Shimabara Domain (島原藩, Shimabara-han) was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. Originally known as Hinoe Domain, its administrative center was initially established at Hinoe Castle in Minamishimabara, Nagasaki Prefecture. However, it was later relocated to Shimabara Castle in Shimabara, Nagasaki Prefecture. The domain was governed by various fudai daimyō clans, including the Koriki clan and the Fukōzu-Matsudaira clan.
>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
In this Dossier
Shimabara Domain in the context of Shimabara Rebellion
The Shimabara Rebellion (島原の乱, Shimabara no ran), also known as the Shimabara-Amakusa Rebellion (島原･天草の乱, Shimabara-Amakusa no ran) or Shimabara-Amakusa Ikki (島原･天草一揆), was an uprising that occurred in the Shimabara Domain of the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan from 17 December 1637 to 15 April 1638.
Matsukura Katsuie, the daimyō of the Shimabara Domain, enforced unpopular policies set by his father Matsukura Shigemasa that drastically raised taxes to construct the new Shimabara Castle and violently prohibited Christianity. In December 1637, an alliance of local rōnin and mostly Catholic peasants led by Amakusa Shirō rebelled against the Tokugawa shogunate due to discontent over Katsuie's policies. The Tokugawa shogunate sent a force of over 125,000 troops supported by the Dutch to suppress the rebels, which defeated the rebels after a lengthy siege against their stronghold at Hara Castle in Minamishimabara.
Shimabara Domain in the context of Matsukura Shigemasa
Matsukura Shigemasa (松倉 重政; 1574 – December 19, 1630) was a Japanese feudal lord of the late Sengoku and early Edo periods. He held the title of Bingo no Kami and the Imperial court rank of junior 5th, lower grade (ju-go i no ge). Though he began as a retainer of Tsutsui Sadatsugu of Yamato Province, he became a lord in his own right, acquiring the 60,000 koku Shimabara Domain in Kyushu, in 1600. He is most famous for being the lord whose domain was the center of the Shimabara Rebellion of 1638.