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*''Other Names'': 国大名 ''(kuni daimyô)'', 国持衆 ''(kunimochi shuu)''
*''Japanese'': 国持 ''(kunimochi)'', 国持大名 ''(kunimochi daimyô)''
''Kunimochi'', literally "province-holding", was the highest of five tiers of status for [[Edo period]] ''[[daimyo|daimyô]]''.<ref>[[William Beasley|Beasley, William]]. ''The Meiji Restoration''. Stanford University Press, 1972. pp23-24.</ref> The eighteen to twenty ''daimyô'' who enjoyed this level of status were the tier just below those of the ''[[Gosanke]]'', the three branch families of the shogun's own [[Tokugawa clan]].
In concept, these were the ''daimyô'' who possessed either an entire [[province]], or a contiguous [[han|domain]] of equivalent geographic size; these eighteen to twenty domains, combined, covered roughly 1/3 of the land area of the Japanese archipelago.<ref>[[Mark Ravina|Ravina, Mark]]. ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan''. Stanford University Press, 1999. p3.</ref> However, despite the literal meaning of the term ''kunimochi'', extremely few Edo period ''daimyô'' actually controlled an entire province. Some ''kunimochi daimyô'', furthermore, were granted the title honorarily, and in fact held domains considerably smaller and less wealthy than other ''kunimochi daimyô''. These weaker ''daimyô'' were known as ''jun-kunimochi'' (準国持), or "quasi-''kunimochi'', and held a status just slightly below that of other ''kunimochi daimyô'', but within the same tier of status ranking, above those without ''kunimochi'' or ''junkunimochi'' status.
The term was also employed in the [[Muromachi period]], but in a different fashion. ''[[Shugo]]'' ("governors") of domains in Muromachi Japan were expected to use ''kunimochi'' individuals as their intermediaries when communicating with the [[Ashikaga shogunate]]. The ''kunimochi'' at this time were much fewer: the [[Hosokawa clan]] were the ''kunimochi'' for the [[Kanto region|Kantô region]] and [[Shikoku]], the [[Yamana clan]] were ''kunimochi'' for [[Ise province|Ise]], [[Kai province|Kai]], and [[Suruga province]]s, and the [[Hatakeyama clan]] were the ''kunimochi'' for [[Shinano province|Shinano]], [[Echigo province|Echigo]], [[Etchu province|Etchû]], and [[Kaga province]]s, while the ''[[Kyushu tandai]]'' served the role for the island of [[Kyushu]].<ref>Brinkley, Frank and Dairoku Kikuchi. ''A history of the Japanese people from the earliest times to the end of the Meiji era''. Encyclopedia Brittanica Co., 1915. p436.</ref>
==Kunimochi Daimyô==
*[[Date clan]] of [[Sendai han]]
*[[Maeda clan]] of [[Kaga han]]
*[[Matsudaira clan]] of [[Fukui han]]
*[[Mori clan|Môri clan]] of [[Choshu han|Chôshû han]]
*[[Nabeshima clan]] of [[Saga han]]
*[[Shimazu clan]] of [[Satsuma han]]
*[[Uesugi clan]] of [[Yonezawa han]]
*[[Yamauchi clan]] of [[Tosa han]]
==Junkunimochi Daimyô==
*[[Date clan]] of [[Uwajima han]]<ref>[[Luke Roberts|Roberts, Luke]]. ''Performing the Great Peace: Political Space and Open Secrets in Tokugawa Japan''. University of Hawaii Press, 2012. p114.</ref>
==References==
*"[http://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%87%86%E5%9B%BD%E6%8C%81 Junkunimochi]." ''Digital Daijisen'' デジタル大辞泉. Shogakukan, Inc.
*"[http://kotobank.jp/word/国持大名 Kunimochi daimyô]." ''Digital Daijisen'' デジタル大辞泉. Shogakukan, Inc.
*"[http://kotobank.jp/word/国持大名 Kunimochi daimyô]." ''Daijirin'' 大辞林. Sanseido, Inc.
<references/>
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Ranks and Titles]]
*''Japanese'': 国持 ''(kunimochi)'', 国持大名 ''(kunimochi daimyô)''
''Kunimochi'', literally "province-holding", was the highest of five tiers of status for [[Edo period]] ''[[daimyo|daimyô]]''.<ref>[[William Beasley|Beasley, William]]. ''The Meiji Restoration''. Stanford University Press, 1972. pp23-24.</ref> The eighteen to twenty ''daimyô'' who enjoyed this level of status were the tier just below those of the ''[[Gosanke]]'', the three branch families of the shogun's own [[Tokugawa clan]].
In concept, these were the ''daimyô'' who possessed either an entire [[province]], or a contiguous [[han|domain]] of equivalent geographic size; these eighteen to twenty domains, combined, covered roughly 1/3 of the land area of the Japanese archipelago.<ref>[[Mark Ravina|Ravina, Mark]]. ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan''. Stanford University Press, 1999. p3.</ref> However, despite the literal meaning of the term ''kunimochi'', extremely few Edo period ''daimyô'' actually controlled an entire province. Some ''kunimochi daimyô'', furthermore, were granted the title honorarily, and in fact held domains considerably smaller and less wealthy than other ''kunimochi daimyô''. These weaker ''daimyô'' were known as ''jun-kunimochi'' (準国持), or "quasi-''kunimochi'', and held a status just slightly below that of other ''kunimochi daimyô'', but within the same tier of status ranking, above those without ''kunimochi'' or ''junkunimochi'' status.
The term was also employed in the [[Muromachi period]], but in a different fashion. ''[[Shugo]]'' ("governors") of domains in Muromachi Japan were expected to use ''kunimochi'' individuals as their intermediaries when communicating with the [[Ashikaga shogunate]]. The ''kunimochi'' at this time were much fewer: the [[Hosokawa clan]] were the ''kunimochi'' for the [[Kanto region|Kantô region]] and [[Shikoku]], the [[Yamana clan]] were ''kunimochi'' for [[Ise province|Ise]], [[Kai province|Kai]], and [[Suruga province]]s, and the [[Hatakeyama clan]] were the ''kunimochi'' for [[Shinano province|Shinano]], [[Echigo province|Echigo]], [[Etchu province|Etchû]], and [[Kaga province]]s, while the ''[[Kyushu tandai]]'' served the role for the island of [[Kyushu]].<ref>Brinkley, Frank and Dairoku Kikuchi. ''A history of the Japanese people from the earliest times to the end of the Meiji era''. Encyclopedia Brittanica Co., 1915. p436.</ref>
==Kunimochi Daimyô==
*[[Date clan]] of [[Sendai han]]
*[[Maeda clan]] of [[Kaga han]]
*[[Matsudaira clan]] of [[Fukui han]]
*[[Mori clan|Môri clan]] of [[Choshu han|Chôshû han]]
*[[Nabeshima clan]] of [[Saga han]]
*[[Shimazu clan]] of [[Satsuma han]]
*[[Uesugi clan]] of [[Yonezawa han]]
*[[Yamauchi clan]] of [[Tosa han]]
==Junkunimochi Daimyô==
*[[Date clan]] of [[Uwajima han]]<ref>[[Luke Roberts|Roberts, Luke]]. ''Performing the Great Peace: Political Space and Open Secrets in Tokugawa Japan''. University of Hawaii Press, 2012. p114.</ref>
==References==
*"[http://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%87%86%E5%9B%BD%E6%8C%81 Junkunimochi]." ''Digital Daijisen'' デジタル大辞泉. Shogakukan, Inc.
*"[http://kotobank.jp/word/国持大名 Kunimochi daimyô]." ''Digital Daijisen'' デジタル大辞泉. Shogakukan, Inc.
*"[http://kotobank.jp/word/国持大名 Kunimochi daimyô]." ''Daijirin'' 大辞林. Sanseido, Inc.
<references/>
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Ranks and Titles]]