Yamaga Domain (山家藩)
Yamaga Domain included the areas in and around Yamaga in Ikaruga no kori (Ikaruga County), Tanba Province as its territory. The government building for the domain was called Yamaga Jinya (now in Hirose-cho, Ayabe City, Kyoto Prefecture). The Tani family, which governed the domain, had a close relationship with the Imperial Family through their connection with the Sono family, in fact, today's Imperial family members are related to the Tani family.
Summary
Moritomo TANI, the first lord of the Yamaga Domain, was a military commander (daimyo) who served Nobunaga ODA and Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI, and controlled land worth 16,000 koku in Yamaga, Tanba Province.
During the Battle of Sekigahara (1600), Moritomo, together with Shigekatsu ONOGI, joined the Western Camp as it besieged Tanabe-jo Castle in Tango Province, owned by Yusai HOSOKAWA who belonged to the Eastern Camp. However, as Moritomo was constrained to join the Western Camp, and also because he had a secret connection with Fujitaka HOSOKAWA who was his master in waka poetry, he was permitted to retain his territory by Ieyasu TOKUGAWA after the battle.
The Yamaga Domain was controlled by the Tani family until its thirteenth generation during the Meiji period. During the time of Morimasa TANI, the second head of the family, the Yamaga Domain subdivided the territory worth 1,500 koku to Morifuyu TANI (the younger brother; the Umezako Tani family), territory worth 2,500 koku to Moriyuki TANI (the nephew; the Uesugi Tani family), and territory worth 2,000 koku to Morikiyo TANI (the nephew in the Tokura Tani family) as hatamoto (direct retainers of the bakufu). As a result, the kokudaka (crop yield) of Yamaga Domain became 10,000 koku.
During the Meiji Restoration, the Yamaga Domain was one of the first to pronounce its obedience to the new government. At the time of Haihan-chiken (the abolition of feudal domains and the establishment of prefectures) of 1871, it became Yamaga Prefecture, which later became a part of Kyoto Prefecture. In 1887, the Tani family were bestowed the title of viscount and was raised to peerage.