Etchū Province

Etchū Province
Etchū Province in 1868.

Etchū Province

Etchū Province (越中国) was an old Province of Japan, located in what is now Toyama Prefecture.

Legendary Period

It is mentioned in the Nihongi alongside that of Echigo Province and Echizen Province. However, they are grouped together and given the name of Koshi. Koshi being the fifth island of Japan created by Izanami and Izanagi.1

Formation

The province was formed after the Taika Reforms in AD645, when the Province of Koshi was broken down into Etchu, Echigo and Echizen, and the establishment of the ritsuryō system, and by the Edo Period this area had come under the control of the Maeda Family.2

Governors

Ōtomo no Yakamochi at the age of 30 was sent here to act as Governor. He is known to have spent many days on excursions so he could write poetry. Many of these can be found in books 17 and 19 of the Man’yōshū. It is said the poems from book 19 are his greatest, on the subject of nature. His poetry used both traditional and old fashioned forms and language.3

Footnotes

1. Aston. W.G. (1896) “Nihongi Volume 1: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to AD697″. Tuttle Publishing.
2. Kodansha. (1993) ”Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia”. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.
3. Kodansha. (1993) ”Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia”. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.

Former Provinces of Japan
KinaiIzumi * Kawachi * Settsu * Yamashiro * Yamato
TōsandōDewa * Hida * Kōzuke * Mino * Mutsu * Omi * Shimotsuke * Shinano
HokurikudōEchigo * Echizen * Etchū * Kaga * Koshi * Wakasa
San’indōHōki * Inaba * Izumo * Tajima * Tamba * Tango
TōkaidōIse * Kai * Kazusa * Mikawa * Owari * Sagami * Shimōsa * Suruga * Tōtōmi
NankaidōAwa * Iyo * Kii * Sanuki * Tosa
San’yōdōAki * Harima * Mimasaka
SaikaidaōBungo * Chikuzen * Hizen * Hyūga * Iki * Tsushima
Pre-Taihō CodeKibi

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Etchū Province