Aizu (Han)

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Hoshina Masayuki , 1643–69 the first Hoshina prince of Aizu
The Chinese character - the Ai in Aizu - served as military insignia at the end of the Edo period

Aizu ( Japanese 会 津 藩 , Aizu-han , unreformed spelling 會 津 藩 ) was an Edo-period principality ( -han ) in Japan . His heartland was around the district (-gun) Aizu in the province of Mutsu in today's west of the prefecture (-ken) Fukushima ; At the end of the Edo period it also included possessions in Echigo (today Niigata ) and administered areas linked to offices in Kawachi ( Osaka ) and Izumi (Osaka) as well as areas in the still quasi-colonial Ezochi ( Hokkaidō ). The seat of the prince was the castle (-jō) Wakamatsu in today's city (-shi) Aizu-Wakamatsu . Rulers were initially alternating between Gamō , Uesugi and Katō , then from 1643 until they were lost in the Meiji Restoration, the Hoshina-Matsudaira , who had a nominal income of - compared with the previous size of Aizu: only, compared with the previous principalities the Hoshina: Generous - 230,000 Koku was allocated. After Aizu fought against the new government in the Boshin War together with the Northern Alliance and smaller principalities and was defeated, the Principality of Aizu was abolished and, as early as 1869 - two years before the nationwide conversion of the principalities into prefectures - the prefecture (-ken) took its place. Wakamatsu , which (apart from the enclaves in other parts of the country) was incorporated into Fukushima in 1876.

Individual evidence

  1. National Museum of Japanese History : 旧高旧領取調帳データベース(database of feudal possessions [not only principalities, also Shōgunatsdomäne smaller fiefs, spiritual (Temple, Shrine) possession etc.] and income [s. Kokudaka ] the end of the Shogunats [or shortly afterwards, see notes]) after the series of publications of the same name (Kimura Motoi: 旧 高 旧 領取 調帳 , 6 vols., Kondō Shuppansha 1969-79), entries for the Aizu-han