Shimabara Domain

A domain located on the Shimabara Peninsula in Hizen Province (Nagasaki Prefecture). The feudal lord Arima Harunobu was granted a fief (40,000 koku, later 38,000 koku) here by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but he was ousted in the Okamoto Daihachi Incident, and his son Naozumi was transferred to Nobeoka in Hyuga (Miyazaki Prefecture). In 1616 (Genwa 2), Matsukura Shigemasa entered the domain from Gojo in Yamato (Nara Prefecture) with a fief of 40,000 koku. Shimabara Castle was built, but the heavy taxes imposed on the peasants were one of the causes of the Shimabara-Amakusa Rebellion. After the next lord, Katsuie, was held responsible for the rebellion and stripped of his title, in 1638 (Kan'ei 15), the fudai daimyo Takariki was appointed from Hamamatsu with a fief of 40,000 koku and worked to restore the countryside by exempting farmers from paying tribute and encouraging them to relocate. In 1668 (Kanbun 8), Takariki Takanaga was stripped of his title and the following year Matsudaira (Fukozu) Tadafusa was appointed from Fukuchiyama with a fief of 65,900 koku. He was tasked with guarding Nagasaki and monitoring the Kyushu daimyo, and also worked to improve the domain system by conducting land surveys within the domain. In 1749 (Kan'en 2), during the reign of Tadamasa, he was replaced by Toda Tadamitsu of Utsunomiya (77,800 koku), but in 1774 (An'ei 3), he was replaced by the Toda clan again, and Matsudaira Tadahiro became the feudal lord (70,000 koku, plus an additional 23,000 koku of entrusted land). The feudal government towards the end of the Edo period suffered from a series of natural disasters in addition to financial crises, especially the great eruption of Mount Unzen in 1792 (Kan'en 4), which became a major disaster known as "Shimabara disaster, Higo nuisance," and put the feudal government in dire straits. During the Bunka era (1804-1818), the domain established offices for domestic production and public affairs, promoted industrial development within the domain, and attempted to make trials fair. It also attempted to increase wax production through the "Farmers' Eiho Law" and to establish a system for directly shipping rice and soybeans to Edo, but no notable results were seen and the domain was abolished in 1871 (Meiji 4). In July of the same year, it became Shimabara Prefecture, and in November it was annexed by Nagasaki Prefecture.

Since Tadafusa Matsudaira, many of the feudal lords were educated, and in 1793 they established the domain school Keikokan, from which the medical school Saishukan was separated in 1821 (Bunsei 4). The domain school's collection of about 10,000 books is kept in the Shimabara Community Center as the Matsudaira Library.

[Akira Kato]

"History of Nagasaki Prefecture: Clan Government Edition" (1973, Yoshikawa Kobunkan) "History and Culture of Nagasaki Prefecture" edited by Mikio Toyama, Akira Kato, and others (1981, Sodosha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

肥前国（長崎県）島原半島に置かれた藩。戦国大名の有馬晴信(ありまはるのぶ)が、豊臣(とよとみ)秀吉によりこの地に所領（4万石、のち3万8000石余）を安堵(あんど)されたが、岡本大八事件で失脚、その子直純(なおずみ)は日向(ひゅうが)（宮崎県）延岡(のべおか)に転封。1616年（元和2）大和(やまと)（奈良県）五条から松倉重政(しげまさ)が4万石で入部。島原城を建設したが、その重い農民への課役は、島原・天草一揆(あまくさいっき)の一因ともなった。次代勝家が乱の責任を問われて改易ののち、1638年（寛永15）浜松より譜代(ふだい)大名高力(こうりき)氏が4万石で入封して貢租免除で農民移住を図るなど農村復興に努めた。68年（寛文8）高力高長が改易となり、翌年福知山(ふくちやま)から松平（深溝(ふこうず)）忠房(ただふさ)が6万5900石で入封、長崎警備とともに九州諸大名の監視にあたり、さらに領内検地など藩制整備に努めた。1749年（寛延2）忠祇(ただまさ)のとき宇都宮の戸田忠盈(ただみつ)と交替転封となった（7万7800石）が、74年（安永3）ふたたび戸田氏と交替転封されて松平忠恕(ただひろ)が藩主となった（7万石、ほかに預地高2万3000余石）。幕末に至る藩政は財政危機に加えて自然災害が相次ぎ、とくに1792年（寛政4）の雲仙岳(うんぜんだけ)大爆発は、「島原大変、肥後迷惑」といわれる大災害となり、藩政を窮迫させた。文化(ぶんか)年間（1804～18）の財政改革で国産方御役所や公事方(くじかた)役所を設置し、領内の殖産興業や裁判の公正を図り、「農民永保法」で櫨(はぜ)の増産を、さらに米や大豆の江戸直送体制の確立などを試みたが、めぼしい成果はみられないまま、1871年（明治4）廃藩となった。同年7月島原県となり、11月長崎県に併合された。

　松平氏は忠房以来、好学の藩主が多く、1793年藩校の稽古(けいこ)館を設置し、1821年（文政4）にはそこから医学校として済衆館が独立した。藩校の蔵書約1万冊は「松平文庫」として島原公民館に収蔵されている。

［加藤　章］

『『長崎県史　藩政編』（1973・吉川弘文館）』▽『外山幹夫・加藤章他編『長崎県の歴史と風土』（1981・創土社）』

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