The Choshu Domain (1600-1871) was a feudal domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate from Yamaguchi Prefecture (the westernmost province of Honshu in the Chugoku region), ruled by the Mori clan. The Choshu supported the Emperor during the Boshin War of 1864-1868, and later crushed the Satsuma Domain's rebellion in 1877.
History[]
By the time of the Boshin War, in which the Choshu became the leading clan in all of Japan, the Mori clan resented the shogunate for 250 years. They agreed to keep their forces out of the Battle of Sekigahara and subsequently gave up Osaka Castle without a fight. Their reward for neutrality was not preferment. Indeed, they were stripped of their possessions and given Choshu domain, hardly a prize. Eventually, they rose against the shogunate, and were among those wanting to "expel the barbarians" at sword point.