Usage patterns 〈 場ば 所しょ 〉 藩はん the domain of <place name> (e.g. 薩摩藩, 加賀藩)
The Satsuma domain had great influence at the end of the Edo period.
藩はん に 仕つか える to serve a domain (as a retainer)
His ancestor was a samurai who served the Kaga domain.
藩はん を 治おさ める to govern a domain
This lord governed the domain for many years.
Don't confuse with 藩 was the feudal domain of the Edo period, while 県 is the modern prefecture that replaced it after the Meiji Restoration, so learners should not treat them as interchangeable terms for the same era.
藩 (same reading はん ) means a feudal domain in old Japan, while 班 means a small organized group or team; they are unrelated in meaning despite sounding identical.
Word family· 36 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)
Show 5 more Show fewer han school; domain school
daimyo's Edo residence
many feudal domains; the various clans
each feudal domain; each fief
the same domain; the same province
See all 36 in Explore →
Written forms 藩はん Usage 97%
Standard kanji spelling for the historical domain.
はん Usage 3%
Etymology 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.
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