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Tsushima han, based on [[Tsushima Island]] (today part of [[Nagasaki prefecture]]), was the domain of the [[So clan|Sô clan]], and managed relations with [[Joseon Dynasty]] [[Korea]]. The territory of the domain also included small areas known as ''[[tobichi]]'' on the mainland of the island of [[Kyushu]], in [[Hizen province|Hizen]] and [[Chikuzen province]]s. As one of only ten ''daimyô'' clans to rule an entire province (albeit a rather small one), the Sô enjoyed the privilege of ''[[kunimochi|hon-kunimochi]]'' ("true country holder") status.<ref>[[Mark Ravina]], ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan'', Stanford University Press (1999), 19.</ref> As a result, and due to considerations related to its status vis-a-vis Korea, the domain was ranked at 100,000 ''[[koku]]'', though its actual agricultural production was equivalent to less than 10,000.<ref>Hellyer gives 20,000. Hellyer, 40.</ref> Roughly six to seven thousand ''koku'' of that was in barley cultivation, rather than rice.<ref name=hellyer140>Hellyer, 140.</ref> The enhanced ''[[kokudaka]]'' ranking is usually said to either be a reflection of the importance of the Korea trade and the measure of the economic benefit from it, or a result of the necessity for the Sô clan to possess a higher rank and title in order to represent Japan honorably and effectively in interactions with Korea.<ref>[[Ronald Toby|Toby, Ronald]]. "Rescuing the Nation from History: The State of the State in Early Modern Japan." ''[[Monumenta Nipponica]]'' 56:2 (2001). p206. </ref> Outside of the Korea trade, and a small local wax industry, Tsushima could claim no special local products unique enough, or produced in large enough volume, to compete in the [[Osaka]] and [[Edo]] markets, unlike many other prominent domains.<ref name=hellyer140/>

Tsushima han, based on [[Tsushima Island]] (today part of [[Nagasaki prefecture]]), was the domain of the [[So clan|Sô clan]], and managed relations with [[Joseon Dynasty]] [[Korea]]. The territory of the domain also included small areas known as ''[[tobichi]]'' on the mainland of the island of [[Kyushu]], in [[Hizen province|Hizen]] and [[Chikuzen province]]s. As one of only ten ''daimyô'' clans to rule an entire province (albeit a rather small one), the Sô enjoyed the privilege of ''[[kunimochi|hon-kunimochi]]'' ("true country holder") status.<ref>[[Mark Ravina]], ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan'', Stanford University Press (1999), 19.</ref> As a result, and due to considerations related to its status vis-a-vis Korea, the domain was ranked at 100,000 ''[[koku]]'', though its actual agricultural production was equivalent to less than 10,000.<ref>Hellyer gives 20,000. Hellyer, 40.</ref> Roughly six to seven thousand ''koku'' of that was in barley cultivation, rather than rice.<ref name=hellyer140>Hellyer, 140.</ref> The enhanced ''[[kokudaka]]'' ranking is usually said to either be a reflection of the importance of the Korea trade and the measure of the economic benefit from it, or a result of the necessity for the Sô clan to possess a higher rank and title in order to represent Japan honorably and effectively in interactions with Korea.<ref>[[Ronald Toby|Toby, Ronald]]. "Rescuing the Nation from History: The State of the State in Early Modern Japan." ''[[Monumenta Nipponica]]'' 56:2 (2001). p206. </ref> Outside of the Korea trade, and a small local wax industry, Tsushima could claim no special local products unique enough, or produced in large enough volume, to compete in the [[Osaka]] and [[Edo]] markets, unlike many other prominent domains.<ref name=hellyer140/>

At the peak of the Korea trade, the population of the domain was around 32,000, with half the population living in the [[jokamachi|castle town]] of [[Fuchu (Tsushima)|Fuchû]].<ref>Not to be confused with [[Fuchu|Fuchû]] in [[Kai province]], or [[Fuchu castle|Fuchû castle]] in [[Echizen province]]; Tashiro Kazui. "Foreign Relations during the Edo Period: Sakoku Reexamined." ''Journal of Japanese Studies'' 8:2 (1982). p298.</ref> Of these 32,000, roughly half lived off of grain produced on the island, while rice grown on Sô lands on the mainland of Kyushu fed another 7,000; the remaining 7,000 or so people relied upon rice given the Sô as gifts from the Korean court - typically around 8,300 ''koku'' a year from the mid-17th century onwards.<ref>Hellyer, 40.</ref>

At the peak of the Korea trade, the population of the domain was around 32,000, with half the population living in the [[jokamachi|castle town]] of Fuchû.<ref>Tashiro Kazui. "Foreign Relations during the Edo Period: Sakoku Reexamined." ''Journal of Japanese Studies'' 8:2 (1982). p298.</ref> Of these 32,000, roughly half lived off of grain produced on the island, while rice grown on Sô lands on the mainland of Kyushu fed another 7,000; the remaining 7,000 or so people relied upon rice given the Sô as gifts from the Korean court - typically around 8,300 ''koku'' a year from the mid-17th century onwards.<ref>Hellyer, 40.</ref>

==Eighteenth Century==

==Eighteenth Century==

Western ships began to call with significant frequency at Tsushima in the late 1840s, just as they were doing in Ryûkyû at that same time. Whereas Satsuma decided to accommodate and negotiate with the Westerners, and worked to keep their engagement with the Westerners a secret from the shogunate, however, Tsushima actively pursued shogunate aid in strengthening domain defenses. Despite the domain's success in earning financial support to make up for the decline in trade (as described above), however, it was not successful in securing any aid explicitly aimed at the defense of the domain until the 1840s. Whereas the domain had previously, with success, argued for its importance to the defense of the realm because of its role in obtaining intelligence, in 1846, Tsushima officials began to argue more explicitly for Tsushima's strategic or tactical importance in military terms, as a stepping stone or gateway into the realm which needed to be more securely defended. Two high-ranking Sô retainers, [[Yoshikawa Saemon]] and [[Sasu Iori]], submitted a memorial to ''[[roju|rôjû]]'' [[Abe Masahiro]] that year describing Tsushima as a "bulwark," a physical barrier protecting the realm, and suggested that their lord, [[So Yoshiyori|Sô Yoshiyori]], might be granted additional fief land the revenues from which would help pay for the costs of increasing coastal defenses. Their request was rejected. The following year and into [[1848]], on several occasions, officials at the central castle town of Fuchû, and in Pusan, reported hearing cannon fire offshore, but no foreign ships actually appeared in port. When Tsushima officials petitioned the shogunate again, citing in particular the additional costs of fortifying an island, they were granted 10,000 ''ryô'', to be paid out across two years.<ref>Hellyer, 168-170.</ref>

Western ships began to call with significant frequency at Tsushima in the late 1840s, just as they were doing in Ryûkyû at that same time. Whereas Satsuma decided to accommodate and negotiate with the Westerners, and worked to keep their engagement with the Westerners a secret from the shogunate, however, Tsushima actively pursued shogunate aid in strengthening domain defenses. Despite the domain's success in earning financial support to make up for the decline in trade (as described above), however, it was not successful in securing any aid explicitly aimed at the defense of the domain until the 1840s. Whereas the domain had previously, with success, argued for its importance to the defense of the realm because of its role in obtaining intelligence, in 1846, Tsushima officials began to argue more explicitly for Tsushima's strategic or tactical importance in military terms, as a stepping stone or gateway into the realm which needed to be more securely defended. Two high-ranking Sô retainers, [[Yoshikawa Saemon]] and [[Sasu Iori]], submitted a memorial to ''[[roju|rôjû]]'' [[Abe Masahiro]] that year describing Tsushima as a "bulwark," a physical barrier protecting the realm, and suggested that their lord, [[So Yoshiyori|Sô Yoshiyori]], might be granted additional fief land the revenues from which would help pay for the costs of increasing coastal defenses. Their request was rejected. The following year and into [[1848]], on several occasions, officials at the central castle town of Fuchû, and in Pusan, reported hearing cannon fire offshore, but no foreign ships actually appeared in port. When Tsushima officials petitioned the shogunate again, citing in particular the additional costs of fortifying an island, they were granted 10,000 ''ryô'', to be paid out across two years.<ref>Hellyer, 168-170.</ref>

The first face-to-face interaction between Tsushima officials and Westerners took place in [[1849]]/2, when fifteen Western ships were spotted offshore, and a few men came ashore in a launch. Speaking purely through gestures, the samurai somehow determined the men to be Americans; after exchanging a few items, the Americans peacefully and willingly obeyed the officials' request that they leave. Several more Americans appeared two months later, and stayed overnight in a village on the eastern coast of the island. Though Tsushima was fortunate to have not been visited with any true difficulties - such as the use of physical force - yet, the ''daimyô'' sent men to bolster coastal defenses, and sent to the shogunate to ask that interpreters be sent from the ''Waegwan'' in Pusan to Nagasaki, to learn "Dutch writing," to help facilitate communication with Westerners who might arrive in future. Indeed, later that year, Tsushima officials began to report sightings of as many as tens of ships, sometimes within just a period of several days, though it is likely that many of these sightings were double-countings of the same ship. Tsushima requests to extend the annual 5,000 ''ryô'' grants granted in 1848 were initially rebuffed, but eventually granted, along with authorization to defer repayments owed on earlier loans taken out by the domain. Subsequent requests from Tsushima also suggested that Western pressures on Korea, and the resulting financial focus of the Korean Court on coastal defense, might cause agricultural production in the kingdom to decline, harming the ability of the kingdom to send rice to Tsushima; a request for an additional 7,000 ''koku'' from the shogunate made around 1851 was rejected.<ref>Hellyer, 170-172.</ref>

The first face-to-face interaction between Tsushima officials and Westerners took place in [[1849]]/2, when fifteen Western ships were spotted offshore, and a few men came ashore in a launch. Speaking purely through gestures, the samurai somehow determined the men to be Americans; after exchanging a few items, the Americans peacefully and willingly obeyed the officials' request that they leave. Several more Americans appeared two months later, and stayed overnight in a village on the eastern coast of the island. Though Tsushima was fortunate to have not been visited with any true difficulties yet - such as the use of physical force - the ''daimyô'' sent men to bolster coastal defenses, and sent to the shogunate to ask that interpreters be sent from the ''Waegwan'' in Pusan to Nagasaki, to learn "Dutch writing," to help facilitate communication with Westerners who might arrive in future. Indeed, later that year, Tsushima officials began to report sightings of as many as tens of ships, sometimes within just a period of several days, though it is likely that many of these sightings were double-countings of the same ship. Tsushima requests to extend the annual 5,000 ''ryô'' grants granted in 1848 were initially rebuffed, but eventually granted, along with authorization to defer repayments owed on earlier loans taken out by the domain. Subsequent requests from Tsushima also suggested that Western pressures on Korea, and the resulting financial focus of the Korean Court on coastal defense, might cause agricultural production in the kingdom to decline, harming the ability of the kingdom to send rice to Tsushima; a request for an additional 7,000 ''koku'' from the shogunate made in 1853, arguing that the domain could not afford to pay/feed its soldiers for their efforts in coastal defense, was rejected.<ref>Hellyer, 170-172.; Ishin Shiryô Kôyô 維新史料綱要, vol 1 (1937), 417.</ref>

==Bakumatsu Period==

==Bakumatsu Period==

When the domains began to return their lands to the emperor in 1869, Sô Yoshiakira stepped down as "lord" and took the name Shigemasa, and Tsushima han was renamed Izuhara han. A year later, after a number of further initiatives had failed, Yoshiakira suggested eliminating himself, his family, and his retainers from their position as intermediaries in Korean relations, and instead having the Foreign Ministry act more directly to establish relations between the Korean Court and the Japanese central (national) government.<ref>Hellyer, 241-243.</ref>

When the domains began to return their lands to the emperor in 1869, Sô Yoshiakira stepped down as "lord" and took the name Shigemasa, and Tsushima han was renamed Izuhara han. A year later, after a number of further initiatives had failed, Yoshiakira suggested eliminating himself, his family, and his retainers from their position as intermediaries in Korean relations, and instead having the Foreign Ministry act more directly to establish relations between the Korean Court and the Japanese central (national) government.<ref>Hellyer, 241-243.</ref>

To accommodate the loss of the crucial shipments of rice from Korea, the Meiji government provided the Sô with 35,000 ''koku'' worth of lands. Meanwhile, unable to get Osaka merchants to loan any money to the heavily indebted domain, Tsushima representatives in Osaka obtained loans from Western merchants; before long, the domain owed 359,000 yen to Western merchants, in addition to its outstanding 700,000 yen in debts to Japanese merchants, making it the third most indebted domain in the country. In [[1871]]/7, however, the [[abolition of the han|domains were all abolished]], and the central government took on the debts of all the domains, thus absolving the now-former ''daimyô'' families of these financial burdens. Yoshiakira at that time ceased to be governor of Tsushima (Izuhara) domain, and was appointed assistant foreign minister. The ''Waegwan'' was renamed the "Japan Mission" (日本公館, ''Nihon kôkan'') soon afterwards, and though Yoshiakira continued to play a prominent role in efforts to restart relations with Korea, he now did so even more fully as merely a representative of the Imperial government. This marked the end of the tributary/vassal relationship between the Sô and the Korean Court, and though Sô Yoshiakira continued to be involved, the end of any privileged position for his family as agents separate from Japanese central authority. Formal diplomatic and commercial relations between Japan and Korea in the modern/Western mode were finally established in [[1876]], with the [[Treaty of Ganghwa]], also known as the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Japan and Korea, which established for Japan many of the privileges Japan itself extended to the Western powers in its various [[Unequal Treaties|Treaties of Amity and Commerce]] with those powers.<ref>Hellyer, 242-245.</ref>

To accommodate the loss of the crucial shipments of rice from Korea, the Meiji government provided the Sô with 35,000 ''koku'' worth of lands. Meanwhile, unable to get Osaka merchants to loan any money to the heavily indebted domain, Tsushima representatives in Osaka obtained loans from Western merchants; before long, the domain owed 359,000 yen to Western merchants, in addition to its outstanding 700,000 yen in debts to Japanese merchants, making it the third most indebted domain in the country. In [[1871]]/7, however, the [[abolition of the han|domains were all abolished]], and the central government took on the debts of all the domains, thus absolving the now-former ''daimyô'' families of these financial burdens. Yoshiakira at that time ceased to be governor of the newly-established Izuhara prefecture, and was appointed assistant foreign minister. The ''Waegwan'' was renamed the "Japan Mission" (日本公館, ''Nihon kôkan'') soon afterwards, and though Yoshiakira continued to play a prominent role in efforts to restart relations with Korea, he now did so even more fully as merely a representative of the Imperial government. This marked the end of the tributary/vassal relationship between the Sô and the Korean Court, and though Sô Yoshiakira continued to be involved, the end of any privileged position for his family as agents separate from Japanese central authority. Formal diplomatic and commercial relations between Japan and Korea in the modern/Western mode were finally established in [[1876]], with the [[Treaty of Ganghwa]], also known as the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Japan and Korea, which established for Japan many of the privileges Japan itself extended to the Western powers in its various [[Unequal Treaties|Treaties of Amity and Commerce]] with those powers.<ref>Hellyer, 242-245.</ref>

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#[[So Yoshitoshi|Sô Yoshitoshi]] (d. [[1615]])

#[[So Yoshitoshi|Sô Yoshitoshi]] (d. [[1615]])

#[[So Yoshinari|Sô Yoshinari]]

#[[So Yoshinari|Sô Yoshinari]]

#[[So Yoshizane|Sô Yoshizane]]

#[[So Yoshizane|Sô Yoshizane]]

#[[So Yoshimichi|Sô Yoshimichi]] (r. [[1694]]-[[1718]])

#[[So Yoshimichi|Sô Yoshimichi]] (r. [[1694]]-[[1718]])

#[[So Yoshiaya|Sô Yoshiaya]] (r. [[1838]]-[[1842]])

#[[So Yoshiaya|Sô Yoshiaya]] (r. [[1838]]-[[1842]])

#[[So Yoshiyori|Sô Yoshiyori]] (r. [[1842]]-[[1862]]

#[[So Yoshiyori|Sô Yoshiyori]] (r. [[1842]]-[[1862]])

#[[So Yoshiakira|Sô Yoshiakira]] (r. 1862-[[1869]])

#[[So Yoshiakira|Sô Yoshiakira]] (r. 1862-[[1869]])