Hirado Domain (平戸藩), also known as Hirado-han, was a domain during the Edo period in Japan. It was located in Hizen Province, which is now part of Nagasaki Prefecture. The han system in Hirado was a political and economic concept that relied on surveys and projected agricultural yields, rather than land area, to define the domain. This system was distinct from the feudalism of the Western world.
A 16th-century French depiction of Hirado Castle
Keep of Hirado Castle
Hirado Castle stands on an island off Kyūshū
Matsuura Akira, final daimyo of Hirado Domain
Hizen Province was an old province of Japan in the area of the Saga and Nagasaki prefectures. It was sometimes called Hishū (肥州), with Higo Province. Hizen bordered on the provinces of Chikuzen and Chikugo. The province was included in Saikaidō. It did not include the regions of Tsushima and Iki that are now part of modern Nagasaki Prefecture.
Hizen Kokuchō Site in Saga
Hizen Kokubun-ji Site in Saga
Keichō Kuniezu - Hizen Province (1837 copy of lost c.1605 original) (Takeo City Library and Historical Museum)
Shōhō Kuniezu - Hizen Province (1647) (Chōkokan)