, also known as Kenu Province, is an old province of Japan prior to the

Nara Period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the c ...

.Tsunoda, Ryūsaku ''et al.'' (1951). ''Japan in the Chinese Dynastic Histories: Later Han through Ming dynasties,'' p. 18 n25. Keno was located in the area of

Tochigi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,943,886 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,408 km2 (2,474 sq mi). Tochigi Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to th ...

and

Gumma Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima P ...

.Philippi, p. 486.

History

Prior to the administrative reforms of the

Taihō Code The was an administrative reorganisation enacted in 703 in Japan, at the end of the Asuka period. It was historically one of the . It was compiled at the direction of Prince Osakabe, Fujiwara no Fuhito and Awata no Mahito. Nussbaum, Louis ...

, Keno Province encompassed the area that subsequently would be divided into

Kōzuke Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today Gunma Prefecture. Kōzuke bordered by Echigo, Shinano, Musashi and Shimotsuke Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . Under the '' Engishiki'' classification system, Kōzuke was r ...

("Upper Ke(no)," ''i.e.'' the part of Keno that was closer to the contemporary capital of Japan, equivalent to modern

Gunma Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 Square kilometre, km2 (2,456 Square mile, sq mi). Gunma P ...

) and

Shimotsuke Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today Tochigi Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''SHimotsuke''" in . Shimotsuke was bordered by Kōzuke, Hitachi, Mutsu and Shimōsa Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was ...

("Lower Ke(no)," ''i.e.'' the part of Keno that was farther from the capital, equivalent to modern

). The name of this province is considered by some to be cognate with the name of the

Kinu River , is a river on the main island of Honshu in Japan. It flows from the north to the south on the Kantō plain, merging with . At 176.7 km in length, it is the longest tributary of Tone-gawa. From ancient times, it has been known to cause flood ...

, a major river of the North Kantō region that arises in the territory of ancient Keno Province.

Notes

References

* Philippi, Donald L. (1969). ''Kojiki.'' Princeton: Princeton University Press
OCLC 187351156
* Tsunoda, Ryūsaku and Luther Carrington Goodrich. (1951). ''Japan in the Chinese Dynastic Histories: Later Han through Ming dynasties.'' South Pasadena, California: Perkins
OCLC 1107990
Former countries in Japanese history History of Tochigi Prefecture History of Gunma Prefecture {{Tochigi-geo-stub

History

See also

Notes

References