Himeji Domain (姫路藩, Himeji-han) was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Harima Province in what is now the southern portion of modern-day Hyōgo Prefecture. It was centered around Himeji Castle, which is located in what is now the city of Himeji, Hyōgo.[1][2][3]
During the Muromachi period, the area around Himeji was part of the vast holdings of the Akamatsu clan, the shugo of Harima Province; however, by the Sengoku period, the greatly weakened Akamatsu were defeated by the forces of Oda Nobunaga under his general Hashiba Hideyoshi and the early Himeji Castle was surrendered by Kuroda Yoshitaka. After Hideyoshi succeeded Oda Nobunaga, he assigned the castle to his son Kinoshita Iesada with an estate of 25,000 koku. After the Battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu relocated Kinoshita to Bitchu Province in 1600 and assigned Himeji to his general and son-in-law Ikeda Terumasa. Ikeda Terumasa was formerly lord of Yoshida Domain in Mikawa Province with a kokudaka of 150,000 koku, but the transfer to Himeji more than tripled his rank to 520,000 koku. In addition, his son Ikeda Tadatsugu was awarded the 280,000 koku Okayama Domain, his third son Ikeda Tadao was given the 60,000 koku Ikuni Domain in Awaji Province and a brother, Ikeda Nagayoshi was given the 60,000 koku Tottori Domain. This gave the Ikeda clan a total kokudaka of over one million koku and funded a massive reconstruction project to rebuild Himeji Castle. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Ikeda Toshitaka, whose mother was Ikeda Terumasa's first wife and who was therefore not a lineal descendant of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Toshitaka died at a young age in 1617, and as Toshitaka's son, Mitsumasa was still in his minority, the Tokugawa shogunate transferred the Ikeda clan to Tottori Domain, as such a strategic stronghold controlling the San'yōdō highway, which connected the Kinai region with western Japan could not be entrusted to a minor.[citation needed]
The vast holdings of the Ikeda clan were divided among several fudai daimyō. Himeji Castle, with 150,000 koku, was assigned to Honda Tadamasa. His son Honda Tadatoki (husband to Senhime) was given 100,000 koku separate from his father, and the 50,000 koku Tatsuno Domain was created for his nephew Honda Masakatsu. In 1639, the Honda were transferred to Yamato Kōriyama Domain, and over the next century the domain was ruled by a succession of fudai or Shinpan daimyō : The Okudaira, Echizen-Matsudaira, Sakakibara, until 1749 when the domain was assigned to the Sakai clan. Sakai Tadazumi was daimyō of Maebashi Domain and served as a rōjū in the administration of the shogunate. Maebashi was subject to frequent flooding and the Sakai clan's finances had collapsed due to the costs of maintaining the castle along with expenses pertaining to the office of rōjū and Sakai Sadazumi's prolific spending. He used his influence to secure a transfer from Maebashi to Himeji, which had the same kokudaka, but which he thought would be far more productive. However, a drought occurred in the previous year, and in the summer of the transfer two typhoons caused floods and heat damage. Rumors of tax increases to pay for the transfer resulted in a large-sale peasant revolt. The Sakai survived this crisis and ruled Himeji to the end of the Meiji period.[citation needed]
In the Bakumatsu period, the domain was a major supporter of the shogunate. Sakai Tadatoshi was a rōjū and at the start of the Boshin War was in the retinue of Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu at Osaka Castle. During the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, he fled Osaka by ship back to Edo with the shogun, and the Meiji government declared Himeji to be an "enemy of the throne". His vassals surrendered Himeji Castle to imperial forces without a fight, and after the capture of Edo by imperial forces a few months later, he resigned his position and went to live with a cadet branch of the clan which ruled Isesaki Domain in Kōzuke Province.[citation needed]
In 1871, with the abolition of the han system, Himeji Domain became Himeji Prefecture, and was incorporated into Hyōgo prefecture via Shikama Prefecture. The Sakai family became a count in the kazoku peerage system in 1884.[citation needed]
As with most domains in the han system, Himeji Domain consisted of several discontinuous territories calculated to provide the assigned kokudaka, based on periodic cadastral surveys and projected agricultural yields.[4][5]
