Uto Domain

It was a branch of the Higo Hosokawa clan, which had its headquarters in Uto, Higo Province (Kumamoto Prefecture), and held Uto County and part of Shimomashiki County. Its fiefdom was over 35,253 koku. It was established in July 1646 (Shoho 3) when Hosokawa Mitsunao, the lord of Kumamoto, gave the territory to his cousin Hosokawa Yukitaka (his father was the younger brother of the previous lord Hosokawa Tadatoshi). This Uto was once the base of Konishi Yukinaga during the Toyotomi period. Although the main clan held the judicial, legislative, and administrative powers, the powers of taxation, education, industry, etc. were independent, and the clan also performed alternate attendance, so it is also known as the Uto branch clan. During the reign of the 11th lord, Yukizane, the area was absorbed into the Kumamoto Domain as a result of the return of the domain and people to the Emperor. Among the achievements of the successive feudal lords, the first lord, Yukitaka, built the first waterworks in the country to eliminate the salty drinking water caused by the low-lying marshes of Uto, which is still in use to this day. The fifth lord, Okibumi (Getsuo), also devoted himself to education, establishing the domain school Onchikan and encouraging the cultivation of wax wood and paper mulberry as part of an industrial policy. At the end of the Edo period, the porcelain "Ouda-yaki" became a specialty of the area and was praised as the finest in Kyushu. Furthermore, a series of land reclamation projects were carried out along the surrounding Ariake Sea coast, laying the foundations for today's Uto Plain.

[Tsuneo Moriyama]

"General Overview of the History of Kumamoto Prefecture" (1961, Kumamoto Prefecture) "History of Uto City" (1960, Uto City)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

肥後国（熊本県）宇土に陣屋を構え、宇土郡、下益城(しもましき)郡（一部）を領有した肥後細川藩の支藩。領知高は3万5253石余。その成立は、熊本藩主細川光尚(みつなお)が従弟(いとこ)の細川行孝(ゆきたか)（父は前藩主細川忠利(ただとし)の弟立孝(たてたか)）に1646年（正保3）7月分知したのに始まる。この宇土は、かつて豊臣(とよとみ)期に小西行長(ゆきなが)が拠城とした所である。司法、立法、行政権は本藩に把握されていたが、徴税、教育、産業などの権限が独立していたし、また参勤交代は行ったので、宇土支藩と別称する。11代行真(ゆきざね)のとき、版籍奉還によって熊本藩に吸収される。歴代藩主の治績のなかでもとくに初代行孝は、宇土の低湿地による塩分飲料水を解消するため、全国で初めての上水道を舗設したが、今日までなお使用されている。また5代興文(おきぶみ)（月翁(げつおう)）は文教に努め藩校温知館(おんちかん)を設立し、殖産政策として櫨(はぜ)、楮(こうぞ)を奨励した。幕末には磁器「網田焼(おうだやき)」が特産され、九州一名品とも評された。また周辺の有明(ありあけ)海沿岸に相次いで干拓事業が行われ、今日の宇土平野の基礎を築いた。

［森山恒雄］

『『熊本県史　総説篇』（1961・熊本県）』▽『『宇土市史』（1960・宇土市）』

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