Okazaki Domain (1/2)The stone height is low, but the rank is high.

The Okazaki clan was a domain that ruled over an area in the eastern part of Aichi Prefecture called the ``Land of Mikawa''.
Okazaki Castle is also the birthplace of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who founded the Edo Shogunate, and has been ruled by feudal lords of low stature but high status.
Let's unravel the history of the Okazaki clan.

Okazaki Domain before the establishment of the Edo Shogunate

The land of Okazaki was recaptured by Kiyoyasu Matsudaira, the grandfather of Tokugawa Ieyasu, from Nobusada Saigo.
Kiyoyasu Matsudaira and his eldest son, Hirotada Matsudaira, who was the father of Ieyasu Tokugawa, died in his mid-twenties, and Ieyasu Tokugawa remained a hostage to the Oda and Imagawa families until he was 19 years old.
After Yoshimoto Imagawa was killed in the Battle of Okehazama in 1560, Tokugawa Ieyasu was finally released from hostage status and set out on the path to unifying Japan, using Okazaki Castle as his base.

In 1570, Tokugawa Ieyasu moved his base to Totomi Hamamatsu (present-day Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture), and his eldest son, Nobuyasu Matsudaira, became the lord of Okazaki Castle. After Nobuyasu committed suicide, Okazaki Castle was occupied by senior Tokugawa vassals such as Kazumasa Ishikawa and Shigetsugu Honda.
Later, in 1590, Tokugawa Ieyasu moved his base to Edo on the orders of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Yoshimasa Tanaka became the lord of the castle.

Tanaka Yoshimasa sided with the eastern army at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, and after the establishment of the Edo shogunate, he was transferred to Yanagawa Domain in Chikugo Province with an additional 325,000 koku.

From the establishment of the Okazaki clan to the Meiji Restoration

After Yoshimasa Tanaka was transferred, Okazaki Castle was given to Yasushige Honda, a senior vassal of the Tokugawa clan.
Yasushige Honda became the first lord of the Okazaki domain. Honda Yasushige was highly trusted by Tokugawa Ieyasu, and after the establishment of the Okazaki domain, his wealth increased by 30,000 koku, eventually reaching 50,000 koku.

Yasushige Honda extensively renovated Okazaki Castle, building the currently restored three-layer, three-story castle tower with a combined gazebo type, a kuruwa, and a turret.
They also carried out land surveys, developed the Tokaido road, built a castle town, and laid the foundations for the Okazaki clan.

Furthermore, due to the poor location of Okazaki, it is recorded that a long and narrow castle town called ``Okazaki's 27 Magari'' was built.

The Honda family ruled the Okazaki domain over four generations, starting with Yasushige the first generation, Yasunori Honda, Tadatoshi Honda, and Toshinaga Honda.
The third generation, Honda Tadatoshi, achieved great deeds during the Summer Campaign in Osaka, but the fourth generation, Honda Toshinaga, is said to have had a harsh reign after being transferred to Totomi-Yokosuka. it was done.

After the Honda family was transferred, the Mizuno family ruled the Okazaki domain. At this time, the stone height was increased by 10,000 koku, making it 60,000 koku.

The first feudal lord, Tadayoshi Mizuno, focused on building up his military, treating the Owari Tokugawa family as a potential enemy.
The second and third generations held positions in the shogunate such as temple and shrine magistrates, and the politics of the Okazaki domain was left to the Kunimoto vassals.

In 1701, the fourth lord of the domain, Tadayuki Mizuno, went to the Teppozu residence of the Ako domain to calm down the disturbance when Naganori Asano, the lord of the Ako domain in Harima, stabbed Yoshio Takaie Kira. Masu.

In addition, after the Ako Ronin raided the Kira residence and turned himself in to the shogunate, he kept nine Ronin in his residence.
At that time, a legend was born that the Mizuno family was cursed because they were subjected to harsh treatment to the roni samurai and had them commit seppuku.
In fact, ever since the raid by the Ako Ronin, misfortunes have continued for the Mizuno family.

Tadayuki Mizuno himself rose through the ranks from young lord to roju, and became the right-hand man of the 8th shogun Yoshimune. However, because he pushed for harsh production, such as raising the annual tax from 4 lords and 6 mins to 5 lords and 5 mins, he received a lot of attention from the people. I was deeply hated.

The sixth lord of the domain, Tadatsu Mizuno, tried to be frugal in order to rebuild the domain's declining finances. He took the initiative to become frugal, spending only 100 mons a day on food and only wearing cotton clothes, and his finances recovered to some extent, but his reforms were thwarted halfway due to sabotage from conservative elders.

As a result, Tadatsu Mizuno suddenly started to indulge in entertainment, and his heartbroken mother, Junshoin, started an incident in which she tried to punish him with death.

However, Tadatsu Mizuno became even more desperate due to this incident, and went crazy, including recruiting prostitutes to make her his concubines.He finally handed over the headship of the family to his adopted son, Tadato, and was imprisoned.At the young age of 29, he was imprisoned in a parlor. died.
This series of disturbances was called the ``Mizuno Riot,'' and the 7th generation lord, Tadato Mizuno, was transferred to the Hizen Karatsu domain.
Furthermore, after the transfer, Mizuno Tadato tried to implement a tax increase policy in the Karatsu domain, but he was defeated by fierce opposition from the people of the domain.