Oka domainThere was never a transfer of the castle lord.

The Oka Domain was a domain that ruled the area of present-day Oaza Takeda City, Takeda City, Oita Prefecture. Ishidaka is the largest domain in Bungo, and Hidenari Nakagawa, the second son of Kiyohide Nakagawa, who was a subordinate of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, became the first lord of the domain, making it an unusual domain that never changed countries until the Meiji Restoration. Let's unravel the history of Okahan.

The origins of Okahan

The Oka Domain began in 1594 when Hidenari Nakagawa was granted a territory of 74,000 koku in Bungooka by Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Originally, Oka belonged to the Otomo clan. However, in the previous year, 1593, Yoshimune Otomo was accused by Hideyoshi of withdrawing from Hozan during the Bunroku War and his territory was confiscated. Oka Castle was lorded by a man named Chikaji Shiga, who left Oka Castle to follow his lord, Yoshimune Otomo. After that, Hidenari Nakagawa entered the castle and spent three years conducting major renovations.

By the way, Oka Castle is currently registered as one of Japan's 100 Famous Castles as the Oka Castle Ruins. The only existing buildings are stone walls, but the variety of techniques and methods of laying stones makes it look like a stone wall fair.

Hidenari Nakagawa's father, Kiyohide Nakagawa, was from a family that was the lord of Ibaraki Castle in Settsu, Osaka, and his real cousin was Ukon Takayama, a Christian feudal lord. There is no clear record that Hidenari Nakagawa himself was a Christian, but the festival magazine published for the 350th Anniversary of Hidenari Nakagawa, which was held in 1961, mentions a church in Takatsuki. Since it is recorded that he was baptized in Japan, it is highly likely that he was a Christian. There is also a Christian relic called the ``Santiago Bell'' left in Oka Castle, and it is still kept at Nakagawa Shrine, a shrine dedicated to the Nakagawa clan and designated as a national important cultural property.
Considering that Shinji Shiga, the lord of Oka Castle before Hidenari Nakagawa, was also a Christian, I feel a strange connection.

Hidenari Nakagawa accompanied Toyotomi Hideyoshi when he dispatched troops to Korea, and there is a famous story about him bringing back peonies from the Korean Peninsula and dividing them throughout his territory.
At the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, he once sent his vassals to the western army's attack on Tango Tanabe Castle, but after the main battle at Sekigahara ended, he sided with the eastern army, and as a result lost control of the territory. I was relieved and opened Okahan.

Oka domain in the Edo period

Hisamori Nakagawa, the second lord of the domain, established the Goseiji Gosho, established the domain's legal system, and laid the foundations for the domain's government. During the Shoho era, the Ogata Iro road began to be excavated, and the completed waterway became useful as an agricultural waterway.

The third lord of the domain, Hisakiyo Nakagawa, established the chief retainer system and the magistrate system, surveyed the land, and established the structure of the domain and tax revenue system, just like his father. Furthermore, we carried out a picture stomp with the aim of exposing Christians. It is believed that Christians were wiped out from the Oka domain during this period. In addition, I completed the excavation of Ogata Iro, which my father had started.
Although he was a wise man, he also loved Mt. Ofuna, one of the Kusumi Mountains, and even after he became crippled, he climbed the mountain many times with his retainers carrying him. After his death, he was buried halfway up Mt. Ofuna. It is being

During the era of the 4th and 5th generation feudal lords, natural disasters such as earthquakes and fires occurred one after another within the domain, and the domain's economy suffered, but the domain lords and chief retainers came together to take countermeasures. At the same time, he was also passionate about the education of feudal retainers, such as by establishing Sojindo, the predecessor of the domain school, Yugakukan.

During the era of the 8th feudal lord, Hisasada Nakagawa, the Oka Domain was plagued by a series of disasters, including bad harvests due to unseasonable weather, violent lawsuits by the feudal lords, and large fires. In addition, since Nakagawa Hisasada's father was a rojū (rojū), he also made large donations to the shogunate in order to become a rojū (rojū), which further put pressure on the domain's economy. However, on the other hand, Hisasada established domain schools such as Yugakukan, Keibukan, and Hakusaikan, and worked hard to spread literary education. He also carried out welfare policies, such as establishing a training center for the poor, for the people of his territory who were suffering from a series of disasters.

The 9th lord of the domain died young, at the age of only 23, and the 10th lord, Hisaki Nakagawa, compiled Bungo Kokushi, a topographical guide to Bungo, and dedicated it to the shogunate in 1804. This is also a document that shows the high level of education in the Oka clan. However, the domain's finances remained severe, and administrative reforms continued to fail, eventually leading to a large-scale uprising in 1811. This uprising was so large that it spread to the Usuki and Funai domains, and the Oka domain finally put down the uprising by fully accepting the demands of the farmers who started the uprising.

Hisanori Nakagawa, the 11th lord of the domain, was the older brother of Naosuke Ii, who was assassinated during the Sakuradamon Gai Incident. He devised various measures to try to manage the domain's financially deteriorating economy, but in the end they did not work out.

Natural disasters continued during the 12th and 13th generation (the last lords), and the Oka domain, whose finances were deteriorating, was forced to deal with the situation, and they expelled Kazutoshi Ogawa and other philosophies of respect for the king from the core of the Oka domain. Even when upheavals such as the Okahan Shichininshu Incident occurred, the domain did not take any action.
Therefore, unlike the neighboring Satsuma and Choshu domains, Nakagawa did not play an active role during the Meiji Restoration, and when the Meiji Restoration began, the last lord of the domain, Hisanari Nakagawa, became a member of the House of Peers and spent his entire life as a politician. .

Okahan summary

The Oka domain was a domain where the Christian culture remained strong until the third generation of the domain, and many of the successive domain leaders were also passionate about education.
On the other hand, the domain's economy was put under pressure due to frequent natural disasters such as fires, famine, and drought. However, the domain was still blessed with cultural talent, including the painter Tanomura Takeda, who was born into the family of a domain doctor.