Kazusa Province
Encyclopedia
Provinces of Japan
Before the modern prefecture system was established, the land of Japan was divided into tens of kuni , usually known in English as provinces. Each province was divided into gun ....
in the area of modern Chiba Prefecture
Chiba Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region and the Greater Tokyo Area. Its capital is Chiba City.- History :Chiba Prefecture was established on June 15, 1873 with the merger of Kisarazu Prefecture and Inba Prefecture...
. It lies on in the middle of the Bōsō Peninsula
Boso Peninsula
thumb|Locationthumb|Landsat image with high-resolution data from Space Shuttle is a peninsula in Chiba prefecture on Honshū, the largest island of Japan. It forms the eastern edge of Tokyo Bay, separating it from the Pacific Ocean....
(房総半島), whose name takes its first kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
from the name of Awa Province and its second from Kazusa and Shimōsa Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was or .
Kazusa is classified as one of the provinces of the Tōkaidō
Tokaido
In Japanese, Tōkaidō may refer to:Spelled 東海道 :*Tōkaidō , an ancient country subdivision of Japan*Tōkaidō , one of the Five Routes of Japan during the Edo period...
. Under the Engishiki
Engishiki
-History:In 905 Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of a new set of laws. Fujiwara no Tokihira began the task, but work stalled when he died four years later in 909. His brother Fujiwara no Tadahira continued the work in 912 eventually completing it in 927...
classification system, Kazusa was ranked as a "great country" (大国) and a far country (遠国). Along with Kōzuke and Hitachi, it was originally one of the provinces where an imperial prince was nominally assigned as governor.
History
Kazusa was originally part of a larger territory known as , which was divided into “upper” and “lower” portions (i.e. Kazusa and Shimōsa) during the reign of Emperor KōtokuEmperor Kotoku
was the 36th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.The years of his reign lasted from 645 through 654.-Traditional narrative:Before Kōtoku ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name was or...
(645-654). It was well-known to the Imperial Court in Nara Period
Nara period
The of the history of Japan covers the years from AD 710 to 794. Empress Gemmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō . Except for 5 years , when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capital of Japanese civilization until Emperor Kammu established a new capital, Nagaoka-kyō, in 784...
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...
for its fertile lands, and is mentioned in Nara period records as having supplied hemp
Hemp
Hemp is mostly used as a name for low tetrahydrocannabinol strains of the plant Cannabis sativa, of fiber and/or oilseed varieties. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food and fuel with modest...
to the Court. Kazusa was divided into 15 counties, of which the four counties comprising the district of Awa were separated in 718 into a separate province. The exact location of the capital of Kazusa is not precisely known, but is believed to have been somewhere within the borders of the modern city of Ichihara, Chiba
Ichihara, Chiba
is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As of August 2010, the city has an estimated population of 279,080, with a population density of 758 persons per km². The total area of Ichihara was 368.20 km²...
, where the ruins of the Kokubun-ji
Provincial temple
Emperor Shōmu of Japan established so-called provincial temples in each province of Japan...
have been located. However, the Ichinomiya of Kazusa Province is the Tamasaki Shrine
Tamasaki Shrine
is a Shinto shrine in the town of Ichinomiya in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is the ichinomiya of former Kazusa Province. The main festival of the shrine is held annually on September 13, and features kagura performances, which are listed as an Intangible Cultural Property of Chiba...
in what is now the town of Ichinomiya, Chiba
Ichinomiya, Chiba
is a town located in Chōsei District, Chiba, Japan. As of 2010, the town had an estimated population of 12,079and a density of 525 persons per km². The total area was 23.02 km².-Geography:...
on the opposite coast of the province.
During the Heian period
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...
, the province was divided into numerous shōen
Shoen
A was a field or manor in Japan. The Japanese term comes from the Tang dynasty Chinese term zhuangyuan.Shōen, from about the 8th to the late 15th century, describes any of the private, tax-free, often autonomous estates or manors whose rise undermined the political and economic power of the...
controlled by local 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...
clans, primarily the Chiba clan
Chiba clan
The ' was a branch family of the Taira clan descended from Chiba no Suke, son of Taira no Tadatsune. Historically, they controlled the city of Chiba, outside Tokyo, and also an area called Soma which included the Grand Shrine of Ise....
, which sided with Minamoto Yoritomo in the Genpei War
Genpei War
The was a conflict between the Taira and Minamoto clans during the late-Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the fall of the Taira clan and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto Yoritomo in 1192....
. During the Kamakura period
Kamakura period
The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
, much of the province was under the control of the Ashikaga clan
Ashikaga clan
The ' was a prominent Japanese samurai clan which established the Muromachi shogunate and ruled Japan from roughly 1336 to 1573.The Ashikaga were descended from a branch of the Minamoto clan, deriving originally from the town of Ashikaga in Shimotsuke province .For about a century the clan was...
. By the early 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...
, the area was a highly contested region highly fragmented by various samurai clans. However, by the Sengoku period
Sengoku period
The or Warring States period in Japanese history was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century. The name "Sengoku" was adopted by Japanese historians in reference...
, the Satomi clan
Satomi clan
The Satomi clan was a clan of samurai which claimed descent from Nitta Yoshishige , whose son Yoshitoshi took 'Satomi' as his surname. The Satomi moved from Kōzuke province to Awa province in the mid-15th century, and remained there into the Edo Period. During the Sengoku period, the Satomi were...
had gained control over much of Awa, Kazusa and Shimōsa provinces.
The Satomi provided only lukewarm support to Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
was a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period. He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle...
during the Battle of Odawara
Siege of Odawara (1590)
The third ' occurred in 1590, and was the primary action in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's campaign to eliminate the Hōjō clan as a threat to his power. The months leading up to it saw hasty but major improvements in the defense of the castle, as Hideyoshi's intentions became clear...
against the Late Hōjō clan
Late Hojo clan
The ' was one of the most powerful warrior clans in Japan in the Sengoku period and held domains primarily in the Kantō region.The clan is traditionally reckoned to be started by Ise Shinkurō, who came from a branch of the prestigious Ise clan, a family in the direct employment of the Ashikaga...
and were subsequently deprived of their holdings in Kazusa and Shimōsa. After the installation of Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa 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...
in Edo
Edo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
, Kazusa became part of the Tokugawa clan
Tokugawa clan
The was a powerful daimyo family of Japan. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa and were a branch of the Minamoto clan by the Nitta clan. However, the early history of this clan remains a mystery.-History:...
holdings, and Tokugawa hereditary retainer Honda Tadakatsu
Honda Tadakatsu
, also called Honda Heihachirō , was a Japanese general of the late Sengoku through early Edo period, who served Tokugawa Ieyasu. Honda Tadakatsu was one of the Tokugawa Four Heavenly Kings along with Ii Naomasa, Sakakibara Yasumasa and Sakai Tadatsugu. - Biography :A native of Mikawa Province in...
was promoted to daimyō
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...
of Ōtaki Domain
Otaki Domain
was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in Kazusa Province , Japan. It was centered on Ōtaki Castle in what is now the town of Ōtaki, Chiba.-History:...
(50,000 koku
Koku
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...
).
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....
, several small domains were created witin the borders of Kazusa, most of which continued to retained as tenryō territory owned directly by the Shogun
Shogun
A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...
and administered by various hatamoto
Hatamoto
A was a samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as gokenin. However, in the Edo period, hatamoto were the upper vassals of the Tokugawa...
. The entire province had an assessed revenue of 425,080 koku.
Following the Boshin War
Boshin War
The was a civil war in Japan, fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the imperial court....
, Jōzai Domain was abolished for its opposition to the Meiji Restoration
Meiji Restoration
The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...
, and six minor domains were created for daimyō dispossessed with the creation of Sunpu Domain
Sunpu Domain
' was a Japanese feudal domain intermittently during the Edo period. It was centered in Suruga Province, in what is now the city of Shizuoka, but at times included Kai and parts of Tōtōmi Provinces. In 1869 the domain was renamed .-History:...
for the ex-Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu
Tokugawa Yoshinobu
was the 15th and last shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful...
. These various domains and tenryō territories were transformed into short-lived prefectures in July 1871 by the 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...
, and the entire territory of Kazusa Province became part of the new Chiba Prefecture on June 15, 1873.
The area of former Kazusa Province was organized into nine districts by 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 :...
cadastral reforms, later reduced to five:
- Ichihara District (ja:市原郡)
- Kimitsu DistrictKimitsu District, Chibawas an administrative district in Chiba Prefecture Japan. The district was dissolved April 1, 1991 when the town of Sodegaura gained city status.-Location:Kimitsy District covered the area of the present day cities of Kisarazu, Futtsu, Kimitsu, and Sodegaura....
(ja: 君津郡) (formed from Mōga District (望陀郡), Sue District (周淮郡) and Amaha District (天羽郡) in 1897 - Chōsei DistrictChosei District, Chibais a district located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As of September 2010, the district has an estimated population of 63,382 and a density of 279 persons per km². The total area was 226.97 km²...
(ja: 長生郡) (formed from Nagara District (長柄郡) and Kamihabu District (上埴生郡) in 1897 - Sanbu DistrictSanbu District, Chibais a district located in Chiba, Japan.As of September 2010, the district had an estimated population of 100,954 and a population density of 525 persons per km²...
(ja: 山武郡) (formed from Yamabe District (山辺郡) and Musha District (武射郡) in 1897 - Isumi DistrictIsumi District, Chibais a district located in Chiba, Japan. As of 2010, the district has an estimated population of 18,593 and a density of 120 persons per km². The total area was 154.76 km². The district formerly included all of the city of Katsuura, most of the city of Isumi and a portion of the town of Mutsuzawa...
(ja: 夷隅郡)
Edo period Domains in Kazusa Province
| Domain | Daimyo | Dates | Revenue (koku) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kuroda
|1659-1871
| 30,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Matsudaira (Nagasawa/Ōkōchi)
|1590-1871
| 20,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Hoshina
|1648-1871
| 20,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Abe
|1590-1871
| 16,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Mizuno
|1827-1871
| 15,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Kanō
|1826-1871
| 13,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Hayashi
|1825-1865
| 10,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Arima
|1781-1842
| 10,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Mizuno
|1868-1871
| 23,700
| NA
|-
|
| Tanuma
|1868-1871
| 10,000
| NA
|-
|
| Yonekitsu
|1868-1871
| 10,000
| NA
|-
|
| Inoue
|1868-1871
| 10,000
| NA
|-
|
| Ōta
|1868-1871
| 53,350
| NA
|-
|
| Matsudaira (Tatewaki)
|1868-1871
| 10,000
| NA
|-
|}