Clan - Han

Japanese: 藩 - はん

During the Edo period, this refers to the territory and ruling structure of daimyo who were allocated land with a rice yield of 10,000 koku or more by the shogun.

The official term "han" did not exist in the Edo period, but in 1868 (Meiji 1), when the new Meiji government established prefectures and prefectures in the former Shogunate territories, the term "han" was used to refer to the territories of former daimyo, and the term came to be used as the official term, but with the abolition of the feudal domains and the establishment of prefectures in 1871, the actual terms of the domains disappeared, and thereafter the term became the common term for the territories of daimyo. Therefore, strictly speaking, the only time that the term "han" was used to refer to a certain administrative district in Japan was during the Meiji Restoration.

[Masahiro Izumi]

Classification by status and size

The number of clans, or daimyo, rose to around 260 throughout the Edo period. If these were classified based on the circumstances of their establishment, they could be divided into three groups: old clan daimyo, Oda-Toyotomi daimyo, and Tokugawa daimyo. The first two are generally considered to be tozama daimyo.

The Tokugawa daimyo were divided into relative clans (shinpan) and hereditary clans (fudai), and the relative clans were further divided into the Gosanke (Owari, Kii, Mito), the Gosankyo (Tayasu, Hitotsubashi, Shimizu), family clans, and related branches.

Furthermore, daimyo were classified according to whether or not they had castles and the size of their territory as kokushu (kokumochi), quasi-kokumochi (kokumochi-nami), castle lords (shiromochi), castle lord status (shiromochi-nami), or no castles. They were also sometimes classified according to the secret rooms within Edo Castle, such as the O-rouka (Great Corridor), Tamarinoma (Stormy Room), O-hiroma (Great Hall), Teikanma (Great Willow Room), Yanagima (Great Wild Goose Room), Karima (Great Geese Room), and Kikuma (Great Chrysanthemum Room); they were also classified according to their official rank and the size of their kokudaka (rice field).

According to the 1792 (Kansei 4) "Taisei Bukan," the daimyo's territory had a kokudaka of about 18 million koku, but the kokudaka of related clans and fudai daimyo was almost equally divided between them. Furthermore, the proportion of kokudaka held by clans out of the total kokudaka of the nation was about 71.5%.

According to the "Taisei Bukekan," the number of daimyo was 256, of which 12 were related domains, 144 were fudai daimyo, and 100 were tozama daimyo. However, the majority of the daimyo were the 106 fudai families located between the Teikan and Karasu, with an average kokudaka of around 50,000 koku per family.

[Masahiro Izumi]

Conditions and Priorities for Establishing the Domain System

Domains were established on the premise of a relationship between the Shogun and the Daimyo. These two parties basically had a relationship of domination and submission based on the Buke Shohatto (laws governing the warrior class). The Daimyo made a pledge to abide by the Buke Shohatto with each successive Shogun. In other words, this was a ceremony in which a oath was signed in blood as a pledge of loyalty. Therefore, with each succession of Shoguns, the Daimyo were required to first return the land that had been granted to them to the Shogun, and then wait for the new Shogun to issue new laws and swear to abide by them before being granted the land again. However, in practice, the succession of fiefs was permitted as a hereditary practice, and this is where we can see the development of each domain's government.

The Edo Shogunate inherited the unified nationwide land system established under the Azuchi-Momoyama government, and based its operations on this system, developed its organization throughout the first half of the 17th century, while the various feudal domains also established their feudal systems at roughly the same time.

The first major indicator of the establishment of the clan system is the concentration of feudal lordship within the domain and the establishment of its functions. Until the Sengoku period, daimyo retainers had their own territories, built mansions (yakata) and directly controlled the land and people, and the daimyo recognized this as chigyo-ryo (chief right), but in the early modern period, daimyo concentrated their retainers in the areas around their castles, gradually limiting their chigyo-ryo (chief right) and absorbing it into their lordship, and decided to provide them with stored rice according to the size of their stipends. They also organized military service, including for lower-ranking retainers, and developed administrative structures. This is called the establishment of the horoku system.

Secondly, the government controlled the peasants by land surveys and sword hunts. Until the Sengoku period, peasants lived in villages and villages, carried weapons, and formed communities based on family ties. They were registered in land survey and personal registers based on direct producers, and were prohibited from moving out or changing occupations. They were then given the title of hon-byakusho (real peasant), and a system was established for imposing and collecting taxes on each village, while the government controlled them through a system of village officials.

Thirdly, the establishment of castle towns and the establishment of a feudal domain economy. Merchants and craftsmen who were to serve the samurai class were gathered in castle towns and controlled, while rice collected as rent for production was supplied to the national market. The Tsudome policy established a self-sufficient system within the domain, and the establishment of finances for the domain helped to facilitate the smooth running of the domain system. However, some of these policies were not unique to the domain, but were carried out on the premise of vassalage to the shogunate.

[Masahiro Izumi]

Unrest and dissolution of the domain

Each domain tried to encourage agriculture in order to increase taxes and aimed to run their domain government in a stable manner, but with an economic base in which the overwhelming majority of the domain's finances were dependent on rice tax, none of them could avoid financial difficulties. In addition to the administrative costs of governing the domain, the costs of service ordered by the shogunate and alternate attendance were enormous, and by the beginning of the 18th century the domain's finances were in dire straits. Also, the commodity economy that began to permeate rural areas around this time led to the disintegration of the peasant class, threatening the very foundations of the domain's economy.

In this situation, the feudal domains attempted to further increase taxes by implementing land surveys within their territories and changing tax collection laws, while at the same time encouraging domestic production and implementing monopoly systems in order to deal with the expansion of commodity production, and at the same time, carrying out land reforms to prevent the disintegration of the peasant class.However, these policies did not lead to the recovery of finances or the stability of the domain government.

Dissatisfaction among the lower classes with the aristocratic elite who linked up with merchant capital and monopolized the domain government prompted the formation of reformists, and peasant anger at the exaction of tribute erupted in the form of peasant uprisings and seditions. Under these circumstances, the shogunate gradually lost control over the domains, and the worsening external crisis following the arrival of Commodore Perry in 1853 (Kaei 6) in particular highlighted the contradictions within the country, rendering the shogunate powerless in the midst of a storm of political strife. In 1867 (Keio 3), Tokugawa Yoshinobu returned government to the Imperial Court, and the Edo shogunate collapsed. At this point, the original meaning of the domains had also disappeared, and they disappeared when the domains were abolished and prefectures were established.

[Masahiro Izumi]

"Hansei" by Kanai En (1962, Shibundo)" ▽ "The Bakufu-Han System" by Yamaguchi Keiji and Sasaki Junnosuke (1971, Nippon Hyoronsha)" ▽ "Revised Edition: Studies on the History of the Bakufu-Han System" by Fujino Tamotsu (1975, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)" ▽ "The Theory of the Bakufu-Han State, Volumes 1 and 2, by Sasaki Junnosuke (1984, University of Tokyo Press)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

江戸時代、将軍から石高(こくだか)1万石以上の土地を宛行(あてが)われた大名の支配領域、およびその支配機構をいう。

　藩という公称は、江戸時代にあったのではなくて、1868年（明治1）明治新政府が旧幕領に府・県を設置したのに対して、旧大名領には藩の呼称を用い、ここに藩は公称として用いられるようになったが、1871年の廃藩置県によって藩の実態は消滅し、以後大名領をさす場合の通用語となった。したがって、藩が日本で一定の行政区域の表現とされたのは、厳密にいえば明治維新当時だけである。

［泉　雅博］

格式・規模別分類

藩＝大名の数は、江戸時代を通じて260前後に上る。これを藩成立の事情から分類すると、旧族大名、織豊取立(しょくほうとりたて)大名、徳川取立大名の三つとされ、一般には前二者を外様(とざま)大名とした。

　徳川取立大名は親藩(しんぱん)と譜代(ふだい)に分かれ、親藩はさらに御三家(ごさんけ)（尾張(おわり)、紀伊、水戸）、御三卿(ごさんきょう)（田安(たやす)、一橋(ひとつばし)、清水(しみず)）、家門(かもん)、連枝(れんし)などに分けられる。

　また、大名は、城地の有無、領域の規模にしたがって、国主(こくしゅ)（国持(くにもち)）、準国主（国持並(なみ)）、城主（城持(しろもち)）、城主格（城持並）、無城に分けられ、あるいは江戸城中の詰間(つめのま)により大廊下(おおろうか)、溜間(たまりのま)、大広間(おおひろま)、帝鑑(ていかん)間、柳(やなぎ)間、雁(かり)間、菊間などに分ける場合もあり、さらに官位や石高の大小によっても分けられた。

　1792年（寛政4）の『大成武鑑(たいせいぶかん)』によると、大名領の石高は約1800万石であったが、親藩・譜代大名の石高と外様大名の石高はほぼ折半されていた。なお、全国の総石高のうち藩によって占められる石高の比率は約71.5％となっていた。

　この『大成武鑑』による大名数は256藩で、うち親藩は12藩、譜代大名は144藩、外様大名は100藩となるが、大名の主体は帝鑑、雁の両間に詰める譜代の106家で、その1家当り平均石高は5万石前後であった。

［泉　雅博］

藩制確立の条件と重点

藩は将軍と大名との関係を前提として成立する。この両者は、基本的には、武家諸法度(ぶけしょはっと)を基準とする支配と服従の関係にあった。大名は武家諸法度を遵守することを、将軍の代替りごとに誓約した。つまり、忠誠の誓約としての誓詞血判の式である。したがって、将軍の交替ごとに、大名は給付を受けた所領をいったん将軍に返還し、改めて新将軍の法度の発布とそれに対する遵守の誓約をまって、所領の再給付を受けた。しかし、実質的には知行(ちぎょう)の世襲が認められ、ここに藩政のそれぞれの展開をみることになる。

　織豊政権のもとで統一された全国的な土地制度を継承し、これを基礎とした江戸幕府は、17世紀前半を通じてその組織を整備してきたが、諸藩もまたほぼ同じ時期に藩制の確立をみた。

　藩制確立の主要な指標の第一は、領内における大名領主権の集中と、その機能の確立にある。戦国期までは、大名家臣が自己の領地をもち、館(やかた)を構えて土地・人民を直接支配しており、大名はそれを知行権として認めていたが、近世大名は家臣を城下に集住させ、その知行権をしだいに限定して領主権のなかに吸収し、彼らには知行高に応じて蔵米(くらまい)を支給することにした。そして、下級家臣を含めて軍役編成を行い、行政機構を整備した。これを俸禄(ほうろく)制の確立とよぶ。

　第二には、検地・刀狩(かたながり)による農民の一斉統制である。戦国期までは郷(ごう)・庄(しょう)に居住し、武器をもち、族縁的な共同体を形成していた農民を、直接生産者を基準として検地帳・人別(にんべつ)帳に登録し、転出転業を禁止した。そして、本百姓(ほんびゃくしょう)身分を設定して、村ごとに年貢・諸役を課し、これを徴収する体制を確立するとともに、村役人制度をもってこれを支配した。

　第三には、城下町の設定と領国経済の確立である。武士階級に奉仕すべき商人・職人を城下町に集めて統制を加えつつ、生産物地代として徴収した米穀を全国市場に供給して、津留(つどめ)政策によって領内自給体制を整えながら、藩財政を確立することが藩制の円滑な運営を助長させた。しかし、このようないくつかの政策は、藩独自のものとしてではなく、幕府への臣従を前提として行われた。

［泉　雅博］

藩の動揺と解体

各藩は年貢増徴のため勧農に努め、藩政の安定的運営を志向したが、藩財政の圧倒的部分を年貢米の収納に依存している経済基盤のもとでは、いずれの藩も財政難は避けえなかった。領内統治のための行政費用に加え、幕府より命ぜられる勤役や、参勤交代に要する費用は莫大(ばくだい)なものであり、18世紀に入ると藩財政の窮乏は覆いがたいものとなった。また、このころより農村へと浸透し始めた商品経済によって、農民層分解が進行し、藩経済の基盤を根底から脅かし始めた。

　このような事態のなかで諸藩は、領内検地の実施や徴租法の変更を通じていっそうの年貢増徴を図るとともに、商品生産の広がりに対応するため国産奨励や専売制を展開、また一方で、農民層分解を抑制するための土地改革を断行した。しかし、こうした政策も財政の回復、藩政の安定には結び付かなかった。

　商人資本と結び、藩政を独占する門閥層に対する下士層の不満は改革派の結成を促し、貢租の苛斂誅求(かれんちゅうきゅう)に対する農民の怒りは百姓一揆(いっき)、打毀(うちこわし)となって激発した。こうした状況下で、幕府もしだいに藩に対する統制力を失っていき、とくに1853年（嘉永6）ペリー来航以後の対外危機の深刻化は、国内の矛盾をいっそう浮き彫りにし、政争の嵐(あらし)のなかで幕府を無力化した。1867年（慶応3）徳川慶喜(よしのぶ)は大政を朝廷に奉還し、江戸幕府は倒壊する。ここに至って藩の本来の意味もなくなり、廃藩置県によって藩は消滅した。

［泉　雅博］

『金井圓著『藩政』（1962・至文堂）』▽『山口啓二・佐々木潤之介著『幕藩体制』（1971・日本評論社）』▽『藤野保著『新訂幕藩体制史の研究』（1975・吉川弘文館）』▽『佐々木潤之介著『幕藩制国家論』上下（1984・東京大学出版会）』

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