Shinano Province

• See also: List of Provinces

Shinano Province

Shinano Province (信濃国) was one of the many provinces of Japan.

Folktales

The folktale The Clever Boar and Monkey is set in this province.⁵

Legenedary Period

Yamanobe no Ohotaka passed through here on his way to catch a swan for the Prince Homutsuwake.⁴

Nara Period

Around 717AD we see the Priest Manzei promoted to the rank of Junior Fourth-rank Upper-grade and subsequently made General of Owari, Mikawa and Shinano Provinces.¹

Azuchi-Momoyama Period

The Provinces of Shinano and Echigo were attacked by Takeda Shingen after displacing his father Nobutora in 1541. In 1542 he was made shugo of Shinano by Ashikaga Yoshiteru. A series of later failed alliences led to the Battle of Mitakagahara in 1573 against Oba Nobunaga of which the Takeda were the victors.²

Takeda Katsuyori was daimyō of the Shinano, Kai, Suruga and Kōzuke Province during his lifetime.²

Edo Period

The poet Kobayashi Issa was born here in the village of Kashiwabara in 1736. Here he was educated by a village teacher, his teaching under the name of Shimpo writing haiku.³

Footnotes

1. Miller, R. A.. (1981) “The Lost Poetic Sequence of the Priest Manzei”. Monumenta Nipponica. Vol.36 No.2 pp.133-172
2. Louis Frederic, translated by Kathe Roth (2002) “Japan Encyclopedia”. London: Harvard University Press.
3. Carter, S.D. (1991) “Traditional Japanese Poetry: An Anthology.” California, Stanford University Press.
4. Yasumaro. O, translated by Gustav Heldt. (2014) “Kojiki. An Account of Ancient Matters”. New York: Columbia University Press.
5. Ozaki, Y.T. (2015) “Japanese Fairy Tales” USA: Cavalier Classics.

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