Historical term for the territory and administrative unit of a daimyo during the Edo period and early Meiji era. Often used as a suffix after the domain name, e.g. 薩摩藩.
The Satsuma domain had great influence at the end of the Edo period.
In the Edo period, there were about three hundred domains in Japan.
彼の先祖は薩摩藩の武士だった。
His ancestors were samurai of the Satsuma domain.
His ancestor was a samurai who served the Kaga domain.
This lord governed the domain for many years.
feudal lord; daimyo
retainer of a daimyo; feudal retainer
domain administration (Edo period); clan administration
leaving one's domain; becoming a lordless samurai
abolition of the han system and establishment of prefectures (1871)
Standard kanji spelling for the historical domain.
The kanji 藩 originally meant 'fence' or 'screen' and was used in Chinese to refer to a feudal state or protectorate. In Japan, it was adopted to denote the domains of daimyo under the Tokugawa shogunate.