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*''Territory: [[Tosa province]]''
*''Territory: [[Tosa province]]''
*''Castle: [[Kochi castle|Kôchi castle]]''
*''Castle: [[Kochi castle|Kôchi castle]]''
*''Lords: [[Yamauchi clan]]''
*''Lords: [[Yamauchi clan]]''
*''[[Kokudaka]]: 200,000''
*''[[Kokudaka]]: 200,000''
*''Other Names'': 高知藩 ''(Kouchi han)''
*''Japanese'': 土佐藩 ''(Tosa han)''
Tosa was a prominent ''[[tozama]]'' and ''[[kunimochi]]'' domain located on the island of [[Shikoku]]. The 200,000 ''[[koku]]''<ref>Vaporis, Constantine. "Lordly Pageantry: The Daimyo Procession and Political Authority." ''Japan Review'' 17 (2005). p11.</ref> domain was ruled by the [[Yamauchi clan]] from [[Kochi castle|Kôchi castle]], its territory roughly coterminous with [[Tosa province]].
Tosa was a prominent ''[[tozama]]'' and ''[[kunimochi]]'' domain located on the island of [[Shikoku]]. The 200,000 ''[[koku]]''<ref>[[Constantine Vaporis]], "Lordly Pageantry: The Daimyo Procession and Political Authority." ''Japan Review'' 17 (2005). p11.</ref> domain was ruled by the [[Yamauchi clan]] from [[Kochi castle|Kôchi castle]], its territory roughly coterminous with [[Tosa province]].
Tosa is of particular significance in [[Bakumatsu Period|Bakumatsu]] and [[Meiji Period]] politics as one of the chief domains (along with [[Satsuma han|Satsuma]] and [[Nagato han|Chôshû]]) from where many of the most prominent anti-bakufu ''[[shishi]]'' rebels, i.e. Imperial loyalists emerged. Prominent Tosa figures from that period include [[Sakamoto Ryoma|Sakamoto Ryôma]], [[Yoshida Toyo|Yoshida Tôyô]], [[Itagaki Taisuke]], and [[Takechi Zuizan]]. Tosa is also significant as the domain which, while [[Sat-Cho Alliance|Satsuma and Chôshû]] were preparing for war, presented Shogun [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]] with a petition requesting that he step down; though in the end there was some considerable fighting in the lead-up to the [[Meiji Restoration]] and its immediate aftermath, in truth, the last shogun was not forced to resign at swordpoint, but rather accepted this Tosa petition and gave up his position willingly and relatively peacefully.
Tosa is of particular significance in [[Bakumatsu Period|Bakumatsu]] and [[Meiji Period]] politics as one of the chief domains (along with [[Satsuma han|Satsuma]] and [[Nagato han|Chôshû]]) from where many of the most prominent anti-bakufu ''[[shishi]]'' rebels, i.e. Imperial loyalists emerged. Prominent Tosa figures from that period include [[Sakamoto Ryoma|Sakamoto Ryôma]], [[Yoshida Toyo|Yoshida Tôyô]], [[Itagaki Taisuke]], and [[Takechi Zuizan]]. Tosa is also significant as the domain which, while [[Sat-Cho Alliance|Satsuma and Chôshû]] were preparing for war, presented Shogun [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]] with a petition requesting that he step down; though in the end there was some considerable fighting in the lead-up to the [[Meiji Restoration]] and its immediate aftermath, in truth, the last shogun was not forced to resign at swordpoint, but rather accepted this Tosa petition and gave up his position willingly and relatively peacefully.
The Yamauchi were not traditionally from Shikoku, but were transferred to Tosa by [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] in return for their loyal service, including in the [[Battle of Sekigahara]]. The Yamauchi takeover of the territory was somewhat violent, involving the forcible pacification of armed resistance by those loyal to the [[Chosokabe clan|Chôsokabe]]. As a result, throughout the Edo period, even as late as the [[Bakumatsu]], many spoke of the Yamauchi as outsiders and invaders, and those who resisted or resented Yamauchi rule often claimed associations with the Chôsokabe.<ref name=merc36>Roberts, 33-36.</ref>
The Yamauchi were not traditionally from Shikoku, but were transferred to Tosa by [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] in return for their loyal service, including in the [[Battle of Sekigahara]]. The Yamauchi takeover of the territory was somewhat violent, involving the forcible pacification of armed resistance by those loyal to the [[Chosokabe clan|Chôsokabe]]. As a result, throughout the Edo period, even as late as the [[Bakumatsu]], many spoke of the Yamauchi as outsiders and invaders, and those who resisted or resented Yamauchi rule often claimed associations with the Chôsokabe.<ref name=merc36>Roberts, 33-36.</ref>
The domain's governance and laws were based, in part, however, on the "[[100 Article Code of the Chosokabe|100 Article Code of the Chôsokabe]]," written by the Chôsokabe clan who ruled Tosa prior to the Yamauchi. Their ''kokudaka'' was based on land surveys performed by the Chôsokabe as well. Though Chôsokabe records indicate that land surveys performed in the 1590s discussed 248,3000 ''[[Japanese Measurements|tan]]'' of land, an area that could produce far more than the 98,000 ''koku'' ''[[kokudaka|omotedaka]]'' recognized by [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], in [[1604]], Yamauchi officials recalculated, based on the Chôsokabe reports, without actually performing a new land survey, and submitted to the Tokugawa a reported ''kokudaka'' of 202,626 ''koku''. Only around 64% of this figure reflected rice cultivation, while the remaining portion was an estimated conversion into rice of the level of cultivation of other products, such as millet, wheat, and beans.<ref name=merc36/>
The domain's governance and laws were based, in part, however, on the "[[100 Article Code of the Chosokabe|100 Article Code of the Chôsokabe]]," written by the Chôsokabe clan who ruled Tosa prior to the Yamauchi. Their ''kokudaka'' was based on land surveys performed by the Chôsokabe as well. Though Chôsokabe records indicate that land surveys performed in the 1590s discussed 248,3000 ''[[Japanese Measurements|tan]]'' of land, an area that could produce far more than the 98,000 ''koku'' ''[[kokudaka|omotedaka]]'' recognized by [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], in [[1604]], Yamauchi officials recalculated, based on the Chôsokabe reports, without actually performing a new land survey, and submitted to the Tokugawa a reported ''kokudaka'' of 202,626 ''koku''. Only around 64% of this figure reflected rice cultivation, while the remaining portion was an estimated conversion into rice of the level of cultivation of other products, such as millet, wheat, and beans.<ref name=merc36/> What rice was produced was taxed heavily, as was typical throughout much of the archipelago at the time; tax rates as high as 60% were typical. Incentives were kept in place, however, to encourage the bringing of new land under cultivation; those who did this had to pay only 40% in taxes, and receiving exemptions from corvée labor obligations.<ref>Roberts, ''Mercantilism'', 50.</ref>
The domain initially maintained a number of regional castles, assigning most to high-ranking retainers as the seats for their sub-fiefs. All had to be destroyed in [[1616]], as a result of the shogunate's "[[one country, one castle]]" policy, but in some parts of the domain, fortified samurai residences or small samurai districts remained the centers of regional merchant towns. One of the largest was the town of [[Sakawa]], the seat of a 10,000 ''koku'' sub-fief with a population of as many as 1,200 commoners and 800 retainers in the 18th century. These were not necessarily the largest towns in the domain, however, as some with less of a samurai presence (and thus more autonomously commoner-run) were considerably larger.
The administration of the domain was divided into four sectors, with separate magistrates for castle town (urban commerce), ports (fishing & shipping), forest mountains (lumber), and agricultural villages (grain) reporting to the more senior officials of the domain government.<ref>Roberts, ''Mercantilism'', 39.</ref> While agricultural villages were permitted to be largely self-administering as was typical in most domains, the Yamauchi placed particular importance on maritime activity, and exacted heavy taxes and corvée. An official known as a ''buichiyaku'' (lit. "fractioner") operated in the port towns, collecting ten or twenty percent of all incoming and outgoing trade and fishing hauls, and giving it over to the domain to be sold to feed domainal coffers. Tosa fishermen of course caught or harvested numerous different kinds of fish & marine products, but ''[[bonito]]'', used for among other purposes making ''[[katsuobushi]]'', was particularly prominent. [[Whaling]] was also prominent in Tosa, being performed chiefly from bases on the southwestern and southeastern points, or capes, of Tosa Bay, at Aizuri and Murôto respectively. Both whales and ''bonito'' (a type of tuna) passed by Tosa as part of their migration routes.<ref name=merc47>Roberts, ''Mercantilism'', 45-49.</ref>
Tosa was perhaps one of the most active domains in shipping activities, with a considerable proportion of the ships at Osaka in most periods being Tosa boats. Tosa boatmen were frequently obligated to transport goods to Osaka for the samurai, or to undertake other shipping or transportation tasks, to the extent that many complained it seriously cut into the time they could devote to their own livelihoods. In the early half of the Edo period, lumber and firewood were the chief export; however, as deforestation set in towards the mid-18th century, the domain's merchants shifted to smaller boats, and to shipping increasing amounts of eggs, paper, sugar, and tea.<ref name=merc47/>
Tosa also played a particularly prominent role in the lumber market in Osaka, especially in the 17th century. Early in the century, a canal dug at Osaka to help facilitate the on- and off-loading of lumber was dug by the Yamauchi, and in return Tosa lumber merchants operating in Osaka were given a number of special privileges; they operated their own wholesaler association, and were exempt from most of the fees paid by other lumber guild merchants. While much of the lumber was shipped out of Tosa along rivers that flowed south towards the Pacific, some major sources of lumber were shipped along rivers which passed north to the [[Inland Sea]], through [[Tokushima han]], making the journey much shorter for the shippers, but also requiring them to pay 20% in fees to Tokushima.<ref name=merc47/>
A particular type of [[Japanese long-tailed fowl]] called the ''onagadori'' was specially bred in Tosa, and its feathers were often used to decorate spears used in the lord's ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' processions, adding to the distinctiveness of Tosa's processions.
A particular type of [[Japanese long-tailed fowl]] called the ''onagadori'' was specially bred in Tosa, and its feathers were often used to decorate spears used in the lord's ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' processions, adding to the distinctiveness of Tosa's processions.
