Tanaka Domain
History. Tanaka Castle was built by the Imagawa clan as a subsidiary fortification guarding the eastern approaches to Sunpu Castle and was greatly expanded by the Takeda clan after they occupied Suruga Province. After the defeat of the Takeda clan, the castle came under the control of Tokugawa Ieyasu. In 1590, the Tokugawa clan was transferred to the Kanto region by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who awarded the castle to his retainer, Nakamura Kazutada. Ieyasu regained control after the defeat of the Toyotomi forces at the Battle of Sekigahara. In 1601, Ieyasu made Sakai Tadatoshi castellan, with a "kokudaka" of  10,000 "koku". This marked the start of Tanaka Domain. Tadatoshi developed Fujieda-juku into a post station on the Tōkaidō, and as a castle town. He was so successful in his efforts that he was rewarded with a larger domain at Kawagoe in Musashi Province in 1607, and Tanaka Domain reverted to direct Shogunal control. Tanaka Domain was then given to Matsudaira Tadashige, with its "kokudaka" increased to 25,000 "koku" in 1633. However, Tadashige was transferred to Kakegawa two years later, and his place was taken Mizuno Tadayoshi, with "kokudaka" of 45,000 "koku". The Mizuno clan was subsequently replaced by  the Fujii-Matsudaira, Hōjō, Nishio, Sakai, Tsuchiya, Ōta, Naitō, and Toki clans until Tanaka Domain finally came under the rule of the Honda clan in 1730. The Honda continued to rule Tanaka Domain over seven generations, until the Meiji Restoration of 1868. After the final Tokugawa Shōgun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, surrendered his title to Emperor Meiji, he relocated from Edo to Sumpu, with the provinces of Suruga, Izu and Mikawa assigned as his personal domains. Tanaka Domain was included within the area of the new Shizuoka Domain. Thus, in September 1868, Tanaka Domain officially ceased to exist. The final "daimyō" of  Tanaka Domain, Honda Masamori, received the new (and short-lived) domain of Nagao Domain in Awa province in exchange for his previous holdings, and took steps to relocate to that location before the abolition of the han system in 1871. Holdings at the end of the Edo period. As with most domains in the han system, Tanaka Domain consisted of several discontinuous territories calculated to provide the assigned "kokudaka", based on periodic cadastral surveys and projected agricultural yields. List of daimyō. Honda Masanori. was the 3rd "daimyō" of Numata Domain in Kōzuke Province and 1st Honda "daimyō" of Tanaka Domain . The son of a hatamoto, he was adopted as heir to Honda Masatake in 1713 and became "daimyō" on the latter's death in 1721. In 1723, he served as "sōshaban" in the shogun's court. In 1730, he was ordered to relocate to Tanaka Domain in Suruga Province, with the same nominal "kokudaka" of 40,000 "koku". Honda Masayoshi. was the 2nd Honda "daimyō" of Tanaka Domain. Masayoshi was the third son of Honda Masanori. He was presented in formal audience to the Shōgun in 1725, and received the courtesy title of "Kii-no-kami". He became "daimyō" on his  father's death in 1735. In 1737, he served as "sōshaban" in the shogun's court and in 1739 he was appointed "Jisha-bugyō". In 1746, he promoted to "rōjū" and received the courtesy title of "Hōki-no-kami" and the honorific title of chamberlain in 1747. he resigned his posts in 1758 due to accusations of mishandling a major peasant uprising in Mino Province and was ordered the shave his head in atonement. He retired in 1773 and died in 1768. His grave is at the temple of Renshō-ji in Fujieda. His wife was a daughter of Matsudaira  Nobutoki of Yoshida Domain. Honda Masatomo. was the 3rd Honda "daimyō" of Tanaka Domain. Masatomo was born in Edo as the second son of Honda Masayoshi, and became heir on the death of his eldest brother in 1757. He was presented in formal audience to the Shōgun in 1761, and received the courtesy title of "Kii-no-kami". He became "daimyō" on his father's retirement in 1773. Although he encouraged the development of martial arts within the domain, he died after a short tenure in 1777. His grave is at the temple of Tokuhon-ji in Asakusa, Tokyo. He  did not have a formal wife. Honda Masaharu. was the 4th Honda "daimyō" of Tanaka Domain. Masaharu was born in Edo as the eldest son of Honda Masatomo, and became "daimyō" on the death of his father in 1777. Due to his youth, the shogunate appointed his uncle, Kuroda Naokuni, as regent. He was presented in formal audience to the Shōgun in 1782, and received the courtesy title of "Hōki-no-kami". The shogunate ordered Tanaka Domain to take control of Sagara Castle after the dispossession of Tanuma Okitsugu in 1787.In 1798 he changed his name from Masatoku to Masaharu . In 1794, he brought Kishu mikan trees from Kii Province to his domain, establishing the start of the orange industry in Shizuoka. In 1799, the shogunate ordered him to reconstruct Edo's Yushima Seidō. However, due to a peasant's revolt in his domain, he retired from office in 1800. He died in 1831 and his grave is at the temple of Tokuhon-ji in Asakusa, Tokyo. His wife was a daughter of Nagao Naoyoshi of Takatsuka Domain. Honda Masaoki. was the 5th Honda "daimyō" of Tanaka Domain. Masaoki was born in Edo as the eldest son of Honda Masaharu . Masaharu had divorced his wife earlier that year, not realizing that she was pregnant and Masaoki was born at the Nagai clan's Edo residence. After he received word of the birth, he agreed to take Masaoki as his heir. He became "daimyō" on his father's retirement in 1800. In 1808, he served as "sōshaban" in the shogun's court. He was noted for encouraging education within the domain, including financial incentives similar to a modern scholarship program for people with financial difficulties; however, this applied only to the samurai class, and the peasants rose in revolt again in  1816 after a typhoon resulted in a crop failure. In 1822, he was appointed "Jisha-bugyō" and in 1825 was promoted to "wakadoshiyori", with his courtesy title changed to "Tōtōmi-no-kami". He died in 1829 and his grave is at the temple of Tokuhon-ji in Asakusa, Tokyo. HIs wife was a daughter of Toda Takanaka of Utsunomiya Domain. Honda Masahiro. was the 6th Honda "daimyō" of Tanaka Domain. Masaoki was born in Edo as the eldest son of Honda Masaoki and became "daimyō" on his father's death in 1829. During his tenure he attempted to reform the  financial situation of the domain through planting new crops, encouraging wood, oil and charcoal production and domain monopolies on certain goods. In 1836, he served as "sōshaban" and in 1837 he opened a han school. He also modernized the domain's military forces by creating a rifle brigade and by purchasing artillery. The domain suffered considerable damage during the 1854 Tōkai earthquake. He died in 1860 at the age of 53. His wife was a daughter of Matsudaira Naritaka of Tsuyama Domain. Honda Masamori. was the 7th (and final) "daimyō" of Tanaka Domain. Masamori was the younger brother of Honda  Masahiro, and became "daimyō" on his brother's death in 1860. After the Meiji restoration, he was forced to relocate from Tanaka to newly created Nagao Domain in Awa province, with the same nominal revenue of 40,000 "koku". He retired in 1870 and died in 1885.