Satsuma Domain

A large Tozama domain that held the territories of both Satsuma and Osumi provinces (Kagoshima Prefecture) and part of Morokata County in Hyuga Province (Miyazaki Prefecture). It is also called the Kagoshima Domain. The domain was ruled by the Shimazu clan. Its official treasury was over 730,000 koku (rice paddy). The Shimazu clan is said to be a branch of Minamoto no Yoritomo, and grew into a shugo daimyo and a Sengoku daimyo. At the end of the Sengoku period, they unified the three provinces of Satsuma, Osumi, and Hyuga, and even came close to conquering the entire Kyushu region. However, they were defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Kyushu Conquest (1587) and were forced to confine themselves to the two provinces of Satsuma and Osumi and one district of Hyuga and Morokata. In the Battle of Sekigahara (1600), Shimazu Yoshihiro sided with the Western Army, but with the help of Ii Naomasa and others, his third son, Iehisa (Tadatsune), was granted permission to keep his former territory. After Iehisa, the feudal lords were Mitsuhisa, Tsunataka, Yoshitaka, Tsugutoyo, Munenobu, Shigetoshi, Shigehide, Narinobu, Narioki, Nariakira, and Tadayoshi (Mochihisa), for a total of 12 generations, until the Meiji era. The official stipend was 608,916 koku in 1617 (Genwa 3), and 732,616 koku in 1635 (Kan'ei 12), when the Ryukyu stipend of 123,700 koku was added. The first feudal lord, Iehisa, built Tsurumaru Castle at the foot of Shiroyama in Kagoshima, but it was a simple structure without a castle tower or multi-story turrets, and the concentration of samurai in the castle town was not thorough. Furthermore, he divided the domain into 113 outer castles (go) and established a unique outer castle system (goshi system) as units of military and administrative control. As a result, the samurai population was overwhelmingly large, and in a survey conducted in the early Meiji period, the ratio of soldiers to the total population was 26.38% in the Satsuma domain, compared to the national average of 0.56%. In rural areas, the Kadowari system was implemented, which divided farmland almost equally among peasant communities called Kado. The two systems of Tojyo and Monwari ensured thorough control over the rural areas, and only two cases of peasant uprisings are known to have occurred within the domain.

In 1609 (Keicho 14), they invaded Ryukyu, profiting from tribute trade and adding the Ryukyu Takao to their ranks. Since the beginning of the domain, the domain's finances had been strained by several wars, but the repeated construction works assisted by the shogunate and fires in the domain's Edo residence and castle town only exacerbated the situation. In particular, the Kiso River flood control works ordered by the shogunate cost 400,000 ryo, leading to the suicide of the general magistrate Hirata Yukie in responsibility (Horeki Flood Control Incident). The eighth domain lord, Shigehide, retired at the age of 43, but reigned over the domain for about 80 years until his death at the age of 89. He was an enlightened ruler who was also friends with Philipp Franz von Siebold, and actively pursued policies of enlightenment. His third daughter, Shigehime, became the wife of the shogun Tokugawa Ienari, and he had his second son and subsequent sons inherit the domains of Nakatsu, Fukuoka, and Hachinohe, giving him great influence. He also favored Western studies and practical learning, and founded domain schools such as Zoshikan, Enbukan, and Meijikan (where the Satsuma calendar was compiled). However, his policies of modernization led to the domain's treasury being impoverished, and the domain's debt reached 5 million ryo. During the time of the ninth domain lord, Nariakira, Shigehide suppressed the reform movement that opposed his policies (the Kinshiroku collapse), but during the time of the next lord, Narioki, he appointed Zusho Hirosato to carry out financial reforms such as a monopoly on Amami brown sugar, smuggling in the Ryukyu Islands, development of new fields, and product development. The domain was able to get away with defaulting on the 5 million ryo debt, which was repaid in 250-year installments without interest. It is also said that counterfeit one-bu gold and two-bu silver coins were even made.

The 11th lord, Nariakira, was an enlightened person, inheriting his great-grandfather Shigehide, who established Western-style industry (the Shuseikan Project) and was active as a member of the Hitotsubashi faction in the issue of the Shogunate succession. There was a family dispute (the Oyura Disturbance) when he succeeded to the shogunate, but he died of illness after just over seven years of reign. His half-brother Hisamitsu (father of the 12th lord, Tadayoshi) held real power in the domain at the end of the Edo period and played a leading role in the movement to unite the Imperial Court and the Shogunate, but after the Anglo-Satsuma War (1863), the domain's views rapidly changed, approaching Britain and calling for the overthrow of the Shogunate by respecting the Emperor. He played a leading role in the realization of the Meiji Restoration by forming the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance and the Satsuma-Tosa Pact, and returning political power to the Emperor. During the Meiji Restoration period, the area produced many talented people, including Saigo Takamori, Okubo Toshimichi, Kuroda Kiyotaka, Matsukata Masayoshi, Godai Tomoatsu, and Mori Arinori, and their personal connections became the core of the clan-based bureaucratic government. In 1871 (Meiji 4), the domain was abolished and became Kagoshima Prefecture, and Morokata County was incorporated into Miyazaki Prefecture, which was re-established in 1883.

[Izumi Haraguchi]

"The Basic Structure of the Satsuma Domain" edited by Hidemura Senzo (1970, Ochanomizu Shobo)" ▽ "The History of Kagoshima Prefecture by Haraguchi Torao (1973, Yamakawa Publishing)" ▽ "Satsuma at the End of the Tokugawa Period by Haraguchi Torao (Chuko Shinsho)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

薩摩・大隅(おおすみ)両国（鹿児島県）と日向(ひゅうが)国（宮崎県）諸県(もろかた)郡の一部を領有した外様(とざま)大藩。鹿児島藩ともいう。藩主島津氏。表高73万石余（籾(もみ)高）。島津氏は源頼朝(よりとも)の庶流と称し、守護大名、戦国大名に成長、戦国末期には薩隅日の3州を統一、さらに九州全土の制覇を目前にするまでに至った。しかし豊臣(とよとみ)秀吉の九州征伐（1587）に敗れ、薩隅2国と日向諸県1郡の地に逼塞(ひっそく)することとなった。関ヶ原の戦い（1600）において島津義弘(よしひろ)は西軍にくみしたが、井伊直政(なおまさ)らのとりなしで三男家久(いえひさ)（忠恒(ただつね)）が旧領を安堵(あんど)された。藩主は、家久のあと光久(みつひさ)、綱貴(つなたか)、吉貴(よしたか)、継豊(つぐとよ)、宗信(むねのぶ)、重年(しげとし)、重豪(しげひで)、斉宣(なりのぶ)、斉興(なりおき)、斉彬(なりあきら)、忠義(ただよし)（茂久(もちひさ)）と12代続き明治に至った。表高は1617年（元和3）60万8916石、1635年（寛永12）琉球(りゅうきゅう)高12万3700石を加えて73万2616石となる。初代藩主家久は鹿児島の城山の麓(ふもと)に鶴丸城を築いたが、天守閣や重層櫓(やぐら)のない質素なものであり、武士の城下町集中も徹底しなかった。さらに、領内を113の外城(とじょう)（郷）に分けて軍事・行政支配の単位とする特殊な外城制度（郷士(ごうし)制度）を敷いた。このため武家人口は圧倒的に多く、明治初年の調査では全人口に占める士卒人口比は全国平均の0.56％に対し薩摩藩のそれは26.38％に上っている。また農村では、門(かど)とよばれる農民共同体に耕地をほぼ均等に分配して耕作させる門割(かどわり)制度が施行された。外城、門割の2制度によって農村支配は徹底し、藩内の百姓一揆(いっき)はわずか2例が知られるにすぎない。

　1609年（慶長14）には琉球に侵入し、進貢貿易の利を得、また琉球高も加えることとなった。藩初から数度の戦争のため財政は窮迫していたが、たび重なる幕府の御手伝普請(おてつだいぶしん)、江戸藩邸や城下の火災もこれに拍車をかけた。なかでも幕命による木曽(きそ)川治水工事は工費40万両にも上り惣奉行(そうぶぎょう)平田靫負(ゆきえ)の引責自殺まで起こった（宝暦(ほうれき)治水事件）。8代藩主重豪は43歳で隠居したが、89歳で没するまで約80年間にわたって藩政に君臨した。シーボルトとも交際のある開明的君主で、積極的開化政策をとった。三女茂姫を将軍徳川家斉(いえなり)夫人とし、次子以下に中津藩、福岡藩、八戸(はちのへ)藩を継がせて勢威があり、また蘭学(らんがく)・実学を好み、藩校造士館や演武館、明時館（薩摩暦を作成）などを創立した。一方その開化政策のため藩庫は疲弊し藩債500万両にも達した。9代藩主斉宣のとき、重豪は彼の政策に反対する改革運動を弾圧（近思録(きんしろく)崩れ）したが、次代斉興のときには、調所広郷(ずしょひろさと)を登用して、奄美(あまみ)の黒糖専売はじめ、琉球密貿易、新田開発、物産開発などによる財政改革を行った。藩債500万両は、250年賦、無利子償還という「踏み倒し」で切り抜けた。このほか、一分金・二分銀の偽金(にせがね)づくりまで行われたという。

　11代藩主斉彬は曽祖父(そうそふ)重豪譲りの開明派で、洋式工業（集成館事業）をおこし、将軍継嗣(けいし)問題では一橋(ひとつばし)派として活躍した。その襲封にあたって御家騒動（お由良(ゆら)騒動）があったが、治世7年余で病没した。異母弟久光(ひさみつ)（12代藩主忠義の父）は幕末、藩の実権を握り、公武合体運動に指導的役割を果たしたが、薩英戦争（1863）以後藩論は急速に転換、イギリスに接近し、尊王討幕を掲げ、薩長同盟、薩土盟約を結んで大政奉還、明治維新の実現に指導的役割を果たした。幕末維新期に西郷隆盛(たかもり)、大久保利通(としみち)、黒田清隆(きよたか)、松方正義(まさよし)、五代友厚(ともあつ)、森有礼(ありのり)ら多くの人材を生み、その人脈は藩閥官僚政府の中心となった。1871年（明治4）廃藩、鹿児島県となり、諸県郡は83年再置の宮崎県に編入。

［原口　泉］

『秀村選三編『薩摩藩の基礎構造』（1970・御茶の水書房）』▽『原口虎雄著『鹿児島県の歴史』（1973・山川出版社）』▽『原口虎雄著『幕末の薩摩』（中公新書）』

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