was a short-lived
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
in
Hokkaidō. It corresponded to modern-day
Tokachi Subprefecture
is a subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan corresponding to the old province of Tokachi.Rowthorn, Chris. (2009) ''Japan,'' p. 641 As of 2004, its estimated population is 360,802 and its area is 10,830.99 km2.
Tokachi-Obihiro Airpo ...
.
History
In 1820, the explorer Takeshiro Matsuura (松浦 武四郎) proposed Tokachi as the name of the province. The province was named after the
Tokachi River
is a river in Hokkaidō, Japan.
Etymology
In 1820, the explorer Takeshiro Matsuura (松浦 武四郎) proposed "Tokachi" as the name of the surrounding Tokachi Province, with each character corresponding to a Japanese homophone. The province ...
, which in turn was derived from the
Ainu language word "tokapci".
Although the exact origins of "tokapci" were unknown, Hidezo Yamada, an Ainu language researcher, proposed these origins:
* tokap-usi ("breast, somewhere")
* toka-o-pci ("swamp, around a place, either")
After 1869, the northern Japanese island was known as Hokkaido; and regional administrative subdivisions were identified, including Tokachi Province.
[ Satow, Ernest. (1882). "The Geography of Japan" in ]
*August 15, 1869 Tokachi Province established with 7
districts
*1872 Census finds a population of 1,464
*1882 Provinces dissolved in Hokkaidō
Districts
*
Hiroo (広尾郡)
*Tōbui (当縁郡) - dissolved April 1, 1906 when 3 villages merged into Moyori Village (now
Hiroo Town) in Hirō District and two villages merged with Ōtsu Village in Tokachi District
*
Kamikawa (上川郡)
*
Nakagawa (中川郡)
*
Katō (河東郡)
*
Kasai (河西郡)
*
Tokachi (十勝郡)
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 ...
.
OCLC 58053128
Former provinces of Japan
{{Hokkaido-geo-stub