Han (Japan)
Encyclopedia
The or domain was the name of the estate belonging to a warrior in Japan after the 17th century. The fiefs of the daimyo
s of the samurai
class of Japan
during the Edo period
were called han.
or more (enough rice production to meet the daily caloric needs of at least 10,000 people). The number of han varied, but typically there were around 300. Occasionally a han may establish another han from its own territories. Called a shihan, this is usually given to a son of the daimyo who was not expected to inherit. With approval from the shogun, some shihans became ruled by powerful daimyos in their own right, but often the shihan remained subservient to the main han.
The largest han besides the Shogunate was the Kaga Domain
with slightly over 1 million koku. It was situated in Kaga
, Etchu
and Noto
provinces.
In July 1871, all the han were disbanded in favor of the formation of prefecture
s. (see: abolition of the han system
)
By the Muromachi period
, however, the imperial court had lost virtually all administrative powers. The shugo daimyo were able to centralize their rule within each province, through the destruction of the manor system and vassalising the kokujin
. In doing so the daimyo slowly established unified and centralized governments within their territories. This process culminating in the han system, where each daimyo ruled their fiefs as unitary kingdoms, enjoying semi-independence from the shogunate where internal affairs are concerned.
Under the Tokugawa Shogunate, daimyo are defined as samurais whose fief produced more than 10,000 koku each year. A domain of a daimyo was what is known as a han. Retainers of daimyos, even if they receive more than 10,000 koku (e.g. Katakura Kagetsuna
of Sendai, or Inada Kurōbei of Tokushima), are not daimyo themselves and therefore their fiefs are not considered hans. However, a daimyo may create a second domain from his han and invest one of his non-inheriting sons, thereby creating a cadet branch. Rulers of such a new domain may receive recognition from the Shogun and become a daimyo in his own right; nonetheless often the new han remain dominated by the senior branch of the family in the original han.
When the Tokugawa Shogunate
fell, the han system remained in force for a few years into the Meiji period
, but was subsequently replaced with the prefectures which remain in use today.
, the founder of the bakufu, kept the governmental structure which his ancestors had developed when they were small local daimyo in Mikawa Province
. Some daimyo, especially those whose ancestors had served the ancestors of the Shogun, were lords of the han and also bureaucrats of the bakufu. Most of them governed fiefs rated from one to twelve koku. Other daimyo had no permanent office in the bakufu but were appointed to a temporary office.
Each daimyo served the Shogun and received the right of governance from the Shogunate. The heir of each daimyo was recognized in advance by the Shogunate. When a son of blood or an adopted son of a daimyo was determined as the heir of his father, the son went to Chiyoda
castle in Edo and met the Shogun for recognition and permission to succeed. If this procedure was ignored, the succession was cancelled by the Shogunate, and a han was abolished in a practice called toritsubushi (scrapping) in Japanese.
Though every daimyo swore loyalty to the Shogun, their relationships varied. Aside from personal factors, the relationship between each han and the bakufu was determined and influenced by the relationship between the founder of the han and the shogunate or the ancestors of the Tokugawa. Roughly there were three classifications: Shinpan (Tokugawa's relatives), Fudai
(those who had been friendly to Tokugawa from before Sekigahara
) and Tozama
(those who were against Tokugawa at the time of Sekigahara). There was another classification by size of domain.
The largest han occupied domains wider than a province and their daimyo were called kokushu, provincial lord. In Mutsu and Dewa provinces major daimyo were also granted this class, as their han occupied the whole province. Maeda, Shimazu, Ikeda, Date and other major daimyo were classified as provincial lords.
Some han were assigned to the highest rank provincial lord, even though their han were small, which could become a financial burden in some situations.
The lowest ranked daimyo were forbidden to build a castle. In the early years of the Edo period the Shogunate enacted the one province, one castle policy but later multiple castles were built in a province.
.
Daimyo
is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
s of the samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
class of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
during the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
were called han.
Edo period
A han refers to a territory during the Edo era with an agricultural output assessed at 10,000 kokuKoku
The is a Japanese unit of volume, equal to ten cubic shaku. In this definition, 3.5937 koku equal one cubic metre, i.e. 1 koku is approximately 278.3 litres. The koku was originally defined as a quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year...
or more (enough rice production to meet the daily caloric needs of at least 10,000 people). The number of han varied, but typically there were around 300. Occasionally a han may establish another han from its own territories. Called a shihan, this is usually given to a son of the daimyo who was not expected to inherit. With approval from the shogun, some shihans became ruled by powerful daimyos in their own right, but often the shihan remained subservient to the main han.
The largest han besides the Shogunate was the Kaga Domain
Kaga Domain
The was a powerful feudal domain in Kaga, Noto and Etchū Provinces of Japan during the Edo period. The domain was founded by Maeda Toshiie and headed by the Maeda clan. Its income rating, over 1,000,000 koku, was the highest in the nation after the Tokugawa shogunate itself...
with slightly over 1 million koku. It was situated in Kaga
Kaga Province
was an old province in the area that is today the southern part of Ishikawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called .Ruled by the Maeda clan, the capital of Kaga was Kanazawa. Kaga bordered on Echizen, Etchū, Hida, and Noto Provinces...
, Etchu
Etchu Province
was an old province in central Honshū, on the Sea of Japan side. It was sometimes called , with Echizen and Echigo Provinces. It bordered Echigo, Shinano, Hida, Kaga, and Noto provinces...
and Noto
Noto Province
was an old province in the area that is today the northern part of Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan, including the Noto Peninsula which is surrounded by the Sea of Japan. It was sometimes called . Noto bordered on Etchū and Kaga provinces....
provinces.
In July 1871, all the han were disbanded in favor of the formation of prefecture
Prefectures of Japan
The prefectures of Japan are the country's 47 subnational jurisdictions: one "metropolis" , Tokyo; one "circuit" , Hokkaidō; two urban prefectures , Osaka and Kyoto; and 43 other prefectures . In Japanese, they are commonly referred to as...
s. (see: abolition of the han system
Abolition of the han system
The was an act, in 1871, of the new Meiji government of the Empire of Japan to replace the traditional feudal domain system and to introduce centralized government authority . This process marked the culmination of the Meiji Restoration in that all daimyo were required to return their authority...
)
Comparison with provinces
were established in an earlier era (mostly the 8th century) by the imperial court. The province was originally an administrative division of the central government, governed by governors sent by the imperial court in Kyoto for fixed terms. However by the late Heian era, central authority began to weaken and the governors find themselves increasingly challenged by local warriors. When the Kamakura Shogunate was established, it appointed samurai to each province as shugo daimyo, taking over responsibility for security and policing from court appointees.By the Muromachi period
Muromachi period
The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate, which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kemmu restoration of imperial...
, however, the imperial court had lost virtually all administrative powers. The shugo daimyo were able to centralize their rule within each province, through the destruction of the manor system and vassalising the kokujin
Ji-samurai
The ', also known as ', were lords of smaller rural domains in feudal Japan. They often used their relatively small plots of land for intensive and diversified forms of agriculture; the kokujin sought to be as productive and self-sufficient as possible, hoping to gain wealth and power...
. In doing so the daimyo slowly established unified and centralized governments within their territories. This process culminating in the han system, where each daimyo ruled their fiefs as unitary kingdoms, enjoying semi-independence from the shogunate where internal affairs are concerned.
Under the Tokugawa Shogunate, daimyo are defined as samurais whose fief produced more than 10,000 koku each year. A domain of a daimyo was what is known as a han. Retainers of daimyos, even if they receive more than 10,000 koku (e.g. Katakura Kagetsuna
Katakura Kagetsuna
was a Japanese samurai of the Katakura clan during the late Sengoku period. Also known by his court title, Bichū no Kami , or more commonly, as Katakura Kojūrō. Together with Oniniwa Tsunamoto and Date Shigezane, Kagetsuna was known as one of the "Three Great Men of the Date Clan"...
of Sendai, or Inada Kurōbei of Tokushima), are not daimyo themselves and therefore their fiefs are not considered hans. However, a daimyo may create a second domain from his han and invest one of his non-inheriting sons, thereby creating a cadet branch. Rulers of such a new domain may receive recognition from the Shogun and become a daimyo in his own right; nonetheless often the new han remain dominated by the senior branch of the family in the original han.
When the Tokugawa Shogunate
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...
fell, the han system remained in force for a few years into the Meiji period
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
, but was subsequently replaced with the prefectures which remain in use today.
Bakufu
The structures of a han and the Bakufu were principally similar because Tokugawa IeyasuTokugawa Ieyasu
was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan , which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but...
, the founder of the bakufu, kept the governmental structure which his ancestors had developed when they were small local daimyo in Mikawa Province
Mikawa Province
is an old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Mikawa bordered on Owari, Mino, Shinano, and Tōtōmi Provinces....
. Some daimyo, especially those whose ancestors had served the ancestors of the Shogun, were lords of the han and also bureaucrats of the bakufu. Most of them governed fiefs rated from one to twelve koku. Other daimyo had no permanent office in the bakufu but were appointed to a temporary office.
Each daimyo served the Shogun and received the right of governance from the Shogunate. The heir of each daimyo was recognized in advance by the Shogunate. When a son of blood or an adopted son of a daimyo was determined as the heir of his father, the son went to Chiyoda
Edo Castle
, also known as , is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan. It is located in Chiyoda in Tokyo, then known as Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Tokugawa shogunate here. It was the residence of the shogun and location of the shogunate, and also...
castle in Edo and met the Shogun for recognition and permission to succeed. If this procedure was ignored, the succession was cancelled by the Shogunate, and a han was abolished in a practice called toritsubushi (scrapping) in Japanese.
Though every daimyo swore loyalty to the Shogun, their relationships varied. Aside from personal factors, the relationship between each han and the bakufu was determined and influenced by the relationship between the founder of the han and the shogunate or the ancestors of the Tokugawa. Roughly there were three classifications: Shinpan (Tokugawa's relatives), Fudai
Fudai
was a class of daimyo who were hereditary vassals of the Tokugawa in Edo period Japan. It was primarily the fudai who filled the ranks of the Tokugawa administration.-Origins:...
(those who had been friendly to Tokugawa from before Sekigahara
Battle of Sekigahara
The , popularly known as the , was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 which cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu...
) and Tozama
Tozama
A ' was a daimyo who was considered an outsider by the rulers of Japan. The term came into use in the Kamakura period and continued until the end of the Edo period.-Edo period:...
(those who were against Tokugawa at the time of Sekigahara). There was another classification by size of domain.
Rank
Han varied by size and therefore by income. Every han was classified by the shogunate mainly by size. But the classification was determined by political significance, and han and daimyo were expected to behave suitably to their class.The largest han occupied domains wider than a province and their daimyo were called kokushu, provincial lord. In Mutsu and Dewa provinces major daimyo were also granted this class, as their han occupied the whole province. Maeda, Shimazu, Ikeda, Date and other major daimyo were classified as provincial lords.
Some han were assigned to the highest rank provincial lord, even though their han were small, which could become a financial burden in some situations.
The lowest ranked daimyo were forbidden to build a castle. In the early years of the Edo period the Shogunate enacted the one province, one castle policy but later multiple castles were built in a province.
Etymology
The word han first came into use by with scholars of Confucianism from the mid-Edo period onwards, in imitation of the feudal system of Ancient China, and became popularised around the time of the Meiji Restoration. While han was not used in any official capacity by contemporaries, it is now the established terminology in history for referring to the Tokugawa feudal system of the Tokugawa ShogunateTokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...
.