other · Korea and Japan

Hikone Domain

1600 CE – 1871 CE · capital Hikone

The domain of the Ii family on Lake Biwa, pillars of the Tokugawa order whose head Ii Naosuke opened Japan to Western trade.

Origins

Ii Naomasa, one of Tokugawa Ieyasu's most trusted generals and leader of the red-armoured troops, was given the former lands of Ishida Mitsunari at Sawayama after Sekigahara in 1600. After his death in 1602 his sons built Hikone castle nearby, completed in 1622.

Rule and society

The Ii, hereditary vassals of the Tokugawa with up to 350,000 koku, guarded the approach to Kyoto and supplied several great elders (tairo) to the shogunate. Ii Naosuke, tairo from 1858, signed the treaty with the United States without imperial approval and purged opponents in the Ansei purge.

Decline and legacy

Naosuke was assassinated at the Sakurada Gate in 1860 and the domain was reduced. In 1868 Hikone switched to the imperial side. After abolition in 1871 it became part of Shiga Prefecture; Hikone castle is a national treasure.

Lineage

Hikone DomainEmpire of Japan 1868 CE – 1945 CE

Connections (1)

Hikone Domain was part of Tokugawa Shogunate1603 CE – 1867 CE

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Cite this page

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Hikone Domain. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hikone-domain
MLA: “Hikone Domain.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hikone-domain. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Hikone Domain.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hikone-domain.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Hikone Domain’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hikone-domain (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻