families, but the Inaba family is a rare case in which they continued to rule the same domain from the time the Usuki domain was established until the Meiji era.
Furthermore, Yoshimichi Inaba was a blood relative of Tsune, Kasuga, who was Tokugawa Iemitsu's wet nurse. Sadamichi Inaba was treated as a Tozama daimyo.