Editing Owari Province

{{short description|Former province of Japan}}
[[Image:Provinces of Japan-Owari.svg|thumb|300px|right|Map of Japanese provinces (1868) with Owari Province highlighted]]
{{nihongo|'''Owari Province'''|尾張国|Owari no Kuni|{{IPA|ja|oꜜ.wa.ɾʲi (no kɯ.ɲi), o.wa.ɾʲiꜜ (no kɯ.ɲi)}}<ref>{{cite book|script-title=ja:NHK日本語発音アクセント新辞典|publisher=NHK Publishing|editor=NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute|date=24 May 2016|lang=ja}}</ref>}}  was a [[Provinces of Japan|province of Japan]] in the area that today forms the western half of [[Aichi Prefecture]], including the modern city of [[Nagoya]].<ref>[[Louis-Frédéric|Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric]]. (2005). "''Owari''" in {{Google books|p2QnPijAEmEC|''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 629|page=629}}.</ref>  The province was created in 646. Owari bordered on [[Mikawa Province|Mikawa]], [[Mino Province|Mino]], and [[Ise Province|Ise]] Provinces. Owari and Mino provinces were separated by the [[Sakai River (Gifu)|Sakai River]], which means "border river." The province's abbreviated name was {{nihongo|'''Bishū'''|尾州|}}. 
[[File:Tsushima Tennō-matsuri.jpg|thumb|right|[[Ukiyo-e]] print by [[Hiroshige]], ''Owari'', from ''The Famous Scenes of the Sixty States'' (六十余州名所図会), depicting a festival at [[Tsushima Shrine]]]]

Owari is classified as one of the provinces of the [[Tōkaidō (region)|Tōkaidō]]. Under the ''[[Engishiki]]'' classification system, Owari was ranked as a "superior country" (上国) and a "near country" (近国), in relation to its distance from the capital.

==History==
Owari is mentioned in records of the [[Nara period]], including the ''[[Kujiki]]'', although the area has been settled since at least the [[Japanese Paleolithic]] period, as evidenced by numerous remains found by archaeologists. Early records mention a powerful “Owari clan”, vaguely related to, or allied with the [[Imperial House of Japan|Yamato clan]], who built massive [[kofun]] burial mounds in several locations within the province, from which archaeologists have recovered bronze artifacts and mirrors dating from the 4th century. [[Atsuta Shrine]] is of very ancient origin, ranking with [[Ise Shrine]] in importance, and is the repository of one of the [[Imperial Regalia of Japan]], the [[Kusanagi|''Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi'']].{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, Owari was divided into eight counties, which persisted as administrative units into the [[Edo period]].
The exact location of the provincial capital is not known, but is traditionally considered to have been located in what is now the city of [[Inazawa, Aichi|Inazawa]], although the ''[[Ichinomiya]]'' of the province is located in what is now [[Ichinomiya, Aichi|Ichinomiya]].{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

During the [[Heian period]], the province was divided into numerous ''[[shōen]]'' controlled by local [[samurai]] clans. However, by the [[Sengoku period]], the province had fragmented into many small territories largely dominated by the [[Oda clan]]. Under [[Oda Nobunaga]], the province was reunified. Nobunaga began his campaign to reunify Japan from his stronghold at [[Kiyosu Castle]].<ref name="kiyosu">{{cite web |url=http://www.city.kiyosu.aichi.jp/en/sightseeing01.html |title=Kiyosu Castle |work=Kiyosu City |access-date=2010-11-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209191819/http://www.city.kiyosu.aichi.jp/en/sightseeing01.html |archive-date=2008-02-09 }}</ref>  and many of his retainers (who later became ''[[daimyō]]s'' under the [[Tokugawa shogunate]]) were natives of Owari, including [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] and [[Katō Kiyomasa]].{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

Under [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], the province was assigned as a [[han (administrative division)|feudal domain]] to his ninth son, [[Tokugawa Yoshinao]] with official revenues of 619,500 ''[[koku]]'', the largest domain in the Tokugawa clan holdings outside of the shogunate itself.  Yoshinao was founder of the [[Tokugawa-Owari family|Owari Tokugawa clan]], one of the ''[[Gosanke]]'', which had the hereditary right of succession to the position of ''[[shōgun]]'' should the main line fail.  The [[castle town]] of Nagoya prospered during this period, and Owari Province was especially known for its ceramics industry.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

Following the [[abolition of the han system]] in 1871 after the [[Meiji Restoration]], former [[Owari Domain]] and [[Inuyama Domain]] were transformed into short-lived prefectures, which were joined with [[Nukata Prefecture]], which was the former Mikawa Province, to form the new Aichi Prefecture in January 1872.  At the same time, the province continued to exist for some purposes.  For example, Owari is explicitly recognized in treaties in 1894 (a) between Japan and the [[United States]] and (b) between Japan and the [[United Kingdom]].<ref>US Department of State. (1906). [https://books.google.com/books?id=dKCOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA759  ''A digest of international law as embodied in diplomatic discussions, treaties and other international agreements'' (John Bassett Moore, ed.), Vol. 5, p. 759].</ref>

==Bakumatsu-period domains in Owari Province==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Domain
! ''Daimyō''
! Dates
! Revenue (''[[koku]]'')
! Type
|-
| {{nihongo|[[Owari Domain]]|尾張藩|}}
| Tokugawa 
|1607–1871
| 619,500
| ''shimpan''
|-
| {{nihongo| [[Inuyama Domain]]| 犬山藩|}}
| Naruse 
|1617–1871
| 35,000
| ''fudai''
|-
|}

==Historical districts==
Owari Province consisted of eleven districts:

* [[Aichi Prefecture]]
** [[Aichi District, Aichi|Aichi District]] (愛知郡)
** [[Chita District, Aichi|Chita District]] (知多郡)
** [[Haguri District, Aichi|Haguri District]] (葉栗郡) – dissolved
** [[Kasugai District, Owari|Kasugai District]] (春日井郡)
*** [[Higashikasugai District, Aichi|Higashikasugai District]] (東春日井郡) – dissolved
*** [[Nishikasugai District, Aichi|Nishikasugai District]] (西春日井郡)
** [[Kaisei District, Aichi|Kaisei District]] (海西郡; West Ama) – merged with Kaitō District to [[Ama District, Aichi|Ama District]] (海部郡) on April 4, 1913
** [[Kaitō District, Aichi|Kaitō District]] (海東郡; East Ama) – merged with Kaisei District to Ama District on April 4, 1913 
** [[Nakashima District, Aichi|Nakashima District]] (中島郡) – dissolved
** [[Niwa District, Aichi|Niwa District]] (丹羽郡)
** [[Yana District, Aichi|Yana District]] (八名郡) – dissolved

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* [[Louis-Frédéric|Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric]] and Käthe Roth. (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC  ''Japan encyclopedia.''] Cambridge: [[Harvard University Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-674-01753-5}}; [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/58053128?referer=di&ht=edition OCLC 58053128]
* [[Edmond Papinot|Papinot, Edmond]]. (1910). ''Historical and Geographic Dictionary of Japan.'' Tokyo: Librarie Sansaisha. [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/77691250 OCLC 77691250]

== External links ==
{{Commons category-inline|Owari Province}}
* [http://www.maproom.org/00/05/sub1/1.html Murdoch's map of provinces, 1903]

{{Japan Old Province}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Owari Province| ]]
[[Category:History of Aichi Prefecture]]
[[Category:Former provinces of Japan]]
[[Category:1868 disestablishments in Japan]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1868]]