Han (Japan)

The han (藩, han^?) or domain is the Japanese historical term for the estate of a warrior after the 12th century or of a daimyō in the Edo period (1603–1868) and early Meiji period (1868–1912).

In the Sengoku period, Toyotomi Hideyoshi caused a transformation of the han system. The feudal system based on land became an abstraction based on periodic cadastral surveys and projected agricultural yields.

In Japan, a feudal domain was defined in terms of projected annual income. This was different from the feudalism of the West. For example, early Japanologists such as Appert and Papinot made a point of highlighting the annual koku yields which were allocated for the Shimazu clan at Satsuma Domain since the 12th century.

In 1690, the richest han was the Kaga Domain with slightly over 1 million koku. It was in Kaga, Etchū and Noto provinces.

In the Edo period, the domains of daimyōs were defined in terms of kokudaka, not land area. Imperial provincial subdivisions and shogunal domain subdivisions were complementary systems. For example, when the shogun ordered daimyōs to make a census of its people or to make maps, the work was organized along the borders of the provincial kuni.

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