Totomi Fief matters less as a described landscape than as a prize in the struggle over allegiance: Toranaga’s grant makes it part of Yabu’s enlarged domain, while its return unsettles villagers’ understanding of who rules them and receives their taxes.

A Fief in Toranaga’s Grant

In a public address to his samurai, Toranaga promises Yabu the lands of Suruga Fief and Totomi Fief, valued together at three hundred thousand koku. Along with Izu, the territories confirm Yabu and his line as overlords. The grant is framed as a reward to a faithful vassal, and Yabu responds with elation.

The announcement also raises the stakes for Yabu’s household. Omi celebrates because, by custom, Yabu’s heir would inherit the lands. Totomi is therefore not merely an addition to Yabu’s present authority: it helps secure the family’s future position.

The Question of Who Rules

The consequences of the territorial settlement reappear in a village discussion about taxes. One villager points out that Toranaga had reduced the tax share to four parts out of ten and is now their liege lord. Mura counters that Yabu has been given back Izu, Suruga Fief, and Totomi Fief and made overlord again; in his view, Yabu remains the villagers’ immediate authority, and they must pay if Yabu raises their taxes.

The exchange establishes a distinction between Toranaga’s wider lordship and Yabu’s restored local overlordship. It records Mura’s understanding of who can demand payment, not a confirmed change in the tax rate. The grant thus reaches beyond the samurai ceremony: it leaves ordinary villagers negotiating the practical meaning of divided authority.

Political Significance

Totomi Fief’s role in the narrative is conveyed through its transfer and its afterlife in local argument, rather than through a detailed account of its terrain or towns. Its inclusion in a grant worth three hundred thousand koku binds territory, status, and inheritance to Yabu’s allegiance, while the villagers’ uncertainty shows how a political reward can complicate the question of who commands and collects from those who live under it.