Tahara Domain

A small Fudai domain that ruled over the villages around Tahara in Mikawa Province (Tahara City, Aichi Prefecture). This is where Mikawa local lord Toda Munemitsu built Tahara Castle during the Bunmei period (1469-87). The fifth lord, Toda Takamitsu, is known for abducting Matsudaira Takechiyo (Tokugawa Ieyasu), who was held hostage by the Imagawa clan, and sending him to Oda Nobunaga. The Toda clan was attacked by the Imagawa clan and fell into ruin. In the early modern period, Igi Tadatsugu, a vassal of Ikeda Terumasa, lord of Yoshida (Toyohashi) Castle, was the castle lord, but after the Battle of Sekigahara, when the Ikeda clan moved to Himeji, Toda Takatsugu (a branch of the Munemitsu clan) was granted a fief of 10,000 koku here and established the domain. In 1664 (Kanbun 4), during the reign of Tadamasa, the domain was transferred to Tomioka in Higo (Kumamoto Prefecture), and Miyake Yasukatsu was appointed from Koromo in Mikawa with a fief of 12,000 koku. Since then, the Miyake clan continued to rule for 12 generations and 200 years, right up to the Meiji era. Although it was a small domain, it was a castle-holding feudal lord with high status and a large number of samurai, so the domain's finances were extremely strained. For this reason, he struggled to come up with solutions, such as adopting Yasunao from the Sakai family with a dowry, and Watanabe Noboru (Kazan), who became a chief retainer in 1832 (Tenpo 3), putting effort into reforming the domain's administration. Kazan implemented reforms to the stipends of the retainers, known as the Kakutakabungo system, the establishment of the Hominso to stockpile supplies for famine relief, and the adoption of Okura Nagatsune's domestic production promotion policy, and these were domain administrations that were strongly conscious of financial reform. The fact that Kazan is better known as a painter than as a chief retainer of the Tahara domain may be a result of the domain's poor finances forcing the retainers to pursue side jobs. He also devoted himself to coastal defense, which is not unrelated to the geographical location of the Atsumi Peninsula. In 1871 (Meiji 4), the domain was abolished, and the area was incorporated into Aichi Prefecture, after passing through Tahara Prefecture and Nukata Prefecture.

[Atsuyuki Wakabayashi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

三河国田原（愛知県田原市）周辺の村々を領有した譜代(ふだい)小藩。この地は文明(ぶんめい)年間（1469～87）三河の国人(こくじん)領主戸田宗光(むねみつ)が田原城を築いた所で、その5代目堯光(たかみつ)は今川氏の人質となった松平竹千代(たけちよ)（徳川家康）を奪い、織田信長に送ったことで知られる。戸田氏は今川氏に攻められ没落。近世初頭には、吉田（豊橋(とよはし)）城主池田輝政(てるまさ)の臣伊木忠次(いぎただつぐ)が城代として在城したが、関ヶ原の戦い後に池田氏が姫路(ひめじ)に移ると、戸田尊次(たかつぐ)（宗光一族の傍系）がここに1万石で封ぜられて立藩した。1664年（寛文4）忠昌(ただまさ)のとき肥後（熊本県）富岡に転封されると、三河挙母(ころも)から三宅康勝(みやけやすかつ)が1万2000石で就封し、以来12代200年間、三宅氏の支配が続き明治に至った。小藩ではあるが、城持大名と格式が高く、藩士の数も多かったため、藩財政は極度に窮迫した。このため酒井家から持参金付きの養子康直(やすなお)を迎えたり、1832年（天保3）家老となった渡辺登（崋山(かざん)）が藩政改革に力を入れるなど対策に苦慮した。格高分合制という家臣団の俸禄(ほうろく)の改革、救荒備蓄のための報民倉(ほうみんそう)の設置、大蔵永常(おおくらながつね)の国産奨励策の採用などが崋山によって行われたが、これらは財政改革を強烈に意識した藩政であった。崋山が、田原藩家老としてよりは画家として知られているのも、藩財政の窮乏が家臣を余業に走らせた結果かもしれない。また、海防にも心を砕いたが、これは渥美半島という地理的条件と無関係ではない。1871年（明治4）廃藩、田原県、額田(ぬかた)県を経て愛知県に編入された。

［若林淳之］

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