was a province of Japan in the area that is today

Toyama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Toyama Prefecture has a population of 993,848 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,247.61 km2 (1,640.01 sq mi). Toyama Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the ...

in the

Hokuriku region The is located in the northwestern part of Honshu, the main island of Japan. It lies along the Sea of Japan and is part of the larger Chūbu region. It is almost equivalent to the former Koshi Province (Japan), Koshi Province and Hokurikudō are ...

of Japan. Etchū bordered on

Noto Noto (; ) is a city and in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily, Italy. It is southwest of the city of Syracuse at the foot of the Iblean Mountains. It lends its name to the surrounding area Val di Noto. In 2002 Noto and its church were decl ...

and Kaga Provinces to the west, Shinano and Hida Provinces to the south,

Echigo Province was an old provinces of Japan, old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It bordered on Uzen Province, Uzen, Iwashiro Province, Iwashiro, Kōzuke Province, Kōzuke, Shinano Province, Shinano, and Etchū Province, ...

to the east and the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

to the north. Its abbreviated form name was . 34 Etchu

History

was an ancient province of Japan and is listed as one of the original provinces in the ''

Nihon Shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...

''. The region as a whole was sometimes referred to as . In 701 AD, per the 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- ...

, Koshi was divided into three separate provinces: Echizen, Etchū, and Echigo. However, in 702 AD, the four western

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

of Etchū Province (Kubiki, Kosi, Uonuma and Kambara) were transferred to Echigo Province. Etchū annexed Noto Province in 741 AD, but Noto was separated out again in 757 AD. In 746 AD, the noted poet Ōtomo no Yakamochi became ''Kokushi'', and left many references to the region in the poetic anthology ''

Man'yōshū The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...

''. The

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 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 capita ...

provincial capital and

provincial temple The are Buddhist temples in Japan, Buddhist temples established in each of the provinces of Japan by Emperor Shōmu during the Nara period (710 – 794). The official name for each temple was Konkomyo Shitenno Gokoku-ji (Konkōmyō Shitennō ...

were located in what is now the city of Takaoka, Toyama; however, there are four shrines which vie for the title of ''

Ichinomiya is a Japanese language, Japanese historical term referring to the Shinto shrines with the highest rank in a Provinces of Japan, province. Shrines of lower rank were designated , , , and so forth.''Encyclopedia of Shinto'' ''Ichi no miya'' retr ...

'' two of which are located in Takaoka, one in the city of Nanto and one in the town of Tateyama. Under the '' Engishiki'' classification system, Etchū was ranked as a "superior country" (上国) in terms of importance and "middle country" (中国) in terms of distance from the capital. Despite this classification, Etchū never developed a powerful local ''

gōzoku , in Japanese, refers to powerful regional families. In historical context, it can refer to powerful non-royal families regardless of their area of influence, in contrast to the Imperial Family. The most powerful ''gōzoku'' families of the Yam ...

'' clan and was usually controlled by its more powerful neighbours. During the

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

, the Hatakeyama clan emerged as ''

shugo , commonly translated as ' ilitarygovernor', 'protector', or 'constable', was a title given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the shogun to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan. The position gave way to th ...

'' of the region, but preferred to remain in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, and to rule through appointed deputies, such as the Jinbō clan and the Shiina clan. Into the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

, the Hatakeyama transferred their power base to

Nanao Castle was a Muromachi period ''yamajiro''-style Japanese castle located in what is now the city of Nanao, Ishikawa, Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Its ruins have been protected as a Historic Sites of Japan, National Histori ...

in Noto province, and Etchū became an area contested by the

Uesugi Kenshin , later known as , was a Japanese ''daimyō'' (magnate). He was born in Nagao clan, and after adoption into the Uesugi clan, ruled Echigo Province in the Sengoku period of Japan. He was one of the most powerful ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period ...

and the

Oda clan The is a Japanese samurai family who were daimyo and an important political force in the unification of Japan in the mid-16th century. Though they reached the peak of their power under Oda Nobunaga and fell soon after, several branches of the ...

with the ''

Ikkō-ikki were armed military leagues that formed in several regions of Japan in the 15th-16th centuries, composed entirely of members of the Jōdo Shinshū sect of Buddhism. In the early phases, these ''ikki'' leagues opposed the rule of local Shugo, go ...

'' helping play one side against the other. The area was eventually conquered by

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...

's general Shibata Katsuie and his deputy Sassa Narimasa, who were later replaced by Maeda Toshiie under the rule of

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

. The

Maeda clan The was a Japanese samurai clan who occupied most of the Hokuriku region of central Honshū from the end of the Sengoku period through the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The Maeda claimed descent from the Sugawara clan through Sugawara no Kiyotom ...

retained control of the province under Kaga Domain during the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

. During the mid-Edo period, Nei District and much of Niikawa District were separated from Kaga Domain into the 100,000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...

Toyama Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain in Edo period Japan, located in Etchū Province (modern-day Toyama Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Toyama Castle in what is now the city of Toyama, Toyama, Toyama. Throughout its history, it was ruled by a ...

, which was ruled by a branch of the Maeda clan. 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

and 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 lords) ...

in 1871, Etchū Province was divided into Kanazawa Prefecture, Toyama Prefecture, Nanao Prefecture and Niikawa Prefecture, but these areas were reconsolidated into

Ishikawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,096,721 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,186 Square kilometre, km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Pr ...

in 1876. In 1883, Ishikawa Prefecture was divided, with the original four districts of Etchū Province becoming the new Toyama Prefecture. However, the name “Etchū Province” continued to appear in official documents afterwards for some administrative purposes. For example, Etchū is explicitly recognized in treaties in 1894 (a) between Japan and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and (b) between Japan and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

.US Department of State. (1906)
''A digest of international law as embodied in diplomatic discussions, treaties and other international agreements'' (John Bassett Moore, ed.), Vol. 5, p. 759

Historical districts

Etchū Province consisted of eight districts: *

** Imizu District (射水郡) – dissolved *** Himi District (氷見郡) – split from Imizu District on April 1, 1896; now dissolved ** Nei District (婦負郡) – dissolved ** Niikawa District (新川郡): *** Kaminiikawa District (上新川郡) – dissolved **** Nakaniikawa District (中新川郡) – split from Kaminiikawa District on April 1, 1896 *** Shimoniikawa District (下新川郡) ** Tonami District (礪波郡): *** Higashitonami District (東礪波郡) – dissolved *** Nishitonami District (西礪波郡) – dissolved

Notes

References

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

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

.
OCLC 58053128
* Papinot, Edmond. (1910). ''Historical and Geographic Dictionary of Japan.'' Tokyo: Librarie Sansaisha
OCLC 77691250

External links

*

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

History

Historical districts

See also

Notes

References

External links