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Mihara Domain

Coordinates: 34°24′N 133°5′E / 34.400°N 133.083°E / 34.400; 133.083
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Mihara Domain
三原藩
Part of Hiroshima Domain
Mihara, Hiroshima, Japan
Mihara Castle, a.k.a. "The Floating Castle (Ukishirō)"
Coordinates34°24′N 133°5′E / 34.400°N 133.083°E / 34.400; 133.083
TypeAzuchi-Momoyama castle
Site information
Controlled by Kobayakawa clan (1567–1587)
Fukushima clan (1600–1619)
Asano clan (1619–1869)
 Japan (1869–1945)
ConditionRuins, National Historic Site
Site history
Built1567
Built by Kobayakawa Takakage
In use1567–1945
Materialsstone, wood, plaster walls (original); concrete, steel, wood, stone, plaster (reconstruction)
Demolished1975, construction of a new rail-line.

The Mihara Domain (三原藩, Mihara-han) was a feudal domain of Japan in the Edo period. Located in what is now Mihara City, Hiroshima Prefecture, it encompassed the southern part of Bingo Province. Its headquarter was Mihara Castle (三原城 Mihara-jō). At its peak, it was rated at 30,000 koku. For more than two hundred years the daimyō of Mihara were a collateral branch of the Asano clan who held Hiroshima Domain.[1] It was a subordinate of Hiroshima Domain where the main line of the Asano clan ruled from.

History

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Mihara Castle was built 1567 by Kobayakawa Takakage, the third son of the famous warlord Mōri Motonari who controlled most of Aki and Bingo Provinces.[2] It was a large scale castle with 3 baileys, 32 sumi yagura (corner towers), and 14 mon (gates). It was built on the coast and connected two islands giving rise to the nickname Ukishirō or "floating castle." Kobayakawa Takakage moved from Niitakayama Castle (新高山城), a typical mountaintop castle, to this site to better manage the Mōri clan's naval forces and to help protect from Oda Nobunaga who was advancing from the east.[3]

Kobayakawa Takakage took part in the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98) and adopted Kobayakawa Hideaki who was the adopted son of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. After the battle of the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Hideaki who had helped Tokugawa Ieyasu gain control of the country was awarded with the defeated Ukita clan's former fiefdoms of Bizen and Mimasaka, for a total of 550,000 koku.[4]

The shōgun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, transferred Fukushima Masanori who was formerly the ruler of Kiyosu Castle to Hiroshima Castle of the Hiroshima Domain and his adopted son Fukushima Masayuki became lord of the Mihara Domain from Mihara Castle. Shortly afterwards the Fukushima clan lost favor with the shōgun when Fukushima Masanori made repairs to Hiroshima Castle which was prohibited by law. This resulted in the Fukushima clan being replaced by the Asano clan who would rule the domains of Hiroshima, Mihara, Yoshida and Ako until the Meiji Restoration.[5]

The tenshu foundation of Mihara Castle was the largest ever built, similar in size to that of Edo Castle, but the main keep was never actually built. The castle escaped demolition during the Meiji period so that it could be used as Imperial naval base. It was later decommissioned and Mihara Train Station was built on the site in 1894. At this time all the buildings were destroyed and much of the stone walls torn down. The honmaru was further cut to make way for the bullet train in 1975. Together with Kobayakawa's Niitakayama Castle (新高山城) it is designated a National Historic Site.[6]

List of Daimyō

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Portrait of the third daimyō, Asano Tadayoshi.
Order Name Japanese Lifetime Reign Information
1 Kobayakawa Takakage 小早川隆景 1533–1597 1582–1597 Built Mihara Castle, 3rd son of Mōri Motonari.
2 Fukushima Masayuki 福島正之 1585–1608 1600–1608 (evicted) Adopted son of Fukushima Masanori.
3 Asano Tadayoshi 浅野忠吉 1546–1621 1619–1621 (died) Cousin of Asano Nagamasa, son of Asano Nagatada.
4 Asano Tadanaga 浅野忠長 1592–1660 1621–1656 (retired) Adopted, son of Oobashi Kiyobei (大橋清兵衛) and Asano Tadayoshi's (#3) daughter.
5 Asano Tadazane 浅野忠真 1618–1694 1656–1683 (retired) son of #4, retired.
6 Asano Tadayoshi 浅野忠義 1667–1730 1683–1730 (died) son of #5.
7 Asano Tadamasa 浅野忠綏 1702–1758 1730–1758 (died) son of #6.
8 Asano Tadachika 浅野忠晨 1732–1795 1758–1759 (retired) son of #7.
9 Asano Tadamasa 浅野忠正 1721–1767 1759–1767 (died) son of #6.
10 Asano Tadayoshi 浅野忠愛 1752–1793 1767–1793 (died) son of #7.
11 Asano Tadasuke 浅野忠順 1790–1824 1793–1814 (retired) Adopted, son of Asano Shigeakira of the Hiroshima Domain and Asano Tadayoshi's (#10) daughter.
12 Asano Tadahide 浅野忠敬 1802–1860 1814–1843 (died) Adopted, son of Tōdō Kenzaki Nobuhide (藤堂監物信任) and Asano Tadamasa's (#9) daughter.
13 Asano Tetsu 浅野忠 1819–1892 1843–1868 son #11.

Retainers (家臣)

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The tenshu foundation of Mihara Castle.
Map of Mihara castle town from 1644.

Notes

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  1. ^ Regional Geography of Japan: Island Sea and Kyushu. Society of Japanese Regional Geography. 1957. p. 36.
  2. ^ Schmorleitz, Morton S. (1974). Castles in Japan. C. E. Tuttle Co. p. 155. ISBN 9780804811026.
  3. ^ Japan, the Official Guide. Japan Travel Bureau. 1966. p. 839.
  4. ^ The New Official Guide: Japan. Japan Travel Bureau. 1975. p. 774. ISBN 9780870403446.
  5. ^ Ogura, Toyofumi (1994). The Atomic Bomb and Hiroshima. University of California: Liber Press. p. 12.
  6. ^ "Mihara Castle". Jcastle. Retrieved 25 August 2017.

References

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  • The New Official Guide: Japan. University of California, Japan Travel Bureau (1975).
  • Schmorleitz, Morton S., (1974). Castles in Japan. University of Michigan: C. E. Tuttle Co.

See also

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