Satake clan

Japanese samurai family

The was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Minamoto clan. Its first power base was in Hitachi Province. The clan was subdued by Minamoto no Yoritomo in the late 12th century, but later entered Yoritomo's service as vassals. In the Muromachi period, the Satake served as Governor (shugo) of Hitachi Province (today Ibaraki Prefecture), under the aegis of the Ashikaga shogunate. The clan sided with the Western Army during the Battle of Sekigahara, and was punished by Tokugawa Ieyasu, who moved it to a smaller territory in northern Dewa Province (northern Honshū) at the start of the Edo period. The Satake survived as lords (daimyō) of the Kubota Domain (also known as the Akita Domain). Over the course of the Edo period, two major branches of the Satake clan were established, one ruled the fief of Iwasaki, the other one the fief of Kubota Shinden. During the Boshin War of 1868–69, the Satake were signatories to the pact that formed the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei, but after internal debate and a disagreement with the Sendai Domain, the clan switched sides and joined the imperial forces in subduing the alliance. As with all other daimyō families, the Satake clan was relieved of its title in 1871.

The Satake clan claimed descent from Satake Masayoshi, the grandson of the prominent 11th century warrior Minamoto no Yoshimitsu. Yoshimitsu received land in Mutsu Province and Hitachi Province as a reward for his military service, and took up residence at Satake village, in Hitachi. Yoshimitsu willed the territory around Satake village to his son, Yoshinobu. Yoshinobu, in turn, passed it on to his own son, Masayoshi. In 1106, Masayoshi led a rebellion against Minamoto no Yoshikuni, a power figure in neighboring Shimotsuke Province, but was defeated and killed by Yoshikuni, who followed him back to Hitachi. During the Genpei War, Masayoshi's son Takayoshi sided with Taira no Kiyomori. at Sukagawa, but were ultimately defeated by forces under the command of Date Masamune. In 1590, under the headship of Yoshishige's son Satake Yoshinobu, the Satake clan pledged fealty to Toyotomi Hideyoshi during the siege of Odawara. After the fall of Odawara, Hideyoshi accepted them as vassals, and guaranteed their lordship of a 540,000 koku swath of territory in Hitachi Province. After the Western Army's defeat by the Eastern forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the Satake clan was allowed to remain where they were in Hitachi but they would be punished by the victorious Tokugawa. Kubota's income level was 205,000 koku, and it was classified as an outside (tozama) daimyō. Yoshiatsu painted a number of paintings in the Dutch style, and also produced three treatises on European painting techniques, including the depiction of perspective. He was also a student of Dutch studies (rangaku) scholar Hiraga Gennai, who he had invited up to Akita to advise him on management of the domain's copper mines. Each of these was given to a senior retainer who ran it as his own small castle town. The senior retainers had personal retainers who resided in these castle towns. Two of the clan elder (karō) families serving the Kubota domain were branches of the Satake family. One was the North Satake family (Satake hokke), stipended at 10,000 koku; the other the West Satake family (Satake nishike), stipended at 7200 koku. The North Satake family had its landholdings around Kakunodate, one of the fortified estates mentioned above; the West Satake resided in and had their landholdings around Ōdate. Another karō family unrelated to the Satake was the Tomura, who held Yokote castle. During its rule over Kubota, the Satake clan was ranked as a Province holding daimyō (国持ち大名) family, and as such, had the privilege of shogunal audiences in the Great Hall (Ohiroma) of Edo Castle.

After the restoration of imperial rule in late 1867, the Boshin War broke out in early 1868, pitting the coalition of southern domains against the forces of the former Tokugawa shogunate. After the city of Edo fell, remnants of the Tokugawa forces retreated northward, and the fighting followed northward. The Satake clan was a signatory to the pact that formed the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei, the alliance of anti Satchō northern domains led by the Sendai Domain. The Satake clan's delegation at Shiroishi, the alliance's headquarters, was led by the clan elder (karō) Tomura Yoshiari. However, the Satake had political difficulties with the alliance, which culminated in the murder, in Akita, of a delegation from Sendai on August 21, 1868, and the display of the messengers' gibbeted heads in the Akita castle town. The Sendai delegation, led by Shimo Matazaemon, was dispatched to request the Akita domain to hand over Kujō Michitaka and other officials of the imperial delegation that had been originally sent to the region to gather support for the imperial cause. The Satake then backed out of the alliance and supported the imperial army; eleven days later, on September 1, 1868 the Tsugaru clan of the neighboring Hirosaki domain followed suit. In response, the pro alliance domains of Morioka and Ichinoseki sent troops to attack Kubota. Kubota forces were hard pressed to defend their territory, with the result that the alliance troops had made serious advances before the war's end; Yokote Castle was burned, and by October 7, Morioka troops took Ōdate, the last of the Akita domain's castles. In early 1869, Satake Yoshitaka formally gave up the domain's registers to the imperial government, and was made imperial governor of the Akita domain (han chiji). In mid 1869, the imperial government rewarded the service rendered by the main line of the Satake clan, by raising its income by 20,000 koku. The heads of all the Satake clan's branches were relieved of office as daimyō in 1871, and ordered to relocate to Tokyo.

In the Meiji era, Satake Yoshitaka was ennobled with the title of marquess (kōshaku). Satake Yoshisato of Iwasaki received the title of viscount (shishaku). Norihisa Satake, the current governor of Akita Prefecture, is a descendant of the North Satake branch of the clan.