or is an old province of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

that is now

Nagano Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture ...

. Shinano bordered Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, which became an important city of the province. The

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

-era Japanese

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

''Shinano'' was named after this old province.

Historical record

In 713, the road that traverses Mino and Shinano provinces was widened to accommodate increasing numbers of travelers through the Kiso District of modern Nagano Prefecture. In 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 ...

, Shinano Province was often split among fiefs and castle towns developed, including Komoro, Ina, and

Ueda Ueda may refer to: Places *Ueda, Nagano, a city in Japan * Ueda Castle in Japan * Ueda Domain of Japan * Ueda Glacier in Antarctica Other uses * Ueda (surname) *Siege of Ueda Sekigahara campaign Sieges of the Sengoku period Attacks on castles ...

. Shinano was one of the major centers of

Takeda Shingen was daimyō, daimyo of Kai Province during the Sengoku period of Japan. Known as "the Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyo of the late Sengoku period, and credited with exceptional military prestige. Shingen was based in a p ...

's power during his wars with

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 others. During the

Azuchi–Momoyama period The was the final phase of the in Japanese history from 1568 to 1600. After the outbreak of the Ōnin War in 1467, the power of the Ashikaga Shogunate effectively collapsed, marking the start of the chaotic Sengoku period. In 1568, Oda Nob ...

, after Nobunaga's assassination at

Honnō-ji Incident The was the assassination of Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga at Honnō-ji, a temple in Kyoto, on 21 June 1582 (2nd day of the sixth month, Tenshō 10). Nobunaga was on the verge of unifying the country, but died in the unexpected rebellion of ...

, the province was contested between Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Go-Hōjō clan based in

Odawara castle is a reconstructed Japanese castle in the city of Odawara in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The current donjon (keep) was constructed out of reinforced concrete in 1960 on a stone foundation of the former donjon, torn down from 1870–1872 ...

. The

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty which produced the Tokugawa shoguns who ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868 during the Edo period. It was formerly a powerful ''daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of ...

, The

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

and the

Hōjō clan The was a Japanese samurai family who controlled the hereditary title of '' shikken'' (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate between 1203 and 1333. Despite the title, in practice the family wielded actual political power in Japan during this perio ...

each aspired to seize the vast area in Shinano Province, Ueno region, and Kai Province, which ruled by the remnants of the many small clans formerly serving the Takeda clan. Following of disorder post death of Nobunaga, at the same time with Ieyasu departure an army of 8,000 soldiers to those disputed region. This caused the triangle conflict between those three factions in the event which dubbed by historians as Tenshō-Jingo War broke out. As the war turned in favor of Tokugawa clan, combined with the defection of

Sanada Masayuki was a Japanese Sengoku period lord and ''daimyō''. He was the head of Sanada clan, a regional house of Shinano Province, which became a vassal of the Takeda clan of Kai Province. Along with his father and brothers, Masayuki served the Taked ...

to the Tokugawa faction, the Hōjō clan now negotiate truce with Ieyasu and The Go-Hōjō clan then sent Hōjō Ujinobu as representative, while the Tokugawa sent Ii Naomasa as representative for the preliminary meetings. Furthermore, In October, representatives from the Oda clan such as

Oda Nobukatsu also known as Kitabatake Tomotoyo was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi–Momoyama period. He was the second son of Oda Nobunaga. He was adopted as the head of the Kitabatake clan from Ise Province. He survived the decline of the Oda clan ...

Oda Nobutaka was a samurai and member of the Oda clan. He was adopted as the head of the Kanbe clan, which ruled the middle region of Ise Province and so he was also called Kanbe Nobutaka (神戸信孝). Biography Nobutaka was born as the third son of Oda ...

, and Toyotomi mediated the negotiation until the truce officially concluded.

Suwa taisha , historically also known as Suwa Shrine (諏訪神社 ''Suwa-jinja'') or , is a group of Shinto shrines in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The shrine complex is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Shinano Province and is considered to be one of the oldest sh ...

was designated as the chief Shinto shrine (''

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 ...

'') for the province."Nationwide List of ''Ichinomiya''," p. 2.
retrieved 2011-08-010 In 1871, during the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

, 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 lords) ...

and the establishment of

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

s (''Haihan Chiken'') after 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 ...

, Shinano Province's ex-domains/1871 prefectures and ex-shogunate territories/1868 prefectures (mainly Ina Matsumoto">Matsumoto_Domain.html" ;"title="erger of several shogunate demesne administrations with parts of Matsumoto

Okutono, Iwamurada Domain">Iwamurada, Komoro Domain">Komoro, Ueda Domain">Ueda Ueda may refer to: Places *Ueda, Nagano, a city in Japan * Ueda Castle in Japan * Ueda Domain of Japan * Ueda Glacier in Antarctica Other uses * Ueda (surname) *Siege of Ueda Sekigahara campaign Sieges of the Sengoku period Attacks on castles ...

, Matsushiro, Suzaka, Iiyama, Suwa/Takashima, Takatō, Shinano-Iida Domain">Iida, Matsumoto Domain">Matsumoto) and Takayama Prefecture">Takayama/Hida which covered Hida Province">Takatō Domain">Takatō, Shinano-Iida Domain">Iida, Matsumoto Domain">Matsumoto) and Takayama Prefecture">Takayama/Hida which covered Hida Province were administratively merged into Nagano (initially Nakano Prefecture in 1870) and Chikuma Prefecture, Chikuma Prefectures of Japan, prefectures. The seat of the prefectural government of Nakano was Nakano town from Takai District (became Nakano City in 1954), Nagano's prefectural capital was Nagano town in Minochi District (→

Nagano City is the capital and largest city of Nagano Prefecture, located in the Nagano Basin (Zenkoji Daira) in the central Chūbu region of Japan. Nagano is categorized as a core city of Japan. Nagano City is the highest prefectural capital in Japan, wit ...

in 1897), and Chikuma's capital was Matsumoto town, Chikuma district ( Matsumoto City from 1907). In the second wave of prefectural mergers in 1875/76, Chikuma was split again: the Western part covering Hida Province was merged into Gifu, and the Eastern part in Shinano became part of Nagano. Since that time, Nagano is essentially contiguous to Shinano.

Historical districts

Shinano Province consisted of sixteen districts: *

** Azumi District (安曇郡) *** Kitaazumi District (北安曇郡) *** Minamiazumi District (南安曇郡) – dissolved ** Chiisagata District (小県郡) ** Chikuma District (筑摩郡) *** Higashichikuma District (東筑摩郡) *** Nishichikuma District (西筑摩郡) – renamed as Kiso District (木曽郡) on May 1, 1968 ** Hanishina District (埴科郡) ** Minochi District (水内郡) *** Kamiminochi District (上水内郡) *** Shimominochi District (下水内郡) ** Saku District (佐久郡) *** Kitasaku District (北佐久郡) *** Minamisaku District (南佐久郡) ** Sarashina District (更級郡) – dissolved ** Takai District (高井郡) *** Kamitakai District (上高井郡) *** Shimotakai District (下高井郡) * Former Suwa Province: ** Ina District (伊那郡) *** Kamiina District (上伊那郡) *** Shimoina District (下伊那郡) ** Suwa District (諏訪郡)

Appendix

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

* * * 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 ...

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

Nihon Ōdai Ichiran , ', is a 17th-century chronicle of the serial reigns of Japanese emperors with brief notes about some of the noteworthy events or other happenings. According to the 1871 edition of the ''American Cyclopaedia'', the 1834 French translation of ...

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

External links

Murdoch's map of provinces, 1903
* Hokusai
''A View of Mount Fuji across Lake Suwa''
c. 1831 * Ishida Satoshi: Maps of prefectures in Central Japa

{{Japan Old Province Former provinces of Japan History of Nagano Prefecture