The Ōkubo clan (Japanese: 大久保氏, Hepburn: Ōkubo-shi) were a samurai kin group which rose to prominence in the Sengoku period and the Edo periods.[1] Under the Tokugawa shogunate, the Ōkubo, as hereditary vassals of the Tokugawa clan, were classified as one of the fudai daimyō clans.[2]

Ōkubo
大久保
Ōkubo clan mon
Home provinceMikawa
Parent houseFujiwara clan via the Utsunomiya clan
Titlesdaimyō, viscount
FounderŌkubo Tadatoshi
Final rulerŌkubo Tadayoshi (II)
Founding year15th century
Dissolutionstill extant
Ruled until1873 (Abolition of the han system)
Cadet branchesfour cadet branches to the Meiji Restoration

Ōkubo clan genealogy

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The Ōkubo clan traces its origins to 16th century Mikawa Province.[2] The Ōkubo claimed descent from the Utsunomiya clan, descendants of Fujiwara no Michikane (955–995).[3] Ōkubo Tadatoshi (1499–1581) and his younger brother Ōkubo Tadakazu (1511–1583) were the first to abandon the Utaunomiya name for "Ōkubo". Both brothers were among the seven closest retainers of Matsudaira Hirotada, the father of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Main branch

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The head of this clan, Ōkubo Tadanori line was ennobled as a viscount ("shishaku") in the kazoku peerage system.[3]

Cadet lines

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  • A cadet branch was created in 1601 for Ōkubo Tadasuke (1537–1613), the second son of Ōkubo Tadakazu, who had served as a general in the armies of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Ōkubo Tadasuke was given Numazu Castle and assigned Numazu Domain (20,000 koku) in Suruga Province; however, he died without leaving any heirs, and the domain reverted to the shogunate.[3]
  • A cadet branch of the Ōkubo was created in 1684. The descendants of Ōkubo Tadatame (1554–1616), the sixth son of Ōkubo Tadakazu, has served as hatamoto to the Tokugawa shogunate. In 1687, Ōkubo Tadataka had amassed a revenue base of 10,000 koku, which qualified him to join the ranks of the daimyō. His son, Ōkubo Tsuneharu (1675–1728) was assigned to Karasuyama Domain (30,000 koku) in Shimotsuke Province in 1725, where his descendants remained until the Meiji restoration. The head of this clan line, Ōkubo Tadayori, was ennobled as a "Viscount" in the Meiji period.[3]
  • A cadet branch of the Ōkubo was created in 1706. This clan line was instituted for the descendants of Ōkubo Norihiro (1657–1737), who were installed at Ogino-Yamanaka Domain (13,000 koku) in Sagami Province from 1718 through 1868. The head of this clan line was ennobled as a "Viscount" in the Meiji period.[3]

Indirect Ōkubo kazoku lines

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Notes

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  1. ^ Meyer, Eva-Maria. "Gouverneure von Kyôto in der Edo-Zeit." Universität Tübingen (in German)
  2. ^ a b c Appert, Georges. (1888). Ancien Japon, p. 75
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Papinot, Edmond. (2003). Nobiliare du Japon -- Ōkubo, p. 46; Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon; retrieved 2012-11-7
  4. ^ Odawara castle
  5. ^ Röhl, William. (2005). History of Law in Japan Since 1868, p. 98; Acton, John et al. (1906). The Cambridge Modern History, p. 865. London: Macmillan & Company
  6. ^ McLaren, Walter. (1966). A Political History of Japan: During the Meiji Era, 1867–1912, p. 117

References

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  • Dalberg-Acton, John, George Walter Prothero and Adolphus William Ward and Stanley Mordaunt Leathes. (1906). The Cambridge Modern History, p. 865. London: Macmillan & Company
  • Appert, Georges and H. Kinoshita. (1888). Ancien Japon. Tokyo: Imprimerie Kokubunsha
  • McLaren, Walter. (1966). A Political History of Japan: During the Meiji Era, 1867–1912.. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-2018-1
  • Meyer, Eva-Maria. (1999). Japans Kaiserhof in de Edo-Zeit: Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Jahre 1846 bis 1867. Münster: Tagenbuch. ISBN 3-8258-3939-7
  • Papinot, Edmond. (1906) Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du japon. Tokyo: Librarie Sansaisha...Click link for digitized 1906 Nobiliaire du japon (2003)
  • Röhl, William. (2005). History of Law in Japan Since 1868. Leiden: Brill Publishers. ISBN 90-04-08591-2
  • Sasaki, Suguru. (2002). Boshin sensō: haisha no Meiji ishin. Tokyo: Chūōkōron-shinsha
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