Sunpu Domain - History

History

During the Muromachi period, Sunpu was the capital of the Imagawa clan. The Imagawa were defeated at the Battle of Okehazama, and Sunpu was subsequently ruled by Takeda Shingen, followed by Tokugawa Ieyasu. However, Toyotomi Hideyoshi relocated Ieyasu, and installed Nakamura Kazutada to rule Sunpu. After the Toyotomi were defeated in the Battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu recovered Sunpu and relocated Nakamura to Yonago in Hōki Province, reassigning it to his own retainer, Naitō Nobunari in 1601. This marked the start of Sunpu Domain.

In April 1606, Ieyasu officially retired from the post of Shogun, and retired to Sunpu, where he established a secondary court, from which he could influence Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada from behind the scenes. Naitō was transferred to Nagahama in Ōmi Province.

The Sunpu Domain was briefly re-established in 1609 for Tokugawa Ieyasu's tenth son Tokugawa Yorinobu. It was disbanded in 1619 and reverted to tenryō status (direct administration by the Shogunate) when Yorinobu moved to Wakayama to found the Wakayama Domain.

In 1624, the Sunpu Domain was again established, this time for Tokugawa Hidetada's third son Tokugawa Tadanaga, with assigned revenues of 500,000 koku. However, Tadanaga had an extreme enmity against his brother, Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu, and a violent disposition. He was removed from office and forced to commit seppuku in December 1632, after which time the Sunpu Domain came under the direct administration of the shogunate. Through the remainder of the Edo period, Sunpu was ruled by the Sunpu jōdai (駿府城代?), an official with hatamoto status, appointed by the Tokugawa shogunate.

During the Meiji Restoration, the final Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu resigned his office to Emperor Meiji and leadership of the Tokugawa clan to Tokugawa Iesato. In 1868, Iesato was demoted in status to that of an ordinary daimyo, and assigned the newly-created Shizuoka Domain, which included all of the former Sunpu Domain, neighboring Tanaka and Ōjima Domains, and additional lands in Tōtōmi and Mutsu Provinces for a total revenue of 700,000 koku. The territories in Mutsu were exchanged for territories in Mikawa Province later that year.

In the Meiji period from 1868 to 1871, the title of the Shizuoka daimyo was han-chiji or chihanji (domainal governor). In 1871, Shizuoka Domain was replaced by Shizuoka Prefecture.

The lands of the former Shizuoka Domain now form the western two-thirds of Shizuoka Prefecture, plus the Chita Peninsula in Aichi Prefecture. At times, the domain included Kai Province and parts of Tōtōmi Province in addition to Suruga Province.