page_title: Sōma clan
section_title: Meiji era and beyond
hierarchical_section_title: Sōma clan / Meiji era and beyond
caption_attribution_description: English: Site of the Soma Nakamura Castle 日本語: 相馬中村城跡
context_page_description: The Sōma clan was a Japanese samurai clan who ruled the northern Hamadōri region of southern Mutsu Province in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan for over 700 years, from the Kamakura period through the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The Sōma claimed descent from the Taira clan via the Chiba clan and took their name from the Chiba clan territories in Sōma District of northern Shimōsa Province. The clan moved its seat from Shimōsa to Mutsu Province in the early Kamakura period, and were confirmed as daimyō of Sōma Nakamura Domain under the Edo-period Tokugawa shogunate.
  During the Boshin War of 1868–69, the Sōma clan fought on the site of the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei, supporting the Tokugawa regime. After Meiji Restoration, the head of the Sōma clan became part of the kazoku peerage, with Sōma Aritane receiving the title of shishaku.
context_section_description: In the early years of the Meiji era, the Sōma Incident became a major political scandal. On April 14, 1879, the former daimyō of Nakamura Sōma Domain, Sōma Toshitane, was placed under house arrest by the government, after family members filed a petition accusing him of mental instability. On December 10, 1885, one of his former retainers, Nishigori Takekiyo, filed a lawsuit accusing these relatives, led by Toshitane’s younger brother, Sōma Aritane, of having made false charges leading to Toshitane's incarceration, for the purposes of embezzling the monies of the former domain. The Sōma clan hired the famous lawyer Hoshi Tōru to defend their case, which went on for years, as the legal definition of insanity and the qualifications necessary for a doctor to declare a person mentally incompetent were not yet defined in Japanese jurisprudence. On Toshitane's death in 1892, Nishigori accused the defendants of having murdered him by poison. However, after an autopsy failed to find any evidence, Nishikori was countersued for slander and was sentenced to four years in prison.
  Marquis Sōma Aritane (1863–1919) was the 30th hereditary chieftain of the clan, and acquired a 15,000 tsubo estate in Tokyo to the west of the Konoe family in 1910. His son, Marquis Sōma Taketane (1889–1936) served in the Imperial Household Agency and accompanied Prince Yasuhiko Asaka to France, where he became fascinated with golf. His son, Marquis Sōma Yasutane (1913–1994) was married to a daughter of Ozaki Yukio. he also served in the Imperial Household Agency and was the 8th Chairman of the Japan Racehorse Owners Association. He was largely responsible for reviving the traditional Sōma Nomaoi Festival. He also served as mayor of the city of Sōma. The current clan head, the 34th hereditary chieftain is Sōma Yukitane, the grandson of Sōma Yasutane.
caption: Sōma Shrine, where the ancestors of the Sōma clan are enshrined as kami
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