Map of Japan, 1855 – The majorSengoku period feudal domains between 1564 and 1573. A Japanese/Cyrillic 1789 map of Japan showing provincial borders and the castle towns of han and major shogunate castles/cities Map of Japan, 1855, withprovinces . Map of Japan, 1871, withprovinces . Thelist ofhan or domains in theTokugawa period (1603–1868) changed from time to time during theEdo period . Han werefeudal domains that formed the effective basis of administration in Tokugawa-eraJapan . The Han are given according to their domain seat/castle town by modern region (-chihō , roughly comparable to ancient circuits,-dō ) and ancient province (kuni/-shū , roughly comparable to modern prefectures,-to/-dō/-fu/-ken ).Han usually comprised territories around/near the capital, but were beyond that in many cases disconnected and distributed over several provinces.
Thehan system was abolishedMeiji government in 1871 when all remaining-han were transformed into-ken ("prefectures"). In several waves of mergers, splits and territorial transfers – the first major consolidation followed immediately in 1871/72 – the prefectures were reorganized to encompass contiguous, compact territories, no longer resembling Edo period han, but in many cases territorially identical to provinces which had remained the most important primary geographical subdivision even during feudal times.[ 1] [ 2]
Matsumae Matsumae town,Matsumae District ; held by theMatsumae clan . Only domain inEzo . Renamed toTate Asabu town ), becameTate-ken ("Tate prefecture") in 1871 and was merged intoAomori-ken ("Aomori Prefecture ") the same year, finally in 1872, transferred to the settlement/development agency(kaitakushi) , the precursor toHokkaidō ("Hokkai circuit/territory/from 1946: prefecture").[ 3] [ edit ] Hirosaki [ 4] Aomori Prefecture Kuroishi [ 4] Kuroishi, Aomori Hachinohe [ 4] Kunohe Morioka Domain , corresponded to modernKunohe District, Iwate Morioka Akita ,Aomori , andIwate Prefectures , originally consisted of 10 districts – in modern Iwate:Iwate ,Hienuki ,Waga ,Shiwa ,Kunohe ,Ninohe , and Hei (now split intoKamihei andShimohei ); in modern Aomori:Sannohe and Kita (now divided intoKamikita andShimokita districts); in modern Akita:Kazuno Kōri Koori town,Date District ,Fukushima Aizu [ 5] Aizuwakamatsu ,Fukushima Prefecture ; controlled by the Hoshina (Matsudaira) family.Ichinoseki Sendai han , based in modern-dayIchinoseki, Iwate ; held by theTamura clan , a branch family of theDate clan Iwakitaira Iwaki, Fukushima . Held by theTorii family briefly from 1606–1622, held by theAndō clan from mid-18th century to 1868.Miharu Kato ,Matsushita , andAkita families.Moriyama Tokugawa 。Sendai [ 6] Sendai, Miyagi ; held by theDate clan .Shimotedo Tsukidate town,Date District ,Fukushima . Held by theTachibana clan .Nakamura Sōma, Fukushima ; held by theSōma clan .Yunagaya Izumi [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] Toba [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] [ edit ] Satsuma (De Facto :1196-1871/ De jure:1602-1871)[ 6] Ryūkyū (De Facto :1609-1879 / De jure:1872-1879) (Present-day Okinawa Prefecture)[ 17] Map ofJapan , 1789 -- theHan system affectedcartography ^ Shizuoka prefectural comprehensive education center (for children):Map showing the general division between Tokugawa-controlled territories (shogunate domain + allied domains) and the domains held by other lords (in Japanese) ^ Ishida Satoshi, 地理データ集 (private website by a high school teacher):List of prefectures (-fu/-ken) and domains (-han) under the 1868 -fu/-han/-ken system ,Maps of prefectures after the 1871–1872 consolidation [Note: 12/27 in the Japanese calendar was already in the Gregorian calendar year 1872],after the second 1876 consolidation ,in 1889 ,in 1900 (in Japanese) ^ Aomori Prefectural Board of Education:Aomori-ken no tanjō ("The birth of Aomori Prefecture") ^a b c d e f g h i Ravina, Mark. (1998).Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan, p. 222 ^a b Deal, William E. (2005).Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan, p. 81 ^a b c d e f g h Deal,p. 82 . ^a b c d e f g h i j k "Echigo Province" at JapaneseCastleExplorer.com ; retrieved 2013-7-8.^a b c d e f g h i j k "Shinano Province" at JapaneseCastleExplorer.com ; retrieved 2013-7-8.^ "Kai Province" at JapaneseCastleExplorer.com ; retrieved 2013-7-8.^ "Etchū Province" at JapaneseCastleExplorer.com ; retrieved 2013-7-9.^ "Kaga Province" at JapaneseCastleExplorer.com ; retrieved 2013-7-9.^a b c d e f "Echizen Province" at JapaneseCastleExplorer.com ; retrieved 2013-7-9.^ "Wakasa Province" at JapaneseCastleExplorer.com ; retrieved 2013-7-9.^a b c d "Suruga Province" at JapaneseCastleExplorer.com ; retrieved 2013-4-10.^ Deal,pp. 81-82 . ^ Deal,p. 83 . ^ Lin, Man-houng."The Ryukyus and Taiwan in the East Asian Seas: A Longue Durée Perspective," Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. October 27, 2006, translated and abridged fromAcademia Sinica Weekly, No. 1084. 24 August 2006. 
_Woodblock_Map_of_Japan_-_Geographicus_-_Japan-meiji4-1871.jpg)