The Famous Scenes of the Sixty States 23 Mino

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

Gifu Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture to the northwest, F ...

. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, and Shinano to the east, and

Ise Ise may refer to: Places * Ise, Mie, a city in Japan **Ise Grand Shrine, a Shinto shrine located in Ise, Mie * Ise Ekiti, a city in Nigeria *Ise, Norway, a village in Norway *Ise Province, an ancient province of Japan * River Ise, a tributary of th ...

, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviated form name was . Under the ''

Engishiki The is a Japanese book about laws and customs. The major part of the writing was completed in 927. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Engi-shiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 178. History In 905, Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of th ...

'' classification system, Mino was ranked as one of the 13 "great countries" (大国) in terms of importance, and one of the "near countries" (近国) in terms of distance from the capital. The

provincial capital A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the g ...

and ''

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 t ...

'' were located in what is now the town of Tarui.

Historical record

"Mino" is an ancient place name, and appears in ''

mokkan are wooden tablets found at Japanese archaeological sites. Most of the tablets date from the mid-7th to mid-8th century, but some are as late as the early modern period. They have been found in sites across Japan, but mostly around the old capita ...

'' wooden tags from the ruins of

Asuka-kyō was the Imperial capital of Japan during the Asuka period (538 – 710 AD), which takes its name from this place. It is located in the present-day village of Asuka, Nara Prefecture. Etymology Some of the many theories of what the place was nam ...

, Fujiwara-kyō, and other ancient sites, but using the ''

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

'' "三野国". Per the ''

Kujiki , or , is a historical Japanese text. It was generally believed to have been one of the earliest Japanese histories until the middle of the Edo period, when scholars such as Tokugawa Mitsukuni and Tada Yoshitoshi successfully contended that it wa ...

'', there were originally three separate countries in Mino, centered around what is now

Ōgaki Ōgaki Castle is a city located in Gifu, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 161,539, and a population density of 782 persons per km2 in 65,931 households. The total area of the city was . Ōgaki was the final destination for the h ...

Ōno ONO, Ono or Ōno may refer to: Places Fiji * Ono Island (Fiji) Israel * Kiryat Ono * Ono, Benjamin, ancient site Italy * Ono San Pietro Ivory Coast * Ono, Ivory Coast, a village in Comoé District Japan * Ōno Castle, Fukuoka * ...

, and

Kakamigahara is a city located in southern Gifu Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 148,225, and a population density of 1700 persons per km2, in 59,736 households. The total area of the city was . Situated in the northern part o ...

. Each had its own ''

Kuni no miyatsuko , also read as "kokuzō" or "kunitsuko", were officials in ancient Japan at the time of the Yamato court. Yamato period Kuni no miyatsuko governed small territories (), although the location, names, and borders of the provinces remain unclear. K ...

'', and together with Motosu (in eastern Gifu) and Mugetsu (in north-central Gifu), these five entities were joined under Yamato rule to form the province of Mino. The use of the ''kanji'' "美濃" is found in the ''

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

'' and became prevalent in 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 cap ...

. Early Mino included much of

Kiso District is a district located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. As of November 1, 2005, the district has an estimated population of 34,759. The total area is 1,546.26 km2. Historically, the district was once known as Nishichikuma District (西筑摩郡) ...

in Shinano and portions of northern Owari. The route of the ancient

Tōsandō is a Japanese geographical term. It means both an ancient division of the country and the main road running through it. It is part of the ''Gokishichidō'' system. It was situated along the central mountains of northern Honshu, specifically th ...

highway connecting the ancient capitals of Japan and the eastern provinces passed through Mino, and even in 713 AD, records indicate that the road was widened to accommodate increasing numbers of travelers. The '' Nihon Shoki'' and '' Shoku Nihongi'' indicates that numerous immigrants from the

hata clan was an immigrant clan active in Japan since the Kofun period (250–538), according to the history of Japan laid out in '' Nihon Shoki''. ''Hata'' is the Japanese reading of the Chinese surname ''Qin'' () given to the State of Qin and the Qin ...

and from

Silla Silla or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms of K ...

settled in Mino in the

Asuka Asuka may refer to: People * Asuka (name), a list of people * Asuka (wrestler), professional wrestler * Asuka (wrestler, born 1998), professional wrestler also known as Veny outside of Japan Places In Japan * , an area in Yamato Province (now ...

and Nara periods. During the Kamakura and

Muromachi Period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

, the

Toki clan The is a Japanese kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Toki," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 61 retrieved 2013-5-9. History The Toki claim descent from Minamot ...

held the position of ''

shugo , commonly translated as “(military) governor,” “protector,” or “constable,” was a title given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the ''shōgun'' to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan. The pos ...

'' of Mino Province. 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 ...

Saitō Dōsan , also known as Saitō Toshimasa (斎藤利政), was a Japanese samurai during the Sengoku period. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Saitō Dōsan"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 809. He was also known as the for his ruthless tactics. His hono ...

usurped political power from the Toki, and later the province was conquered by

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unify ...

. The

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...

took place at the western edge of Mino, near the mountains between the Chūbu Region and the

Kinki Region The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropolit ...

. With 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 ...

, several feudal domains were established in Mino. At the time of 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 ...

, Mino was divided into 18 districts, which in turn were divided into 131 subdistricts and 1561 villages. The total assessed '' kokudaka'' of the province was 654,872 ''koku''.

Historical districts

** Anpachi District (安八郡) - absorbed parts of Taki District; but lost parts to Kaisai and Shimoishizu Districts to become Kaizu District (海津郡) on April 1, 1896 ** Atsumi District (厚見郡) - merged with Kakami and parts of Katagata Districts to become Inaba District (稲葉郡) on April 1, 1896 ** Ena District (恵那郡) - dissolved ** Fuwa District (不破郡) ** Gujō District (郡上郡) - dissolved ** Haguri District (羽栗郡) - merged with Nakashima District to become Hashima District (羽島郡) on April 1, 1896 ** Ikeda District (池田郡) - merged with parts of Ōno (Mino) Districts to become

Ibi District is a district located in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. , the district has an estimated population of 72,109. The total area is 876.65 km2. The area of the former village of Tokuyama in this district will be flooded by the Tokuyama Dam. Towns ...

(揖斐郡) on April 1, 1896 ** Ishizu District (石津郡) *** Kamiishizu District (上石津郡) - merged with parts of Taki District to become Yōrō District (養老郡) on April 1, 1896 *** Shimoishizu District (下石津郡) - merged with Kaisai and parts of Anpachi Districts to become Kaizu District on April 1, 1896 ** Kaisai District (海西郡) - merged with Shimoishizu and parts of Anpachi Districts to become Kaizu District on April 1, 1896 ** Kakami District (各務郡) - merged with Atsumi and parts of Katagata Districts to become Inaba District on April 1, 1896 ** Kamo District (加茂郡) ** Kani District (可児郡) ** Katagata District (石津郡) - dissolved to split and merged into parts of Inaba, Motosu and Yamagata Districts on April 1, 1896 ** Mugi District (武儀郡) - dissolved ** Mushiroda District (席田郡) - merged with former Motosu, parts of Katagata and parts of Ōno (Mino) Districts to become Motosu District (本巣郡) on April 1, 1896 ** Nakashima District (中島郡) - merged with Haguri District to become Hashima District on April 1, 1896 ** Ōno District (Mino) (大野郡) - dissolved to split and merged into parts of Motosu and Ibi Districts on April 1, 1896 ** Taki District (石津郡) - dissolved to split and merged into parts of Yōrō and Anpachi Districts on April 1, 1896 ** Toki District (土岐郡) - dissolved ** Yamagata District (山県郡) - absorbed parts of Katagata District on April 1, 1896; now dissolved

''Shugo''

Below is an incomplete list of the ''

'' who controlled Mino Province and the years of their control:

Kamakura shogunate

Ōuchi Koreyoshi Ouchi or Ōuchi may refer to: Geography * Ouchi, Hubei (), a town in Gong'an County, Jingzhou, Hubei, China Japan * Ōuchi, Akita, a town now merged into Yurihonjō, Akita * Ouchi, Saga, a town now merged into Karatsu-city, Saga * Ōuchi-juku, a p ...

(大内惟義), 1187–1211 * Ōuchi Korenobu (大内惟信), until 1221 * Utunomiya Yasutsuna (宇都宮泰綱), from 1252 * Hōjō clan, from 1285 *

Hōjō Tokimura was a ''rensho'' of the Kamakura shogunate The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kama ...

(北条時村), 1296–1300 * Hōjō Masataka (北条政高), until 1333

Muromachi shogunate

* Toki Yorisada (土岐頼貞), 1336–1339"Toki clan" at Sengoku-expo.net
retrieved 2013-5-10. * Toki Yoritō (土岐頼遠), 1339–1342 * Toki Yoriyasu (土岐頼康), 1342–1387 * Toki Yasuyuki (土岐康行), 1387–1389 * Toki Yoritada (土岐頼忠), 1390–1394 * Toki Yorimasu (土岐頼益), 1395–1414 * Toki Mochimasu (土岐持益), 1422–1465 *

Toki Shigeyori was a leading military commander during the Muromachi period in Mino Province (modern-day Gifu Prefecture), Japan. The characters for his name can also be read as Toki Nariyori. He became the eighth head of the Toki clan at the age of 15

(土岐成頼), 1468–1495 * Toki Masafusa (土岐政房), 1495–1519 *

Toki Yorinari , also known as Toki Yoriaki,
retrieved 2013-5-10. was a Japanese

(土岐頼芸), 1519–1542Nussbaum
"Saitō Dōsan" at p. 809

Edo period Domains

Geography

Mino and Owari provinces were separated by the Sakai River, which means "border river."

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 retirem ...

.
OCLC 58053128
* Titsingh, Isaac. (1834)
''Annales des empereurs du Japon''
(''

Nihon Odai Ichiran Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

''). Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland
OCLC 5850691

Other websites

{{Japan Old Province History of Gifu Prefecture