The Saga Domain, also known as Hizenhan, was a Tozama domain situated in Saga District, Hizen Province. The Nabeshima clan held the position of the domain's lord, leading to it being commonly referred to as the Nabeshima Domain. This domain played a significant role in the Meiji Restoration, being part of the Satsumacho Toi. Presently, it is encompassed within Saga Prefecture and Nagasaki Prefecture, with the domain office situated in Saga Castle, which is now known as Saga City. Initially, the feudal lord of the Saga Domain was the Ryuzoji clan, later succeeded by the Nabeshima clan. The domain boasted a substantial stone height of 357,000 koku, signifying its importance and wealth. Additionally, there were subsidiary domains under its jurisdiction, including the Hasunoike Domain , the Ogi Domain, and the Kashima Domain, further showcasing the domain's influence and power.[1][2][3]
The Nabeshima enjoyed an income of 357,000 koku throughout the Tokugawa period, including among their vassals the lords of the nearby Ogi, Hasunoike, and Kashima Domains.
The domain's location close to Korea and far from Edo, the shogunal capital, along with its trade connections, brought significant foreign influence to the area. The area was a center for ceramic production and techniques as a result of its connections with Korea, becoming famous for its Imari porcelain which was a significant export good to Europe.
Edo period
Remnants of the Ryūzōji continued to surface from time to time, however, and threatened the Nabeshima grip on power. Ryūzōji Takafusa died in 1607, and six years later an order was issued by the shogunate granting his brother, Ryūzōji Katsushige, control of the domain. Though officially bearing an income of 357,000 koku, the daimyō of Saga actually bore only 60,000 koku, the rest belonging to his vassals, the four branch families of the Ryūzōji (Taku, Takeo, Suko, Isahaya), and those of the Nabeshima (Shiroishi, Kubota, Murata, Kawakubō).
The area also bore a considerable Christian peasant population, which erupted in protest in the famous Shimabara Rebellion (1637–8).
The shogunate imposed upon Saga responsibility for defense of the port of Nagasaki and enforcement of the maritime restrictions (kaikin). Though this burden was shared with the Fukuoka Domain, each domain bearing these responsibilities in alternate years, it nevertheless frequently strained Saga's finances. As a result, it was not unknown for Saga to seek to lessen its losses by reducing the number of samurai it sent to defend the port. In October 1808, when HMSPhaeton created an incident, capturing Dutch merchants and threatening Japanese and Chinese ships in the harbor, only 100 Saga samurai were present to deal with the situation, rather than the obligatory one thousand. As no further troops could be summoned to the port in time, the shogunate was forced to submit to the demands of the British ship, and scolded Saga harshly for its failure to fulfill its obligations. The domain would be further weakened by a typhoon in 1828 which cost Saga approximately 10,000 lives.
Towards the end of the Tokugawa period, elements within Saga sided with groups from Tosa, Satsuma, and Chōshū against the shogunate. Saga leaders would later turn against the new Meiji government, launching the Saga Rebellion in 1874, which ultimately failed.
Bakumatsu and Meiji Ishin
Nabeshima Naomasa
Saga recovered in the last decade or so of the bakumatsu period (i.e. the 1860s), however, taking in Western technology and reforming the domain's governance. The bureaucracy was cut by 80%, and efforts were made to support and encourage the peasantry. The domain's economy came to be focused upon ceramics, tea, charcoal, and related goods, and prosperity was found through trade.
The tenth lord of Saga, Nabeshima Naomasa (r. 1830–61), established organizations for the research of Western technologies, including steel refining, steam engines and artillery, and turned the domain's efforts towards these pursuits, making it one of the most modern domains in this period. Saga thus began operations at the first Japanese iron refinery in 1849, and made the first use of reverberatory furnaces three years later. In 1853, Russian Admiral Yevfimy Putyatin arrived in Nagasaki harbor, and provided the first demonstration of a steam locomotive to the Japanese. Ishiguro Hirotsugu, Nakamura Kisuke, and Tanaka Hisashige were among the first Japanese engineers, who attempted to manufacture their own steam locomotives and steamships.
When the shogunate relaxed the restrictions on the construction of large ships, an order was placed with the Dutch. Saga saw the revitalization of Japan's shipbuilding industry, and the launching of the first Japanese steamship, the Ryōfūmaru. The Nagasaki naval academy was established in 1855, its first students coming from Saga. By 1866, the incorporation of British Armstrong Whitworth cannon made the ships at Nagasaki into the first Japanese Western-style ("modern") navy. The defense batteries at Shinagawa were also supplied by cannon from Saga.
Largely responsible for Japan's technological and military advancement, and holding much of the fruits of those labors, Saga attracted the attention of the shogunate, which kept a close eye on the domain until its fall in 1868. Saga played an important role in the Meiji Restoration, alongside the domains of Tosa, Satsuma, and Chōshū, and samurai from the domain fought the shogunate at the battle of Ueno and in other clashes of the Boshin War. As a result, the new Meiji government which emerged afterwards featured a number of figures from Saga, including Etō Shinpei, Ōkuma Shigenobu, Ōki Takatō, and Sano Tsunetami. Etō resigned from the government, however, along with a number of others in 1873 as the result of extensive disputes over invading Korea, an action which he, Saigō Takamori and others supported, but which was ultimately rejected by the council. Etō then organized the Saga Rebellion the following year, leading 3000 men in an assault against the new government which was quickly suppressed.
I. Nabeshima Katsushige, 1st Lord of Saga (cr. 1607) (1580–1657; r. 1607–1657)
Tadanao (1613–1635)
II. Mitsushige, 2nd Lord of Saga (1632–1700; r. 1657–1695)
III. Tsunashige, 3rd Lord of Saga (1652–1707; r. 1695–1706)
IV. Yoshishige, 4th Lord of Saga (1664–1730; r. 1707–1730)
V. Muneshige, 5th Lord of Saga (1687–1755; r. 1730–1738)
VI. Munenori, 6th Lord of Saga (1718–1780; r. 1738–1760)
VII. Shigemochi, 7th Lord of Saga (1733–1770; r. 1760–1770)
VIII. Harushige, 5th Lord of Kashima, 8th Lord of Saga (1745–1805; r. 1770–1805)
IX. Narinao, 9th Lord of Saga (1780–1839; r. 1805–1830)
X. Naomasa, 10th Lord of Saga (1815–1871; r. 1830–1861)
XI. Naohiro, 11th Lord of Saga, 17th family head, 1st Marquess(1846–1921; 11th Lord of Saga: 1861–1869, Governor of Saga: 1869–1871, 1st Marquess: 1884)
Naomitsu, 18th family head, 2nd Marquess (1872–1943; 18th family head and 2nd Marquess: 1921–1943)
Naoyasu, 19th family head and 3rd Marquess (1907–1981; 19th family head and 3rd Marquess: 1943–1947, 13th family head: 1947–1981)
Naomoto, 20th family head (1935–2008; 20th family head: 1981–2008)
Naoaki, 21st family head (b. 1959; 21st family head: 2008–present)
Saga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of 809,248 and has a geographic area of 2,440 km2. Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasaki Prefecture to the southwest.
The Kazoku was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords and court nobles, but were abolished with the 1947 constitution.
Saga Castle is a Japanese castle located in Saga City, Saga Prefecture, Japan. It is a hiraijirō, a castle built on a plains rather than a hill or mountain, and is surrounded by a wall rather than being built above a stone base. Saga castle was home to the Nabeshima clan, daimyō of Saga Domain. It was also known as "Submerged Castle".
Nabeshima Naoshige was a warlord of the Sengoku and early Edo periods and progenitor of the Nabeshima lords of the Saga Domain. Naoshige was the second son of Nabeshima Kiyofusa. His mother was the daughter of Ryūzōji Iesumi. He was a vassal of the Ryūzōji clan during the Sengoku period of the 16th century.
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Etō Shinpei was a Japanese statesman during the early Meiji period, remembered chiefly for his role in the unsuccessful Saga Rebellion.
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Nabeshima clan is a Japanese samurai kin group.
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Nabeshima Katsushige (鍋島勝茂) was a Japanese daimyō of the early Edo period. Born to Nabeshima Naoshige, he became lord of Saga-han.
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Viscount Nabeshima Naoyoshi was the 13th and final daimyō of Kashima Domain in Hizen Province, Kyūshū, Japan. Before the Meiji Restoration, his courtesy title was Bizen no Kami. He became a politician in the Meiji era, and served as the first governor of Okinawa Prefecture.
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