(Go: >> BACK << -|- >> HOME <<)
Jump to content

Musashi Province

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Ansei (talk | contribs) at 18:16, 19 October 2012 (shorter cite). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

File:Japan prov map musashi.PNG
Map of Japanese provinces with province highlighted
For other uses, see Musashi (disambiguation).

Musashi Province (武蔵国, Musashi no kuni) was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Prefecture, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture.[1] It was sometimes called Bushū (武州). The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama. Musashi bordered on Kai, Kōzuke, Sagami, Shimōsa, and Shimotsuke Provinces.

Musashi was the largest province in the Kantō region.

Name

The name Musashi, recorded in early records as 牟射志 munzasi, appears to be of Ainu origin. It has no meaning in Japanese, but mún-sa-hi (grass-plain-POSS)[2] means "grass plain" in Ainu, and Musashi sits in the middle of the Kanto plain.[3]

History

Musashi had its ancient capital in modern Fuchu, Tokyo and its provincial temple in what is now Kokubunji, Tokyo. By the Sengoku period, the main city was Edo, which became the dominant city of eastern Japan. Edo Castle was the headquarters of Tokugawa Ieyasu before the Battle of Sekigahara and became the dominant city of Japan during the Edo period, being renamed Tokyo during the Meiji Restoration.

Hikawa jinja was designated as the chief Shinto shrine (ichinomiya) of the province; [4] and there are many branch shrines.[5]

The former province gave its name to the battleship of the Second World War Musashi.

Timeline of important events in Musashi

  • July 18, 707 (Keiun 4, 15th day of the 6th month): Empress Genmei is enthroned at the age of 48.[6]
  • 707 (Keiun 4): Copper was reported to have been found in Musashi province in the region which includes modern day Tokyo.[7]
  • 708 (Keiun 5):, The era name was about to be changed to mark the accession of Empress Gemmei; but the choice of Wadō as the new nengō for this new reign became a way to mark the welcome discovery of copper in the Chichibu District of what is now Saitama Prefecture.[7] The Japanese word for copper is dō (銅); and since this was indigenous copper, the "wa" (the ancient Chinese term for Japan) could be combined with the "dō" (copper) to create a new composite term – "wadō" – meaning "Japanese copper."
  • May 5, 708 (Wadō 1, 11th day of the 4th month): A sample of the newly discovered Musashi copper was presented in Gemmei's Court where it was formally acknowledged as Japanese copper.[7] The Wadō era is famous for the first Japanese coin (和同開珎, wadokaiho or wadokaichin).

District

Musashi Province had 21 districts, added 1 after.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Musashi" in Japan Encyclopedia, pp. 669-671, p. 669, at Google Books.
  2. ^ There are dialectical words of Ainu origin in the Tohoku region where si corresponds to Hokkaido Ainu hi
  3. ^ Vovin, Alexander (2008). "Man'yōshū to Fudoki ni Mirareru Fushigina Kotoba to Jōdai Nihon Retto ni Okeru Ainugo no Bunpu." Kokusai Nihon Bunka Kenkyū Sentā.
  4. ^ "Nationwide List of Ichinomiya," p. 3.; retrieved 2011-08-09
  5. ^ Nussbaum, "Hikawa-jinja" at p. 311, p. 311, at Google Books.
  6. ^ Brown, Delmer M. (1979). Gukanshō, p. 271.
  7. ^ a b c Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 63., p. 63, at Google Books

References


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Musashi_Province&oldid=518744193"