Mutsu Province (陸奥国, Mutsu no Kuni; Japanese pronunciation: [mɯꜜ.tsɯ (no kɯ.ɲi)]) was a province of Japan in what is now Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori Prefectures and the municipalities of Kazuno and Kosaka in Akita Prefecture.
Mutsu Province is also known as Ōshū (奥州) or Michinoku (陸奥 or 道奥); the Eastern Old Japanese name varied between Mutu and Miti.
The combined area of Mutsu and the neighbouring Dewa Province is the Tōhoku region, which was also known as Ōu (奥羽) via on'yomi reading (using Chinese pronunciations of the kanji) used for Mutsu and Dewa.
History
Invasion by the Kinai government
Mutsu, on northern Honshū, was one of the last provinces to be formed as land was taken from the indigenous Emishi, and became the largest as it expanded northward. The ancient regional capital of the Kinai government was Tagajō in present-day Miyagi Prefecture.
709 (Wadō 2, 3rd month), an uprising against governmental authority took place in Mutsu and in nearby Echigo Province. Troops were dispatched to subdue the revolt.
712 (Wadō 5), Mutsu was separated from Dewa Province. Empress Genmei's Daijō-kan made cadastral changes in the provincial map of the Nara period, as in the following year when Mimasaka Province was split from Bizen Province, Hyūga Province was sundered from Ōsumi Province, and Tanba Province was severed from Tango Province.
718, Shineha, Uda and Watari districts of the Mutsu Province, Kikuta, Iwaki districts of the Hitachi Province are incorporated into Iwaki Province (718).
801, Mutsu was conquered by Sakanoue no Tamuramaro.
869 (Jōgan 10, 5th month): A terrible earthquake struck Mutsu. More than 1,000 people lost their lives in the disaster.
Prosperity of Hiraizumi
In 1095, the Ōshū Fujiwara clan settled at Hiraizumi, under the leadership of Fujiwara no Kiyohira. Kiyohira hoped to "form a city rivaling Kyoto as a centre of culture". The legacy of the Ōshū Fujiwara clan remains with the temples Chūson-ji and Mōtsū-ji in Hiraizumi, and the Shiramizu Amidadō temple building in Iwaki. In 1189, Minamoto no Yoritomo invaded Mutsu with three great forces, eventually killing Fujiwara no Yasuhira and acquiring the entire domain.
Sengoku period
During the Sengoku period, clans ruled parts of the province.
The Nanbu clan at Morioka in the north.
The Date clan at Iwadeyama and Sendai in the south.
The Sōma clan at Nakamura in the south.
The Iwaki clan at Iinodaira in the south.
The Uesugi clan had a castle town at Wakamatsu in the south.
After the Boshin War
As a result of the Boshin War, Mutsu Province was divided by the Meiji government, on 19 January 1869, into five provinces: Iwashiro, Iwaki, Rikuzen, Rikuchū, and Rikuō). The fifth of these, corresponding roughly to today's Aomori Prefecture, was assigned the same two kanji as the entire province prior to division; however, the character reading was different. Due to the similarity in characters in the name, this smaller province has also sometimes been referred to as 'Mutsu'.
Districts
Under Ritsuryō
Iwate Prefecture
Kesen District (気仙郡)
Isawa District (膽沢郡)
Esashi District (江刺郡)
Iwai District (磐井郡) (split into Higashiiwai and Nishiiwai districts)
Waga District (和賀郡)
Shiwa District (紫波郡)
Hienuki District (稗貫郡) (dissolved in 2005)
Iwate District (岩手郡)
Hei District (閉伊郡) (split in 1879)
Kitahei District (北閉伊郡)
Higashihei District (東閉伊郡)
Nishihei District (西閉伊郡)
Minamihei District (南閉伊郡)
Kunohe District (九戸郡)
Miyagi Prefecture
Katta District (刈田郡)
Igu District (伊具郡)
Watari District (亘理郡)
Shibata District (柴田郡)
Natori District (名取郡)
Miyagi District (宮城郡)
Kurokawa District (黒川郡)
Kami District (賀美郡)
Shikama District (色麻郡) (dissolved, merged with Kami District)
Tamatsukuri District (玉造郡)
Shida District (志太郡)
Kurihara District (栗原郡)
Nagaoka District (長岡郡) (distinct from the one in Kōchi Prefecture)
Niita District (新田郡) (distinct from the one in Gunma Prefecture; dissolved, absorbed into Kurihara District)
Oda District (小田郡) (dissolved, now in the city of Tome, Miyagi Prefecture)
Tōda District (遠田郡)
Oshika District (牡鹿郡)
Tome District (登米郡)
Monou District (桃生郡)
Fukushima Prefecture