Bitchū Province

Map of Japanese provinces (1868) with Bitchū Province highlighted

Bitchū Province (備中国, Bitchū no kuni) was a province of Japan on the Inland Sea side of western Honshū, in what is today western Okayama Prefecture.^[1] It was sometimes called Bishū (備州), with Bizen and Bingo Provinces; those three provinces were settled in the late 7th Century, dividing former Kibi Province. Bitchu bordered Hōki, Mimasaka, Bizen, and Bingo Provinces.

The ancient capital and temples were built around Sōja. For much of the Muromachi Period, the province was dominated by the Hosokawa clan, who resided in Shikoku and allowed the province a degree of independence. By the Sengoku Period, other clans fought over Bitchu, and Oda Nobunaga and Mōri Terumoto were fighting in the province when Oda died, leading to a division of the province. After 1600, the province was divided among a variety of han (fiefs), and included a number of castles. By the time the provinces were reorganized into prefectures, the dominant city was the port, Kurashiki.

Shrines and temples[]

Kibitsu jinja was the chief Shinto shrine (ichinomiya) of Bitchū. ^[2]

Historical districts[]

Okayama Prefecture
- (阿賀郡) - merged with Tetta District to become Atetsu District (阿哲郡) on April 1, 1900
- Asakuchi District (浅口郡)
- Jōbō District (上房郡) - dissolved
- Kawakami District (川上郡) - dissolved
- (賀陽郡) - merged with Shimotsu District to become Kibi District (吉備郡) on April 1, 1900
- (窪屋郡) - merged with Tsuu District to become Tsukubo District (都窪郡) on April 1, 1900
- Oda District (小田郡)
- (下道郡) - merged with Kayō District to become Kibi District on April 1, 1900
- Shitsuki District (後月郡) - dissolved
- (哲多郡) - merged with Aga District to become Atetsu District on April 1, 1900
- (都宇郡) - merged with Kuboya District to become Tsukubo District on April 1, 1900

Notes[]

^ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Bitchū" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 77, p. 77, at Google Books.
^ "Nationwide List of Ichinomiya," p. 3 Archived 2013-05-17 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2012-11-20.

References[]

Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128

External links[]

Media related to Bitchu Province at Wikimedia Commons

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[1] Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Bitchū" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 77, p. 77, at Google Books.

[2] "Nationwide List of Ichinomiya," p. 3 Archived 2013-05-17 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2012-11-20.

[1]

[2]

hide v t Former provinces of Japan (List)
Kinai	Izumi Kawachi Settsu Yamashiro Yamato Yoshino 716–738
Tōkaidō	Awa Hitachi Iga Ise Izu Kai Kazusa Mikawa Musashi Owari Sagami Shima Shimōsa Suruga Tōtōmi
Tōsandō	Dewa -1869 Hida Iwaki 718–724 Iwaki 1869– Iwase 718–724 Iwashiro 1869– Kōzuke Mino Ōmi Mutsu –1869 Rikuō (or Mutsu) 1869– Rikuchū 1869– Rikuzen 1869– Shimotsuke Shinano Suwa 721–731 Ugo 1869– Uzen 1869–
Hokurikudō	Echigo Echizen Etchū Kaga Noto Sado Wakasa
San'indō	Hōki Inaba Izumo Iwami Oki Tajima Tanba Tango
San'yōdō	Aki Bingo Bitchū Bizen Harima Mimasaka Nagato Suō
Nankaidō	Awa Awaji Iyo Kii Sanuki Tosa
Saikaidō	Bungo Buzen Chikugo Chikuzen Higo Hizen Hyūga Iki Ōsumi Satsuma Tane 702–824 Tsushima
Hokkaidō 1869–	Chishima Hidaka Iburi Ishikari Kitami Kushiro Nemuro Oshima Shiribeshi Teshio Tokachi
Pre-Taihō Code provinces	Chichibu Fusa Hi Keno Kibi Koshi Kumaso Toyo Tsukushi
Source: Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 780, p. 780, at Google Books; excerpt, "Japan's former provinces were converted into prefectures by the Meiji government ... [and] grouped, according to geographic position, into the 'five provinces of the Kinai' and 'seven circuits'."