was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today

Gunma 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 Fuku ...

. Kōzuke bordered by Echigo, Shinano, Musashi and Shimotsuke Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . Under the '' Engishiki'' classification system, Kōzuke was ranked as one of the 13 "great countries" (大国) in terms of importance, and one of the 30 "far countries" (遠国) in terms of distance from the capital. The provincial capital is located in what is now the city of

Maebashi is the capital city of Gunma Prefecture, in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 335,352 in 151,171 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . I ...

; however, its exact location remains uncertain. The

ichinomiya is a Japanese historical term referring to the Shinto shrines with the highest rank in a province. Shrines of lower rank were designated , , , and so forth. ''Encyclopedia of Shinto'' ''Ichi no miya'' retrieved 2013-5-14. The term gave rise ...

of the province is located in what is now the city of Tomioka. 26 Kozuke

History

During the 4th century AD, (

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

) the area of modern Gunma and Tochigi prefectures were known as , literally "hairy field", but used as ateji for or "food field" in reference to an imperial agricultural area.1988, (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō:

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics ( manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the ...

At some unknown point in the 5th century, the area was divided at the Kinugawa River into ("Upper Keno") and ("Lower Keno"). Per 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 ...

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 ...

, these provinces became and . At some point, the ''no'' meaning "field" was reanalyzed as the possessive particle ''no'', resulting in shortened names (without the or "province" portion) of ''Kamitsuke'' and ''Shimotsuke''. In 713, with the standardization of province names into two ''

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...

'', these names became and . Later regular sound changes caused ''Kamitsuke'' to shift to ''Kaudzuke'', and then to modern ''Kōzuke''.1995, (''

Daijisen The is a general-purpose Japanese dictionary published by Shogakukan in 1995 and 1998. It was designed as an "all-in-one" dictionary for native speakers of Japanese, especially high school and university students. History Shogakukan intended fo ...

'') (in Japanese), Tōkyō:

, During the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japan ...

, from the year 811, Kōzuke (along with

Hitachi () is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Nissan ''zaibatsu'' and later DKB Group and Fuyo G ...

and Kazusa) was one of the three provinces where an Imperial Prince was designated as nominal ruler. The area was noted for its production of horses. The original capital of the province was located in what is now

, along with the

kokubun-ji were Buddhist temples established in each of the provinces of Japan by Emperor Shōmu during the Nara period (710 – 794). History Shōmu (701 – 756?) decreed both a ''kokubun-ji'' for monks and a for nuns to be established in eac ...

and the

sōja is a city located in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. As of 2020, the city has an estimated population of 69,343 and a population density of 322 persons per km2. The total area is 211.90 km2. History In the 7th century, Ki Castle was built ...

of the province. The ''

'' was located in what is now the city of Tomioka. During the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

, Kōzuke was contested between the later Hōjō clan, the

Takeda is a Japanese family name.1990 Census Name Files< ...

and the

Uesugi clan The is a Japanese samurai clan which was at its peak one of the most powerful during the Muromachi and Sengoku periods (14th to 17th centuries). Appert, Georges. (1888) ''Ancien Japon,'' p. 79./ref> At its height, the clan had three main branc ...

s. After the establishment of the

Tokugawa Shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

, much of the province was assigned to several feudal domains. The Nakasendō and the Mikuni Kaidō highways passed through the province, and numerous post stations were established. Following the

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, the various domains became prefectures with the

abolition of the han system The in the Empire of Japan and its replacement by a system of prefectures in 1871 was the culmination of the Meiji Restoration begun in 1868, the starting year of the Meiji period. Under the reform, all daimyos (, ''daimyō'', feudal lord ...

in 1871. These various prefectures merged to form Gunma Prefecture in 1876. The area subsequently prospered with the development of sericulture and silk spinning industries.

Historical districts

** Agatsuma District (吾妻郡) ** Gunma District (群馬郡) *** Higashigunma District (東群馬郡) - merged with Minamiseta District to become the 2nd incarnation of Seta District (勢多郡) on April 1, 1896 *** Nishigunma District (西群馬郡) - merged with Kataoka District to become the 2nd incarnation of Gunma District (群馬郡) on April 1, 1896 ** Kanra District (甘楽郡) *** Kitakanra District (北甘楽郡) - renamed as Kanra District (甘楽郡) on April 1, 1950 *** Minamikanra District (南甘楽郡) - merged with Midono and Tago Districts to become Tano District (多野郡) on April 1, 1896 ** Kataoka District (片岡郡) - merged with Nishigunma District to become the 2nd incarnation of Gunma District on April 1, 1896 ** Kitagunma District (北群馬郡) - split off from Gunma District on October 1, 1949 ** Midono District (緑野郡) - merged with Minamikanra and Tago Districts to become Tano District on April 1, 1896 ** Nawa District (佐波郡) - merged with Sai District to become Sawa District (佐波郡) on April 1, 1896 ** Nitta District (新田郡) - dissolved ** Ōra District (邑楽郡) ** Sai District (佐波郡) - merged with Nawa District to become Sawa District on April 1, 1896 ** Seta District (勢多郡) *** Kitaseta District (北勢多郡) - merged into Tone District on April 1, 1896 *** Minamiseta District (南勢多郡) - merged with Higashigunma District to become the 2nd incarnation of Seta District on April 1, 1896 ** Tago District (多胡郡) - merged with Minamikanra and Midono Districts to become Tano District on April 1, 1896 ** Tone District (利根郡) - absorbed Kitaseta District on April 1, 1896 ** Usui District (碓氷郡) - dissolved ** Yamada District (山田郡) – dissolved

Bakumatsu period domains

Notes

References

* Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan encyclopedia.''
Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...

. ; * Papinot, Edmond. (1910). ''Historical and Geographic Dictionary of Japan.'' Tokyo: Librarie Sansaisha
OCLC 77691250

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kozuke Province Former provinces of Japan History of Gunma Prefecture 1871 disestablishments in Japan States and territories disestablished in 1871