Mutsu Province


Mutsu Province was an province of Japan in what is now Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori Prefectures and the municipalities of Kazuno and Kosaka in Akita Prefecture.
Mutsu Province is also known as Ōshū or Michinoku; the Eastern Old Japanese name varied between Mutu and Miti.
The termis often used to refer to
The combined area of Mutsu and the neighbouring Dewa Province is the Tōhoku region, which was also known as Ōu via on'yomi reading used for Mutsu and Dewa.

History

Invasion by the Kinai government

Mutsu, on northern Honshū, was one of the last provinces to be formed as land was taken from the indigenous Emishi, and became the largest as it expanded northward. The ancient regional capital of the Kinai government was Tagajō in present-day Miyagi Prefecture.

Prosperity of Hiraizumi

In 1095, the Ōshū Fujiwara clan settled at Hiraizumi, under the leadership of Fujiwara no Kiyohira. Kiyohira hoped to "form a city rivaling Kyoto as a centre of culture". The legacy of the Ōshū Fujiwara clan remains with the temples Chūson-ji and Mōtsū-ji in Hiraizumi, and the Shiramizu Amidadō temple building in Iwaki. In 1189, Minamoto no Yoritomo invaded Mutsu with three great forces, eventually killing Fujiwara no Yasuhira and acquiring the entire domain.

Sengoku period

During the Sengoku period, clans ruled parts of the province.

After the Boshin War

As a result of the Boshin War, Mutsu Province was divided by the Meiji government, on 19 January 1869, into five provinces: Iwashiro, Iwaki, Rikuzen, Rikuchū, and Rikuō). The fifth of these, corresponding roughly to today's Aomori Prefecture, was assigned the same two kanji as the entire province prior to division; however, the character reading was different. Due to the similarity in characters in the name, this smaller province has also sometimes been referred to as 'Mutsu'.

Districts

Under Ritsuryō

Miyagi Prefecture
Fukushima Prefecture

Meiji Era