Han system

Han became increasingly important as de facto administrative divisions as subsequent Shoguns stripped the Imperial provinces (kuni) and their officials of their legal powers.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the preeminent warlord of the late Sengoku period (1467–1603), caused a transformation of the han system during his reforms of the feudal structure of Japan.

For instance, relatives and retainers were placed in politically and militarily strategic districts while potentially hostile daimyo were transferred to unimportant geographic locations or their estates confiscated.

[6][7] Early Japanologists such as Georges Appert and Edmond Papinot made a point of highlighting the annual koku yields which were allocated for the Shimazu clan at Satsuma Domain since the 12th century.

From 1869 to 1871, the new Meiji government sought to abolish feudalism in Japan, and the title of daimyo in the han system was altered to han-chiji (藩知事) or chihanji (知藩事).