Karatsu Domain (1/2)Ruled by five feudal lords

The Karatsu Domain was a domain whose territory was present-day Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture (Karatsu, Bizen Province).
The domain was founded by Hirotaka Terasawa, who served both Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, and was ruled by five daimyo families until the Meiji Restoration. Let's unravel the history of the Karatsu clan.

History from the Terasawa family to the Doi family

Karatsu was ruled by Hirotaka Terasawa, who served both Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu.

He rose to prominence when Toyotomi Hideyoshi dispatched troops to Korea and was responsible for constructing Hizen Nagoya Castle and acting as an intermediary for the dispatching generals and Kyushu daimyo.

In addition, in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, he sided with the eastern army, and not only was he relieved of his territory, but he was also given the land of Amakusa and 40,000 koku.

Hirotaka Terasawa was a feudal lord with a capital of 83,000 koku and built Karatsu Castle and established the Karatsu domain.
Hirotaka Terasawa was good at civil engineering, and not only built Karatsu Castle but also built the windbreak forest that is still known as Niji no Matsubara.
It is also said that he was highly respected by his vassals because he was frugal and spared no effort in recruiting excellent vassals.

However, the Amakusa Rebellion broke out during the reign of Terasawa Kentaka, who became the second lord of the domain. Kentaka Terasawa worked hard to suppress the rebellion together with the shogunate army, but since Amakusa belonged to the Karatsu domain, he was held responsible for causing the rebellion.

The other daimyo who was held responsible for the Amakusa Rebellion was Matsukura Katsuie, the lord of the Shimabara domain, but he was beheaded, while Terasawa Kentaka was only confiscated of 40,000 koku of Amakusa territory. Finished up.

However, the confiscation of territory was a great disgrace for a daimyo, and Kentaka Terazawa was ashamed of this and committed suicide at a temple called Kaizenji in Edo in 1647.

Since Kentaka Terasawa had no legitimate children, the Terasawa family ended with the second generation.

After that, the Karatsu domain was transferred to the Matsudaira family. The first lord of the domain was Norihisa Matsudaira, but he died in Edo without even entering the territory.

His successor, Noriharu Matsudaira, also died young, and the third generation, Noriharu Matsudaira, served as Roju as a confidant of the 8th Shogun Yoshimune Tokugawa, rather than as the lord of the Karatsu domain, and is famous as the person who led the Kyoho reforms.

Although Matsudaira Norimura accomplished great things as a senior vassal of the shogunate, such as establishing the Kujiho Gojo, compiling a collection of Gosho, and carrying out detection, he had little influence in Karatsu, his territory, and hardly implemented any policies.

In addition, in his later years, due to his involvement in the issue of succession to the shogun, he was shunned by the 9th shogun, Ieshige Tokugawa, and was ordered to retire. After that, the Matsudaira family was ordered to transfer to Dewa Yamagata and left Karatsu.

After the Matsudaira family left, Karatsu was ruled by the Doi family, the lords of the Toba domain in Shima Province.

Doi Kazumi, who was the first lord of the Doi family, moved from place to place to the Koga domain in Shimousa province and the Toba domain in Shima province, and had a hard time managing the domain due to a reduction in the amount of koku.
Doi Masatoshi, who was passionate about education, invited Confucian scholars to his residence in the Edo domain and listened to lectures with them, and adopted Confucian scholars as vassals to establish good governance.

The Great Kyoho Famine occurred during the time of his successor, Toshimi Doi, and he received aid from the shogunate.
The third generation, Toshinobu Doi, died young at the age of 22, and during the reign of Toshiri Doi, he was transferred again, this time to the Koga Domain in Shimousa Province. Doi Toshiri also played an active role in the central government of the shogunate, serving as Kyoto Shoshidai and other positions.

Reign of the Mizuno family and the Ogasawara family

After the Doi family was transferred, the Mizuno family came to the Karatsu domain to replace them.
It was transferred from the Okazaki Domain in Mikawa Province.