Hidehan (2/2)Dedicated by a family connected to Toyotomi Hideyoshi

The 5th lord of the domain died young, and during the reign of the 6th lord, Toshiyasu Kinoshita, the Kyoho famine occurred and the domain government suffered a major blow, such as having to borrow 3,000 ryo from the shogunate. Perhaps due to all the stress, Toshiyasu died suddenly at the young age of 33.

After that, the turmoil in the domain's administration continued until the time of the 11th lord, Toshiaki Kinoshita. Furthermore, Toshitane Kinoshita, the 10th lord of the domain, was a man of both literary and martial arts, and served as a lecturer himself to educate the domain's retainers, and is said to have excelled in horsemanship, swordsmanship, and spearmanship, but he was not able to rebuild the domain's administration. .

The 11th feudal lord, Toshiaki Kinoshita, finally implemented policies to promote industry and flood control work on Tonohira Pond, and the feudal government was slightly restored.
However, even after that, the domain's administration remained harsh, and the 13th lord, Toshiatsu Kinoshita, appointed one of the three wise men of Bungo, Banri Hoashi, to reform the domain's administration, but it did not go well.

The 14th lord died in his early 20s, the 15th lord died at the young age of 35, and the last lord, Toshiaki Kinoshita, passed away at the age of 44.
Toshiaki Kinoshita unified the conflicting opinions of the feudal clan into the Emperor-respecting faction, and joined the new government army during the Boshin War.

In 1869, he returned his domain and was appointed governor of the domain, but the administration of the domain was never stable, as farmers started a revolt due to heavy taxes.

In 1871, after he was dismissed as governor of the domain due to the abolition of feudal domains and the establishment of prefectures, he was ranked as a member of the peerage and lived in Tokyo, where he died.

Current Kinoshita family

The Kinoshita family, which served as the lord of the Hiji domain for 16 generations, continues to have a bloodline to this day, and in April 2022, the 19th generation head, Takatoshi Kinoshita, passed away at the age of 88.
Takatoshi Kinoshita was a schoolmate of His Majesty the Emperor and often appeared in weekly magazines.
He is respected locally as a ``Lord,'' and there is still an association of former vassals in Hiji-cho.
By the way, the birthplace of the Meiji-born composer Rentaro Taki was also a senior vassal of the Hiji clan.

Hinode clan summary

The Hiji domain was founded by the Kinoshita family, who were also senior vassals of the Toyotomi family, and it is a very unusual domain that entered the Meiji era without being transferred or having its stone height increased or decreased.

Apart from the first generation, most of the feudal lords lived short lives, and the feudal government could not be called prosperous, but it is assumed that the feudal domain was peaceful, with no major uprisings.

Furthermore, the 19th lord of the domain, Takatoshi Kinoshita, who passed away in 2022, often appeared in the media as a ``descendant of the Toyotomi family'' during his lifetime.