Editing Tochigi Prefecture (section)

== History ==
{{see also|Historic Sites of Tochigi Prefecture}}

Before the [[Meiji Restoration]], Tochigi was known as [[Shimotsuke Province]].<ref>Nussbaum, "Provinces and prefectures" at {{Google books|p2QnPijAEmEC|p. 780|page=780}}.</ref>

In the early 15th century, the [[Ashikaga Gakkō]], Japan's oldest school of higher education, was re-established in the prefecture, holding over 3,000 students by the 16th century. Saint [[Francis Xavier]] introduced Ashikaga to the world as the best university in Japan.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

In the early 17th century, Japan was unified under the [[shōgun]] [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]]. After his death, the [[Nikkō Tōshō-gū|Nikko Tōshō-gū]] shrine was built in [[Nikkō]] in 1617 on what the shōguns thought of as holy ground to protect and worship Ieyasu. Its establishment brought Nikkō to national attention.{{Citation needed|date=April 2008}} Ieyasu's successors as [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa shogun]] developed the [[Nikkō Kaidō]] (日光街道, part of the major road connecting Nikkō with [[Edo]]) and acquired lavish processions to worship Ieyasu. 

In the late 19th century, the Tokugawa shogunate fell and the new government established the [[Prefectures of Japan|prefectures]].  The prefectural capital was established in the city of Tochigi after the unification of Utsunomiya Prefecture and Tochigi Prefecture in 1873.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tochigi Prefecture / History |url=http://www.pref.tochigi.lg.jp/english/intro/history.html |website=Tochigi Prefecture |publisher=Tochigi Prefectural Office |access-date=24 May 2020}}</ref> By 1884, however, the capital was transferred to Utsunomiya.

In March 2011, following the [[Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster]], levels of [[radioactivity]] in Utsunomiya were 33 times higher than normal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://greenworldinvestor.com/2011/03/15/nuclear-radiation-levels-and-effect-on-human-health-as-sieverts-increase-in-japan-what-you-need-to-know/|title=Nuclear Radiation Levels and Effect on Human Health as Sieverts increase in Japan – What you need to Know - Green World Investor|website=greenworldinvestor.com|access-date=28 March 2018}}</ref>