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1 results

  • 5 - The han

  • Edited by John Whitney Hall, Yale University, Connecticut
  • Assisted by James L. McClain
  • Book:
    The Cambridge History of Japan
    Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    28 June 1991, pp 183-234

  • Summary

    The han, or daimyo domains, covered some three-quarters of the total area of the Japanese islands. The han have been restored to their rightful place in the history of the Tokugawa period. Many han were already in existence well before the bakufu was established in 1603; for that matter, almost all of them, in one form or another, were to survive its fall, lingering on uneasily into the Meiji world. The role of the han was defined by the bakufu, for it was the Tokugawa government that confirmed their existence and prescribed the extent of their responsibilities and the limits of their jurisdiction. Tokugawa rule had effectively released all han from the need for constant vigilance against each other. Equally, it had done much to enhance their internal stability by making it clear that it would countenance no usurpers from among the han vassals.