- Musashi Province
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Map of Japanese provinces with province highlighted
Musashi Province (武蔵国 Musashi no kuni) was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Prefecture, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture.[1] It was sometimes called Bushū (武州). The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama. Musashi bordered on Kai, Kōzuke, Sagami, Shimōsa, and Shimotsuke Provinces.
Musashi was the largest province in the Kantō region.
Contents
Name
The name Musashi, recorded in early records as 牟射志 munzasi, appears to be of Ainu origin. It has no meaning in Japanese, but mún-sa-hi (grass-plain-poss)[2] means "grass plain" in Ainu, and Musashi sits in the middle of the Kanto plain.[3]
History
Musashi had its ancient capital in modern Fuchu, Tokyo and its provincial temple in what is now Kokubunji, Tokyo. By the Sengoku period, the main city was Edo, which became the dominant city of eastern Japan. Edo Castle was the headquarters of Tokugawa Ieyasu before the Battle of Sekigahara and became the dominant city of Japan during the Edo period, being renamed Tokyo during the Meiji Restoration.
Hikawa jinja was designated as the chief Shinto shrine (ichinomiya) of the province; [4] and there are many branch shrines.[5]
The former province gave its name to the battleship of the Second World War Musashi.
Timeline of important events in Musashi
- July 18, 707 (Keiun 4, 15th day of the 6th month): Empress Genmei is enthroned at the age of 48.[6]
- 707 (Keiun 4): Copper was reported to have been found in Musashi province in the region which includes modern day Tokyo.[7]
- 708 (Keiun 5):, The era name was about to be changed to mark the accession of Empress Gemmei; but the choice of Wadō as the new nengō for this new reign became a way to mark the welcome discovery of copper in the Chichibu District of what is now Saitama Prefecture.[7] The Japanese word for copper is dō (銅); and since this was indigenous copper, the "wa" (the ancient Chinese term for Japan) could be combined with the "dō" (copper) to create a new composite term – "wadō" – meaning "Japanese copper."
- May 5, 708 (Wadō 1, 11th day of the 4th month): A sample of the newly discovered Musashi copper was presented in Gemmei's Court where it was formally acknowledged as Japanese copper.[7] The Wadō era is famous for the first Japanese coin (和同開珎, wadokaiho or wadokaichin).
- 1590 (Tenshō 18): Siege of Odawara. Iwatsuki Domain and Oshi Domain founded in Musashi Province.
District
Musashi Province had 21 districts, added 1 after.
- Adachi District (足立郡)
- Chichibu District (秩父郡)
- Ebara District (荏原郡)
- Iruma District (入間郡)
- Kami District (賀美郡, 加美郡)
- Katsushika District (葛飾郡) - Transfer from Shimōsa Province in 1683(some say 1622-1643) for the river improvement of Naka River.
- Kodama District (児玉郡)
- Koma District (高麗郡)
- Kuraki District (久良岐郡)
- Hanzawa District (榛沢郡)
- Hara District (幡羅郡)
- Hiki District (比企郡)
- Naka District (那珂郡)
- Nīkura District (新座郡, 新倉郡, 新羅郡）
- Obusuma District (男衾郡)
- Ōzato District (大里郡)
- Saitama District (埼玉郡)
- Tachibana District (橘樹郡)
- Tama District （多摩郡, 多麻郡, 多磨郡)
- Toshima District (豊嶋郡)
- Tsuzuki District (都筑郡)
- Yokomi District (横見郡)
See also
Notes
- ^ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Musashi" in Japan Encyclopedia, pp. 669-671 at Google Books; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File.
- ^ There are dialectical words of Ainu origin in the Tohoku region where si corresponds to Hokkaido Ainu hi
- ^ Vovin, Alexander (2008). "Man'yōshū to Fudoki ni Mirareru Fushigina Kotoba to Jōdai Nihon Retto ni Okeru Ainugo no Bunpu." Kokusai Nihon Bunka Kenkyū Sentā.
- ^ "Nationwide List of Ichinomiya," p. 3.; retrieved 2011-08-09
- ^ Nussbaum, "Hikawa-jinja" at p. 311 at Google Books.
- ^ Brown, Delmer. (1979). Gukanshō, p. 271.
- ^ a b c Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 63. at Google Books
References
- Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979). Gukanshō: The Future and the Past. Berkeley: University of California Press. 10-ISBN 0-520-03460-0; 13-ISBN 978-0-520-03460-0; OCLC 251325323
- Kōta Kodama and Kitajima Masamoto. (1966). 物語藩史. 第2期第2卷, 関東の諸藩 (Monogatari hanshi. 2(2), Kantō no shohan). Tokyo: Shin Jinbutsu Ōraisha. OCLC 673172166
- Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 10-ISBN 0-674-01753-6; 13-ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128
- Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Odai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691.
Former provinces of Japan (List) Kinai Tōkaidō Tōsandō Hokurikudō San'indō San'yōdō Nankaidō Saikaidō Hokkaidō
1869-1882Ancient pre-Taihō Code provinces included: Fusa · Hi · Keno · Kibi · Koshi · Kumaso · Toyo · Tsukushi
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Source: Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 780 at Google Books; excerpt,- "Japan's former provinces were converted into prefectures by the Meiji government ... [and] grouped, according to geographic position, into the 'five provinces of the Kinai' and 'seven circuits'."
Categories:- Old provinces of Japan
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