is a Japanese geographical term. It means both an ancient division of the country and the main road running through it. The road connected provincial capitals in this region. It was part of the

Gokishichidō was the name for ancient administrative units organized in Japan during the Asuka period (AD 538–710), as part of a legal and governmental system borrowed from the Chinese. Though these units did not survive as administrative structures beyon ...

system. The ''Nankaidō'' encompassed the pre-Meiji provincial lands of Kii and Awaji, plus the four provinces that made up the island of

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...

Awa Awa (or variants) may refer to: People * Awa (given name), notable people named Awa or Hawa * Awá (Brazil), an indigenous people of Brazil * Awa-Kwaiker, an indigenous people of Colombia and Ecuador Languages * Awa language (China) or Wa (Va) ...

, Sanuki, Tosa, and Iyo. The road extended from

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...

to the seacoast to the south on the

Kii Peninsula The is the largest peninsula on the island of Honshū in Japan. It is named after the ancient Kii Province. Overview The area south of the “ Central Tectonic Line” is called , and is home to reef-like coral communities which are amongst ...

of the island of

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...

Japan 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 ...

and crossing the sea, extended to Yura (nowadays Sumoto) and then

Nankaidō earthquakes

:''See

Historic tsunami This article lists notable tsunamis, which are sorted by the date and location that the tsunami occurred. Because of seismic and volcanic activity associated with tectonic plate boundaries along the Pacific Ring of Fire, tsunamis occur most fr ...

for a full list of Nankai quakes with tsunami.'' Many historic earthquakes bear the name "Nankai" or "Nankaido", as specific

epicenter The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Surface damage Before the instrumental pe ...

s were known at the time. Often quakes take on the

Japanese era name The , also known as , is the first of the two elements that identify years in the Japanese era calendar scheme. The second element is a number which indicates the year number within the era (with the first year being ""), followed by the literal ...

along with location such as Nankaido. These include: *

1498 Meiō Nankaidō earthquake Year 1498 ( MCDXCVIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 1498th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 498th year of the 2nd millennium, the 98t ...

* 1605 Keichō Nankaidō earthquake * 1854 Ansei-Nankai earthquake *

1944 Tōnankai earthquake The 1944 Tōnankai earthquake occurred at 13:35 local time (04:35 UTC) on 7 December. It had an estimated magnitude of 8.1 on the moment magnitude scale (making it the strongest known earthquake of 1944) and a maximum felt intensity of greater th ...

* Nankai earthquake (南海地震) measuring 8.4 hit at 4:19

ocal time Ocal or OCAL may refer to: * Öcal, Turkish surname * Öçal, Turkish surname * Open Clip Art Library Openclipart, also called Open Clip Art Library, is an online media repository of free-content vector clip art. The project hosts over 160,000 ...

there was a catastrophic earthquake on the southwest of Japan in the Nankai area. It was felt almost everywhere in the central and western parts of the country. The tsunami washed away 1451 houses, caused 1500 deaths in Japan, and was observed on tide gauges in California, Hawaii, and Peru.JNOAA Earthquake Database Query
/ref>

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
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nankaido Regions of Japan Road transport in Japan Former provinces of Japan Nankaido

Nankaidō earthquakes

See also

Notes

References