Yamagata Domain

This clan ruled over part of the Murayama region of Dewa Province. It was established when Mogami Yoshiaki, a feudal lord since the Sengoku period, was granted a territory of 570,000 koku after the Battle of Sekigahara. At the time of its establishment, its territory covered the entire area of ​​present-day Yamagata Prefecture, excluding the Okitama region, and the southern part of Akita Prefecture, but in 1622 (Genwa 8) during the reign of Yoshitoshi, it was abolished due to disputes between his family and powerful vassals. After that, Torii Tadamasa, a fudai (hereditary vassal of the Tokugawa clan), was appointed to the Yamagata domain with a fief of 220,000 koku. After that, Hoshina Masayuki, Matsudaira (Echizen clan) Naomoto, Matsudaira (Okudaira) Tadahiro, Okudaira Masayoshi, and Hotta Masanaka were frequently appointed to the domain and transferred to it, and it changed hands nine times until the Genroku period (1688-1704). During that time, it was briefly a Shogunate territory. As a fudai domain, the Yamagata domain played a role in controlling the Oshu region, which had many outside daimyo, for a while after the Torii clan entered the domain, but after the Okudaira clan entered the domain in 1668 (Kanbun 8), it came to be seen as a place of demotion. The territory was 200,000 koku until the Hoshina clan, but after the Okudaira clan, it was less than 100,000 koku. After that, the Matsudaira (Echizen clan), Matsudaira (Okudaira), and Hotta clans entered again, and after the Hotta clan continued for three generations, the daimyo Matsudaira (Ogyu) Norisuke, Akimoto Sukeyo, and Mizuno Tadayoshi entered the area until the end of the Edo period. The Akimoto clan lasted for 78 years with 60,000 koku for four generations, making it the longest-serving lord of Yamagata Castle. Mizuno Tadayoshi was the son of the senior councilor Tadakuni (lord of Hamamatsu Domain), who led the shogunate's Tenpo Reforms but failed. Repeated transfers of Yamagata Domain lords and reductions in territory led to the Murayama region becoming a complicated mix of shogunate territory and divided territories of various domains, which made the foundation of the Yamagata Domain unstable. In 1870 (Meiji 3), the Mizuno clan was transferred to Asahiyama in Omi Province and the domain was abolished, later becoming Yamagata Prefecture.

[Akio Yokoyama]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

出羽(でわ)国村山地方の一部を領有した藩。戦国期以来の大名最上義光(もがみよしあき)が、関ヶ原の戦い後57万石の領地を安堵(あんど)されて成立した。成立期の所領は、置賜(おきたま)地方を除く現在の山形県全域と秋田県の南部に及んでいたが、1622年（元和8）義俊(よしとし)の代に、一族や有力家臣の争いにより改易に処された。その後、山形藩には譜代(ふだい)の鳥居忠政(とりいただまさ)が22万石で入封し、以後、保科正之(ほしなまさゆき)、松平（越前(えちぜん)家）直基(なおもと)、松平（奥平(おくだいら)）忠弘(ただひろ)、奥平昌能(まさよし)、堀田正仲(まさなか)と頻繁に入転封が行われ、元禄(げんろく)年間（1688～1704）まで9回の交代をみた。その間、一時幕領となったこともある。山形藩は譜代藩として、鳥居氏入部以後しばらくは外様(とざま)大名の多い奥羽の押さえの役割を担ったが、1668年（寛文8）の奥平氏の入封以後は左遷の地ともみられるようになる。領地も保科氏までは20万石、奥平氏以後は10万石以下となった。その後、松平（越前家）、松平（奥平）、堀田各氏がふたたび入り、堀田氏が3代続いたあと、松平（大給(おぎゅう)）乗佑(のりすけ)、秋元凉朝(すけとも)、水野忠精(ただきよ)の各大名が入部し幕末に至っている。秋元氏は6万石で4代78年続き、歴代山形城主としてはもっとも長い。水野忠精は、幕府の天保(てんぽう)の改革を主導して失敗した老中忠邦(ただくに)（浜松藩主）の子である。たび重なる山形藩主の転封と領地の減少で、村山地方の所領は幕領や諸藩の分領で入り組み、それが山形藩の基盤を不安定にしていた。1870年（明治3）水野氏の近江(おうみ)朝日山転封により廃藩、のち山形県となる。

［横山昭男］

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