Mutsu Province (1868)

Rikuō (Mutsu) Province from 1869 onwards

Mutsu Province (陸奥国 Mutsu no kuni), officially called Rikuō Province (陸奥国 Rikuō no kuni) was an old province of Japan in the area of Iwate and Aomori prefecture.^[1]

It was also known as Ōshū (奥州) or Rikushū (陸州). In the Meiji era, the province was cut down to cover only present-day Aomori and given the new name Rikuō Province, which retained the original kanji.^[2]

History

On December 7, 1868 (January 19, 1869 in the Gregorian calendar), four additional provinces (Rikuchū, Rikuzen, Iwaki, and Iwashiro) were separated from Mutsu, leaving only a rump corresponding to today's Aomori Prefecture (with Ninohe District of Iwate Prefecture). At the same time, while the characters of the name were unchanged, the official reading was changed to the on'yomi version "Rikuō".^[2]

Historical districts

• Aomori Prefecture
  • Tsugaru District (津軽郡)
    • Higashitsugaru District (東津軽郡)
    • Kitatsugaru District (北津軽郡)
    • Minamitsugaru District (南津軽郡)
    • Nakatsugaru District (中津軽郡)
    • Nishitsugaru District (西津軽郡)
  • Kita District (北郡)
    • Kamikita District (上北郡)
    • Shimokita District (下北郡)
  • Sannohe District (三戸郡)
• Iwate Prefecture
  • Ninohe District (二戸郡)

See also

• Mutsu Province
• Sanriku
• Tōhoku region
• Tōsandō
• Japanese battleship Mutsu, the World War II Imperial Japanese Navy warship named after the province.

Notes

1. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Mutsu" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 676, p. 676, at Google Books.
2. 地名「三陸地方」の起源に関する地理学的ならびに社会学的問題 PDF（岩手大学教育学部）

References

• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon (Nihon Odai Ichiran). Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691.

Other websites

Media related to Mutsu Province (1868) at Wikimedia Commons

• Murdoch's map of provinces, 1903
• "Mutsu Province". SamuraiWiki. Retrieved 2008-01-16.