Tsugaru clan The was a Japanese samurai clan originating in northern Japan , specifically Mutsu Province ( the northeast coast of Honshū ) . A branch of the local Nanbu clan , the Tsugaru rose to power during the Azuchi - Momoyama period . It was on the winning side of the Battle of Sekigahara , and entered the Edo period as a family of lords ( daimyo ) ruling the Hirosaki Domain . A second branch of the family was later established , which ruled the Kuroishi Domain . The Tsugaru survived as a daimyo family until the Meiji Restoration , when Tsugaru Tsuguakira of Hirosaki and Tsugaru Tsugumichi of Kuroishi were relieved of office . Their extended family then became part of the new nobility in the Meiji era . History . Origins through 1599 . The Tsugaru clan initially claimed descent from the Kawachi Genji branch of the Minamoto clan ; in later years , this claim of origin would change to the Konoe family , which was a branch of the Fujiwara clan . It was first known as the , a branch family of the Nanbu clan , which ruled sections of northern Mutsu Province . Relations between the two families soured after the Ōura declared their independence from the Nanbu in 1571 , during the headship of Ōura Tamenobu . He had been under the Nanbu clan ' s local magistrate Ishikawa Takanobu ; however , he attacked and killed Ishikawa and began taking the Nanbu clan ' s castles . Tamenobu also attacked Kitabatake Akimura ( another local power figure ) and took his castle at Namioka . The Ōura clan ' s fight against the Nanbu clan , under Nanbu Nobunao , would continue in the ensuing years . In 1590 , Tamenobu pledged fealty to Toyotomi Hideyoshi ; Hideyoshi confirmed Tamenobu in his holdings . As the Ōura fief had been in the Tsugaru region on the northern tip of Honshū , the family then changed its name to Tsugaru . The Tsugaru in the Edo era . The Tsugaru clan sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu ' s Eastern Army during the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 . Its immediate neighbors also all supported the Eastern Army . After the Tokugawa victory at Sekigahara , the Tsugaru clan was granted an increase in territory , along with permission to keep its existing domain of Hirosaki ( named for the family ' s castle town ) . The domain started out small at 45 , 000 " koku " , before being increased in size to 100 , 000 " koku " . Tamenobu remained politically active in the early years of the Edo era , mainly in the Kansai area ; he died in Kyoto in 1608 . The early years of the Edo era were marked by a series of major " O - Ie Sōdō " disturbances that shook the Tsugaru family : the of 1607 , of 1612 , the of 1634 , and the of 1647 . In 1821 , there was a foiled plot by Sōma Daisaku , a former retainer of the Nanbu clan , to assassinate the Tsugaru lord ; this stemmed from the old enmity between the two clans . A major branch of the Tsugaru clan was founded in 1656 , which was first given " hatamoto " rank , before being promoted to daimyo status in 1809 ; this became the ruling family of the Kuroishi Domain , which immediately bordered its parent family ' s domain . A lesser branch was founded by Tsugaru Nobuzumi , the son of the first Kuroishi - Tsugaru family head ; this branch remained " hatamoto " through the end of the Edo period . The main Tsugaru family ' s funerary temple in Hirosaki was located at Chōshō - ji . Though neither Tsugaru daimyo family ever held shogunate office , the Tsugaru of Hirosaki ( together with many of the other domains of northern Honshū ) assisted the shogunate in policing the frontier region of Ezochi ( now Hokkaido ) . In the late Edo period , during the headship of Tsugaru Tsuguakira , the Hirosaki domain ' s forces were modernized along western lines . The Tsugaru clan in the Boshin War . During the Boshin War of 1868 - 69 , the Tsugaru clan first sided with the imperial government , and attacked the forces of the nearby Shōnai Domain . However , it soon switched course , and was briefly a signatory to the pact that created the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei , before backing out , once again in favor of the imperial government . It did not take part in any of the major military action against the imperial army . The Kuroishi branch joined the Hirosaki - Tsugaru in siding with the imperial government . As a result , the entire clan was able to evade the punishment meted out by the government on the northern domains . After northern Honshū was pacified , Tsugaru forces joined the imperial army in attacking the Republic of Ezo at Hakodate . In return for its assistance , the Meiji government granted the Tsugaru family of Hirosaki a 10 , 000 " koku " increase to its fief . Both branches of Tsugaru daimyo were made of their domains in 1869 . Two years later , as with all other daimyo , both Tsugaru lines were relieved of their offices by the abolition of the han system . Meiji and beyond . In the Meiji era , Tsugaru Tsuguakira , who had been the last daimyo of the main Tsugaru family , was ennobled with the title of count ( " hakushaku " ) . Tsugaru Tsugumichi , the last daimyo of the Kuroishi - Tsugaru , became a viscount ( " shishaku " ) . Tsuguakira later worked as a supervisor in the , and Tsugumichi became a member of the House of Peers in 1890 . As Tsuguakira was heirless , he adopted Konoe Hidemaro , the son of court noble Konoe Tadafusa , as his heir ; Hidemaro succeeded to headship upon Tsuguakira ' s death in 1916 . Princess Hitachi is a present - day descendant of the main Tsugaru line . ( as Ōura clan ) Family heads . Branch line ( Kuroishi ) . As " hatamoto " As " tozama daimyo "