Buzen Province

The former name of the region that currently occupies the eastern half of Fukuoka Prefecture and the northern part of Oita Prefecture. The first mention of "Nagao no Agata in Buzen Province" in the Emperor Keikō Chronicles in the Nihon Shoki was in historical documents, but it is unclear from 702 (Taihō 2). In ancient times, there was Toyokuni, which is said to have split into Buzen and Bungo at the end of the 7th century, but this is unclear. In the Engishiki (Completed in 927), it is in Saikaido, and is called Kamikuni. There were eight counties: Tagawa, Kiku, Kyoto, Nakatsu, Tsuiki, Kamitsumi, Shimotsumi, and Usa. There are two theories about the location of the provincial capital: Kyoto County and Nakatsu County (Yukuhashi City), and there is also a theory that it was moved from Kyoto to Nakatsu. Both the Kokubun monasteries and nunneries are located in Miyako-cho, Kyoto-gun, and the Ichinomiya of Buzen is Hachiman Usa-gu in Usa-gun. The total population of Buzen Province during the Nara period is estimated to have been around 73,000 to 74,000 people. Hachiman Usa-gu has been visited for prayers regarding foreign relations and military matters since the Tenpyo period, and Jinguji Temple (later called Miroku-ji Temple) is deeply involved in the construction of the Great Buddha of Todai-ji Temple, and has deep ties to the Kinai government, as symbolized by the oracle incident that led to Dokyo's accession to the throne in 769 (Jingo Keiun 3). Since the end of the Heian period, many manors have been established in the province, but the Usa-gu territories are concentrated in the eastern region. The Usamiya estates are divided into three types based on the reasons for their establishment, and of these, Buzen Province was home to many of the "Jikago Sankasho" (the Nembutsu Shinryo) estates that were established by feudal lords during the Nara period, as well as the "Honmi Jyuhakkasho" (the 18 main shrine estates) that developed from sacred fields and offering fields, and Miroku-ji Temple also owned many estates within the country.

During the Kamakura period, the Muto, Kanazawa, and Itoda clans were appointed as Shugo, while during the Nanboku-cho period, the Shoni, Otomo, Imagawa, and Shibukawa clans took turns, and during the Muromachi period, the Ouchi clan was the successive Shugo. During the Sengoku period, the Ouchi, Otomo, Kii, and Mori clans competed for supremacy, and eventually the Otomo clan came to dominate, but this was also unstable, and in 1587 (Tensho 15), Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Kyushu. Hideyoshi appointed Kuroda Yoshitaka (Josui) as the lord of six counties: Usa, Shimoge, Kamige, Tsuiki, Kyoto, and Nakatsu. Takataka surveyed the land within his domain, and in January of the following year (1688), he established his castle site in Nakatsu, Shimoge County (Nakatsu City). He used force to suppress a rebellion by local lords led by the Kii clan, and managed his domain. In 1600 (Keicho 5), the Kuroda clan was transferred to Fukuoka, Chikuzen Province (Fukuoka City) for their achievements in the Battle of Sekigahara. In 1587, Mori Katsunobu entered Kokura, Kiku County, and was given the fiefs of Kiku and Tagawa counties, but was stripped of his fief for siding with the west during the Battle of Sekigahara. Following Kuroda and Mori, Hosokawa Tadaoki entered Nakatsu with the entire province of Buzen and two counties in Bungo (Kunisaki and Hayami). Tadaoki surveyed the land within his domain, and at the end of 1602 (Keicho 7), he moved from Nakatsu to Kokura, and his heir, Shishi Tadatoshi, entered Nakatsu. In addition, he stationed his family and powerful vassals at the subsidiary castles of Moji, Kawaradake, Ganjaku, Hitotsudo, Ryuo, and Takada and Kitsuki in Bungo. Of these, seven subsidiary castles including Moji were destroyed in 1615 (Genwa 1) under the One Castle per Province Order, but only Nakatsu Castle was left standing. At the end of 1620, Tadaoki handed over the family headship to Tadatoshi, retired under the name Sansai, and moved to Nakatsu Castle in April of the following year, Tadatoshi becoming the lord of Kokura Domain.

In 1632 (Kan'ei 9), Hosokawa Tadatoshi was transferred to Kumamoto in Higo, and four families of the Ogasawara clan, who were fudai daimyo, were assigned to him. First, Ogasawara Tadazane was assigned to Kokura, Tadazane's younger brother Tadatomo was assigned to Kitsuki in Bungo (later transferred), Tadazane's elder brother Tadanao's eldest son Nagatsugu was assigned to Nakatsu, and Tadazane's younger brother Matsudaira Shigenao, who was adopted by the Matsudaira family (Nomi), was assigned to Tatsuo. The line of Tadazane who entered Kokura received a share of 10,000 koku of new land (called Kokura Shinden Domain, from 1869 Chizuka Domain) for his younger brother Sanekata in 1671 (Kanbun 11) and continued to do so until the end of the Edo period, but suffered a major defeat in the Battle of Kokuraguchi during the Choshu War in 1866 (Keio 2), burned down Kokura Castle, and moved the domain office to Kobaru, Tagawa County. Furthermore, in 1869 (Meiji 2), in order to rebuild the domain, the domain office was moved to Toyotsu, Kyoto County, the former location of the provincial capital, and was called Toyotsu Domain, until it was abolished. The line of Choji who entered Nakatsu had its territory confiscated in 1698 (Genroku 11) due to the misconduct of the domain's lord Nagatane, and his younger brother Naganobu was given half of his stipend of 40,000 koku in the three counties of Kamige, Shimoge, and Usa. Prior to this, in 1694 (Genroku 7), the domain was divided among Nagatane's younger brother Nagayasu, but when Nagatane's domain was confiscated, he was made a Hatamoto and became Tokieda Domain, with a jin'ya in Tokieda Village, Usa County (Usa City), until the end of the Edo period. Nagatane's former domain of 53,000 koku (Usa and Shimoge County) became Shogunate territory, and a magistrate's office was established in Yokkaichi, Usa County (Usa City). The Nakatsu Domain, which had its domain reduced, was confiscated due to lack of an heir when Nagasato, the heir of Nagamaru, died at just 9 years old in 1716 (Kyoho 1), and the Ogasawara Nakatsu Domain came to an end. In 1617, Okudaira Masashige, a fudai feudal lord who was the lord of Miyazu Castle in Tango Province (Kyoto Prefecture), entered Nakatsu with a total of 100,000 koku of land, including the three counties of Kamige, Shimoge, and Usa in Buzen Province, as well as Chikuzen Province (Fukuoka Prefecture) and Bingo Province (Hiroshima Prefecture), and this continued until the end of the Edo period. Matsudaira Shigenao moved his residence from Tatsuo to Bungo Takada, but during the time of his son Hidechika, he was transferred to Kizuki in 1645 (Shoho 2) after Ogasawara Tadatomo. The former territory, which had become Shogunate territory, remained in the hands of the shogun, but in 1669 (Kanbun 9), it became an exclave of the Hizen Shimabara Domain.

In the Middle Ages, Yawata Usa Shrine, which held many manors, received some donations from Kuroda and Hosokawa, but in 1646 (Shoho 3), Tokugawa Iemitsu granted 1,000 koku of land in Usa Village as a red seal land and made it the territory of Usa Shrine. Some of the villages under the jurisdiction of the Yokkaichi Magistrate were incorporated into the Nakatsu Domain when the Okudaira Nakatsu Domain was established, and the rest later came under the jurisdiction of the Bungo Hita Magistrate, with a jin'ya (campaign) remaining in Yokkaichi. In 1870 (Meiji 3), an exclave of the Tsushima Izuhara Domain was also established. When the feudal domains were abolished and prefectures established in July 1871, the three prefectures of Toyotsu, Senzoku, and Nakatsu, as well as the territories of Izuhara, Hita, and Shimabara, were established. In November of the same year, the entire province of Buzen became Kokura Prefecture, and in April 1876 it became part of Fukuoka Prefecture, but in August of the same year, the counties of Shimoge and Usa were incorporated into Oita Prefecture.

[Kanzo Toyoda]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

現在の福岡県東半部と大分県北部を占める地域の旧国名。『日本書紀』景行(けいこう)天皇紀に「豊前国長峡県(ながおのあがた)」とあるのが史料上の初見であるが、明確なのは702年（大宝2）から。古くは豊国(とよくに)があり、それが7世紀末に豊前・豊後(ぶんご)に分かれたとするが不詳。『延喜式(えんぎしき)』（927成）では西海道(さいかいどう)にあり、上国。郡は、田河、企救(きく)、京都(みやこ)、仲津(なかつ)、築城(ついき)、上毛(かみつみけ)、下毛(しもつみけ)、宇佐の8郡。国府は京都郡説、仲津郡（行橋(ゆくはし)市）説の2説があり、京都から仲津への移転説もある。国分僧寺・尼寺はいずれも京都郡みやこ町にあり、豊前一宮(いちのみや)は宇佐郡の八幡(はちまん)宇佐宮。奈良期の豊前国の総人口は7万3000～7万4000人前後と推定されている。八幡宇佐宮は天平時代から対外関係や軍事上のことで祈請(きしょう)されており、神宮寺(じんぐうじ)（のち弥勒寺(みろくじ)と称す）は東大寺の大仏造立に深くかかわりをもっており、769年（神護景雲3）の道鏡即位の託宣事件で象徴されるように畿内(きない)政権との関係が深い。平安末期以来、当国にも荘園(しょうえん)が数多く成立するが、東部地域には宇佐宮領が集中している。宇佐宮領荘園はその成立要因によって3種に分けられるが、このうち、豊前国には奈良時代の封戸(ふこ)が荘園化した「十箇郷三箇荘」（根本神領）、位田・供田などから発展した「本御(ほんみ)荘十八カ所」の多くが存在し、弥勒寺も国内に多くの荘園を所有していた。

　鎌倉期の守護には武藤、金沢(かねさわ)、糸田氏らが補任(ぶにん)され、南北朝期には少弐(しょうに)、大友、今川、渋川(しぶかわ)氏らが交替、室町期には大内氏が歴代守護となっている。戦国期には、大内、大友、城井(きい)、毛利らの諸氏が覇を競い、やがて大友氏が制するが、それも安定せず、1587年（天正15）豊臣(とよとみ)秀吉が九州を統一した。秀吉は、宇佐、下毛(しもげ)、上毛(こうげ)、築城、京都、中津の6郡の領主として黒田孝高(よしたか)（如水(じょすい)）を配した。孝高は領内の検地を行い、翌88年正月には城地を下毛郡中津（中津市）に定め、城井氏を中心とする在地土豪勢力の反乱を武力で鎮定し、領国経営を行った。1600年（慶長5）関ヶ原の戦いの功により、黒田氏は筑前(ちくぜん)国福岡（福岡市）へ移封となった。1587年企救郡小倉(こくら)に入った毛利勝信は、企救・田川両郡で受封したが、関ヶ原の戦いにおいて西方にくみしたため除封された。黒田・毛利の後には、細川忠興(ただおき)が豊前一国と豊後2郡（国東(くにさき)・速見(はやみ)）で中津に入る。忠興は、領内の検地を行い、1602年（慶長7）末には中津から小倉に移り、中津には嗣子(しし)忠利が入った。そのほか、門司(もじ)、香春岳(かわらだけ)、岩石(がんじゃく)、一戸(ひとつど)、龍王(りゅうおう)と豊後の高田・木付(きつき)の支城に一族・有力家臣を在番として配した。このうち門司以下の7支城は1615年（元和1）の一国一城令によって破却されたが、中津城のみは残置された。忠興は1620年末、家督を忠利に譲り、自らは三斎(さんさい)と号し隠居して、翌21年4月に中津城に移り、忠利が小倉藩主となった。

　1632年（寛永9）細川忠利は、肥後熊本へ転封となり、そのあとには、譜代(ふだい)大名である小笠原(おがさわら)一族4家が配された。まず、小倉には小笠原忠真(ただざね)が、豊後の木付には忠真の弟忠知(ただとも)が（のち転封）、中津には忠真の兄忠脩(ただのぶ)の嫡子長次(ながつぐ)が、さらに龍王へは忠真の弟で松平家（能見(のみ)）の養子となった松平重直が入部することとなった。小倉に入った忠真の系は、1671年（寛文11）忠雄のとき、弟真方(さねかた)に新田1万石（小倉新田藩と称す。1869年からは千束(ちづか)藩）を分知し、幕末に至るが、1866年（慶応2）の長州戦争小倉口の戦いにおいて大敗北を喫し、小倉城を自焼し、田川郡香春(こうばる)に藩庁を移した。さらに、1869年（明治2）、藩再建を期して、かつての国府所在地京都郡豊津に藩庁を移し、豊津藩と称し、廃藩に至る。中津に入った長次の系は、1698年（元禄11）藩主長胤(ながたね)の不行跡により領知没収、改めて弟長円(ながのぶ)が上毛・下毛・宇佐3郡で半知4万石を受ける。これより先、1694年（元禄7）には長胤の弟長宥(ながやす)に分知されていたが、長胤の領知没収を機に旗本に列せられ、宇佐郡時枝(ときえだ)村（宇佐市）に陣屋を置く時枝領となり幕末に至る。長胤の旧領、5万3000石（宇佐・下毛郡）は幕府領となり、宇佐郡四日市（宇佐市）に代官所が置かれる。減知された中津藩は、長円の嗣長(ながさと)が1716年（享保1）わずか9歳で死亡し、無継嗣(むけいし)を理由に領知没収、ここに小笠原中津藩は終焉(しゅうえん)した。17年、中津には丹後(たんご)国（京都府）宮津城主であった譜代大名奥平昌成(おくだいらまさしげ)が豊前国上毛・下毛・宇佐3郡、ほかに筑前国（福岡県）、備後(びんご)国（広島県）のうち計10万石で入部し、以後幕末に至る。松平重直は、龍王から豊後高田に居館を移すが、その息英親のとき、1645年（正保2）小笠原忠知の後を受けて木付へ転封となる。幕府領となった旧領をそのまま預り地とするが、1669年（寛文9）に至って肥前島原藩の飛び地となる。

　中世において多くの荘園を保持していた八幡宇佐宮は、黒田・細川などから若干の寄進を受けていたが、1646年（正保3）徳川家光(いえみつ)より宇佐村のうち1000石を朱印地として認められ宇佐神宮領となる。四日市代官所管下の村々は、奥平中津藩成立の時点で一部中津藩に編入され、残りはのちに豊後日田(ひた)代官所管下に入り、四日市には陣屋が残置される。1870年（明治3）には、対馬厳原(つしまいづはら)藩の飛び地も置かれる。71年7月の廃藩置県で、豊津・千束・中津の3県と厳原・日田・島原県領地が成立したが、同年11月に豊前一国が小倉県となり、76年4月には福岡県に入るが、同年8月下毛・宇佐2郡は大分県へ編入された。

［豊田寛三］

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