Former province of Japan
Map of Japanese provinces (1868) with Echigo Province highlighted
Hiroshige
ukiyo-e
" Echigo " in "The Famous Scenes of the Sixty States" (六十余州名所??), depicting Oyashirazu cliffs.
Echigo Province
(
越後?
,
Echigo no kuni
)
was an
old province
in north-central
Japan
, on the shores of the
Sea of Japan
. It bordered on
Uzen
,
Iwashiro
,
K?zuke
,
Shinano
, and
Etch?
Provinces.
[1]
It corresponds today to
Niigata Prefecture
, minus the island of
Sado
.
Its abbreviated form name was
Essh?
(
越州
)
, with
Echizen
and
Etch?
Provinces. Under the
Engishiki
classification system, Echigo was ranked as one of the 35 "superior countries" (上?) in terms of importance, and one of the 30 "far countries" (遠?) in terms of distance from the capital.
Echigo and
K?zuke Province
were known as the
J?etsu region
.
History
[
edit
]
In the late 7th century, during the reign of
Emperor Monmu
, the ancient province of
Koshi Province
(
越? or 古志?
,
Koshi no kuni
)
was divided into three separate provinces:
Echizen
,
Etch?
, and Echigo. The new Echigo Province consisted of
Iwafune
and
Nutari Districts
, and was one of two border provinces of the
Yamato state
with the
Emishi
(the other being
Mutsu
). In 702, Echigo was given the four districts of
Kubiki
,
Koshi
,
Uonuma
and
Kanbara
from Etch?. When Japan extended its territory northward in 708,
Dewa District
was established under Echigo. But this district was transformed into
Dewa Province
in 712.
Sado Province
was temporarily merged with Echigo between 743 and 752. Since the division of Sado in 752, the territory of Echigo remained constant to the
Meiji period
.
The
provincial capital
of Echigo was located in Kubiki District, in what is now the city of
J?etsu
, but its exact location is now unknown. The temple of Gochikokubun-ji
(
五智?分寺
)
, also in J?etsu, claims to be the successor of the
provincial temple
of Echigo Province; however, its records date only to 1562 when it was relocated to its present location by
Uesugi Kenshin
. Two
Shinto shrines
vie for the title of
ichinomiya
of Echigo Province:
Yahiko Shrine
in
Yahiko
, and
Kota Shrine
in J?etsu.
Echigo was ruled directly by the
H?j? clan
during the
Kamakura period
, followed by the
Uesugi clan
from the start of the
Muromachi period
to the late
Sengoku period
. Under the
Tokugawa shogunate
of the
Edo period
, Echigo was divided among several
feudal domains
. The
Hokurikud?
highway passed through the province, and numerous
post stations
were established. The port of Niigata was also of major importance in the coastal
kitamaebune
trading system.
The area became a battleground during the
Battle of Hokuetsu
in the
Boshin War
of the
Meiji Restoration
. Following the establishment of the
Meiji government
, the various domains became prefectures with the
abolition of the han system
in 1871. These various prefectures merged to form Niigata Prefecture in 1876.
Historical districts
[
edit
]
Echigo Province consisted of fifteen districts:
Bakumatsu period domains
[
edit
]
Name
|
type
|
daimy?
|
kokudaka
|
notes
|
Murakami Domain
|
fudai
|
Nait?
|
50,000
koku
|
|
Kurokawa Domain
|
fudai
|
Yanagisawa
|
10,000
koku
|
|
Mikkaichi Domain
|
fudai
|
Yanagisawa
|
10,000
koku
|
|
Shibata Domain
|
tozama
|
Mizoguchi
|
50,000
koku
|
|
Muramatsu Domain
|
tozama
|
Hori
|
30,000
koku
|
|
Yoita Domain
|
fudai
|
Ii
|
20,000
koku
|
|
Nagaoka Domain
|
fudai
|
Makino
|
110,000
koku
|
|
Mineyama Domain
|
fudai
|
Makino
|
11,000
koku
|
|
Shiiya Domain
|
fudai
|
Hori
|
10,000
koku
|
|
Takada Domain
|
fudai
|
Yanagihara
|
150,000
koku
|
|
Itoigawa Domain
|
shinpan
|
Matsudaira
|
10,000
koku
|
|
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Echigo Province
at Wikimedia Commons