- Aki Province
nihongo|Aki Province|安芸国|Aki no kuni or Geishū (芸州) was a province in the
Chūgoku region of westernHonshū , comprising the western part of what is todayHiroshima Prefecture ,Japan .When
Emperor Shōmu ordered two official temples for each province (one for male Buddhist priests and one for nuns), two temples were founded in Aki Province. The provincial temple was founded in present-day Saijō, Higashihiroshima.In the late
Heian period (12th century ), Aki Province became well known for theItsukushima Shrine .Taira no Kiyomori realized the shrine's importance and donated funds for a new complex of buildings and sutra scrolls. Itsukushima (Miyajima ) had a good sea port and had clear strategic significance.In the
Sengoku period , it was the original seat of theMōri clan until1600 . In1555 ,Mōri Motonari won theBattle of Itsukushima againstSue Harutaka and established his power in the western part ofHonshū .Mōri Terumoto , one of theCouncil of Five Elders Toyotomi Hideyoshi appointed for his son Hideyori, sided withIshida Mitsunari before theBattle of Sekigahara in 1600, and lost Aki and many of his other domains.After a short rule by
Fukushima Masanori , in1619 ,Asano Nagaakira was appointed as the daimyo ofHiroshima with 420,000koku . Until theMeiji Restoration , the Asano governed almost all the province.Aki province was abolished in
1871 , and renamed toHiroshima Prefecture . After some mergers the current area of Hiroshima Prefecture was established.Notes
References
External links
* National Archives of Japan: [http://jpimg.digital.archives.go.jp/kouseisai/category/emaki/itsukushima_e.html "Itsukushima kakei," illustrated scroll describing Itsukushima, text by Kaibara Eiken (circa 1720)]
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