Tsu domain (1/2)Domain administration by the Tomita and Todo clans

The Tsu domain was ruled by two families, the Tomita clan and the Todo clan. The Tomita clan moved to another country in the early Edo period, and from then on the Todo clan ruled the Tsu domain for successive generations. Let's take a look at its history and the achievements of successive feudal lords.

Nobutaka Tomita, who built the foundation of the Tsu domain

Nobutaka Tomita was the son of Ippaku Tomita and the second lord of the Tsu domain. Ippaku Tomita, the first lord of the domain, entered Tsu Castle in July 1595, but retired in 1599 and died in the same year. Therefore, Nobutaka Tomita actually played the role of the first lord of the Tsu domain. As explained in the history of Tsu Castle, Nobutaka Tomita served with the eastern army at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, and even though the castle was surrounded by the forces of Hidemoto Mori and Morichika Chosokabe, he held out until the castle was surrendered. . In recognition of his achievements, he received an additional 20,000 koku from the Edo Shogunate. Nobutaka Tomita worked hard to rebuild the castle town that was destroyed in the Battle of Sekigahara until it was transferred to the Iyo-Uwajima domain.

Takatora Todo, who built the foundation of the Tsu domain

Todo Takatora was a feudal lord who joined the Tsu domain instead of Nobutaka Tomita, who was transferred to the Iyo-Uwajima domain. He is famous as a hard-working military commander who replaced his ruler eight times, and many people may know him because he often appears in games, novels, and manga set in the Sengoku period. What land was ruled by Todo Takatora? The breakdown is 20,000 koku in Imabari, Iyo-Ochi District, 100,000 koku in Iga Prefecture, and 100,000 koku in Ise Anno District and Ichishi District, for a total of 220,000 koku. Takatora Todo is known as a master castle builder, and the remains of Tsu Castle that remain today are the ones that were extensively remodeled by him. Todo Takatora was highly valued by Ieyasu, and although he was a Tozama Daimyo, he was treated as a Fudai Daimyo. There is also an anecdote that when Hidetada's fifth daughter, Kazuko, married into the imperial family, he declared in front of the court nobles who opposed her entry, saying, ``If Princess Kazuko cannot enter the imperial palace, I will take responsibility and commit seppuku at the imperial palace.'' In terms of domestic politics, he built a castle town with two castles, Ueno Castle and Tsu Castle, and worked hard to develop local farmland and restore temples and shrines. In his later years, he also served as guardian of the Mutsu-Aizu, Sanuki-Takamatsu, and Higo-Kumamoto domains, and dispatched vassals to manage local politics.

Finances worsen after Takatora Todo's death

When Takatora Todo dies, his legitimate son Takatsugu Todo takes over. Furthermore, since Takatora Todo was not blessed with a legitimate child, he adopted Takayoshi Todo, a child of Nagahide Niwa, as his adopted heir. However, Takatsugu was born when Takatora Todo was 46 years old, so Takayoshi was transferred to Iganabari in 1636 by order of Takatsugu Todo. Afterwards, Takayoshi founded the Nabari Todo family, but his relationship with the Todo family was never good. Like his father, Takatsugu Todo was blessed with the talent for building castles, and at the request of the shogunate, he built various projects such as the Ninomaru of Edo Castle, the reconstruction of the main enclosure of Edo Castle that was destroyed by a fire in 1639, and the Taiyuin mausoleum in Nikko. We will carry out stone wall construction. However, as the Tsu domain had to bear a large amount of the cost of constructing the stone wall, it fell into financial difficulties. Takatsugu Todo recommends the development of new rice fields, and the annual tax income will also increase. However, the financial difficulties did not improve and continued to worsen.

Takahisa Todo, who was famous as a great lord

Takahisa Todo is the eldest son of Takatsugu Todo and the fourth lord of the Tsu domain. When his father, Takatsugu, was the lord of the domain, a large fire broke out in the castle town of the Tsu domain, but Takahisa helped his father and worked hard to rebuild the castle town. Takahisa Todo, who became the lord of the domain, worked to clean up discipline in order to rebuild the domain's worsening finances, and carried out new rice field development and irrigation projects. As a result, it had a very good reputation among the people of the territory, and in the book Dokai Koshuuki, which describes the lords and political situations of each domain during the Genroku period, ``The people of the territory gave him a reputation as a Buddha. He was admired.'' On the other hand, in 1669, mining of clay from Mt. Hakuchi was prohibited, which resulted in a large number of Iga ware potters leaving for Shigaraki. Iga ware, which lost its potters, gradually became obsolete. In addition, for his own protection, Takahisa approached the shogunate ministers and actively attended Tsunayoshi's academic lectures.

Successive natural disasters, shaky finances

When Takahisa Todo died in 1703, Takahisa's youngest brother, Takahisa Todo, became the fourth lord of the domain. Todo Takahisa was not blessed with children, so the position of lord was passed from brother to younger brother. In the year he became the lord of the domain, the Genroku Earthquake occurred in Edo, and the domain residence suffered significant damage. In addition, in 1707, four years after becoming the lord of the domain, the Hoei Earthquake and the Great Hoei Eruption, known as the last eruption of Mt. Fuji, occurred one after another, causing great damage to the domain. Todo Takamutsu tried to rebuild the domain's finances by tightening the domain's administration and reviewing the magistrate system, the chief retainer system, and the side servant system. Takamutsu Todo passed away at the young age of 42. They had two children, a son and a daughter, but all of them died young, so the position of lord was succeeded by his adopted heir Takatoshi, who was taken from the Hisai clan, a branch of the Tsu clan.

Direct lineage of the extinct Takatora

Takatoshi Todo is the grandson of Takatsugu Todo, based on his bloodline. In 1709, he became the lord of the domain at the same time as Takamutsu Todo passed away. Around that time, the Tsu domain suffered from poor harvests due to the effects of the Hoei Earthquake and Great Hoei Eruption, and there are records that the New Year's rice cake pounding was even canceled in the Tsu domain. Takatoshi tried his best to rule the country, but in 1728 he fell ill with smallpox, and although Tokugawa Yoshimune gave him medicine, his condition did not improve and he died. Takatora had no children, so Takatora's male lineage ended after five generations. His successor was Takaharu Todo, the younger brother of Takatora Todo and the grandson of Takakiyo Todo. He worked to rebuild rural areas devastated by the earthquake and encouraged learning. The seventh lord of the domain, Takao Todo, who succeeded him, similarly encouraged learning, but his own extravagance disrupted the morals of the domain. In addition, in order to gain the interest of the shogunate, he held a ceremony to repair and rebuild Nikko Toshogu Shrine, but as a result, the domain ended up incurring a debt of 240,000 ryo.

Finances continue to deteriorate

When Takaharu Todo retired in 1769, his grandson, Takayu Todo, succeeded him and became the 8th lord of the domain. Despite the efforts of successive feudal lords, the Tsu domain's finances continued to deteriorate. Takayu Todo had a strong sense of duty to the king and actively took on tasks such as constructing the Sento Imperial Palace, but this ended up worsening the domain's finances. In addition, Todo Takayu was sickly from birth and died of illness in 1770 at the age of only 20.