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

The first lord of the Mizuno family, Tadato Mizuno, was in the Okazaki domain of Mikawa Province when the previous lord, Tadatsu Mizuno, tried to rebuild the domain's finances and was frustrated, and as a reaction, he began to indulge in debauchery, and was forced to do so by his vassals. He has a unique background, having been removed from the position of feudal lord and then replaced.

The Mizuno family, who had come to the Karatsu domain, was in dire financial straits, so they decided to raise taxes in an attempt to rebuild it, but the people of the domain opposed it and the Niji no Matsubara Uprising broke out.

His successor, Tadano Mizuno, also attempted to rebuild the domain, but was frustrated by the Tenmei famine.
His successor, Tadamitsu Mizuno, did not achieve much.

The last head of the Mizuno family was Tadakuni Mizuno, who promoted the Tenpo reform in the shogunate.
Tadakuni Mizuno had a strong desire to become a member of the Shogunate, so he bribed the Shogunate to transfer his domain from Karatsu, which had an actual estate of 253,000 koku, to the Hamamatsu domain, which had an actual estate of 153,000 koku.
With this, the Mizuno family's control of Karatsu ended.

After the Mizuno family left, the Ogasawara family was transferred from the Tanakura domain in Mutsu Province and became the lord of the Karatsu domain.

The first lord of the domain, Nagamasa Ogasawara, tried to get rid of the debt he was owed by the Tanakura domain in Mutsu Province, but to no avail.

Ogasawara Nagayasu, who succeeded him, imposed heavy taxes on the people of the territory and ravaged the territory in vain. Ogasawara Nagayasu, who succeeded him, died young at the age of 27 while suffering from the Great Tenmei Famine, and his successor, Ogasawara Nagayasu. Ogasawara Nagakuni, who died at the age of 20 while struggling to cope with the uprising that rebelled within his territory, became the last lord of the domain and rose through the ranks to become the senior lord of the shogunate.

By the way, his adopted son was Nagayuki Ogasawara, who sided with the shogunate army and fought through the Boshin War until the end.

Ogasawara Nagakuni himself was a prominent figure in the shogunate, but when the shogunate's flag deteriorated, he surrendered to the new government through Naomasa Nabeshima, the former lord of the Saga domain, after the Boshin War, and died there along with his adopted son Nagayuki.

Therefore, no conclusion has yet been reached as to whether Nagayuki Ogasawara is the last feudal lord.

Karatsu domain summary

The Karatsu domain was ruled by five families and produced feudal lords who were involved in national politics, but the Karatsu domain continued quietly as a regional domain.

By the way, Nagayuki Ogasawara's eldest son, Nagao Ogasawara, was a member of the navy, but he was a great writer and lived to be 90 years old.
He is active in editing public war histories of the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars, writing books, and giving lectures, and has written many books on Togo Heihachiro.

The Ogasawara family still exists today, and Kazunori Ogasawara, the 16th generation head of the family, is a businessman who runs a real estate business in Tokyo.