Izumo Province

Map of Japanese provinces (1868) with Izumo Province highlighted

Izumo Province (出雲国, Izumo-no-kuni) was an old province of Japan which today consists of the eastern part of Shimane Prefecture.^[1] It was sometimes called Unshū (雲州). The province is in the Chūgoku Region.

History[]

During the early Kofun period (3rd century) this region was independent and constructed rectangular tumuli. But in the fourth century this region saw the construction of rectangular and key shaped tumuli.^[2]

During the 6th or 7th century it was absorbed due to the expansion of the state of Yamato,^[3] within which it assumed the role of a sacerdotal domain.

Even today, the Izumo Shrine constitutes (as does the Grand Shrine of Ise) one of the most important sacred places of Shinto: it is dedicated to kami, especially to Ōkuninushi (Ō-kuni-nushi-no-mikoto), mythical progeny of Susanoo and all the clans of Izumo. The mythological mother of Japan, the goddess Izanami, is said to be buried on Mt. Hiba, at the border of the old provinces of Izumo and Hōki, near modern-day Yasugi of Shimane Prefecture.

By the Sengoku period, Izumo had lost much of its importance. It was dominated before the Battle of Sekigahara by the Mōri clan, and after Sekigahara, it was an independent fief with a castle town at modern Matsue.

In Japanese mythology, the entrance to Yomi (Hell, land of the dead) was located within the province, and was sealed by the god Izanagi by placing a large boulder over the entrance.

Historical districts[]

Shimane Prefecture
- (秋鹿郡) - merged with Ou and Shimane Districts to become Yatsuka District (八束郡) on April 1, 1896
- Iishi District (飯石郡)
- (出雲郡) - merged with Kando and Tatenui Districts to become Hikawa District (簸川郡) on April 1, 1896
- (神門郡) - merged with Izumo and Tatenui Districts to become Hikawa District on April 1, 1896
- Nita District (仁多郡)
- Nogi District (能義郡) - dissolved
- Ohara District (大原郡) - dissolved
- (意宇郡) - merged with Aika and Shimane Districts to become Yatsuka District on April 1, 1896
- (島根郡) - merged with Aika and Ou Districts to become Yatsuka Districton April 1, 1896
- (楯縫郡) - merged with Izumo and Kando Districts to become Hikawa District on April 1, 1896

Notes[]

^ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Izumo" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 412, p. 412, at Google Books.
^ Mizoguchi, Koji; 溝口孝司 (2013-11-25). The Archaeology of Japan: From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge University Press. p. 286. ISBN 978-0-521-88490-7.
^ Hudson, Mark James (1999-08-01). Ruins of Identity: Ethnogenesis in the Japanese Islands. University of Hawaii Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-8248-6419-4.

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 Izumo Province at Wikimedia Commons

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[1] Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Izumo" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 412, p. 412, at Google Books.

[2] Mizoguchi, Koji; 溝口孝司 (2013-11-25). The Archaeology of Japan: From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge University Press. p. 286. ISBN 978-0-521-88490-7.

[3] Hudson, Mark James (1999-08-01). Ruins of Identity: Ethnogenesis in the Japanese Islands. University of Hawaii Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-8248-6419-4.

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show 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'."

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Takamagahara mythology	Amaterasu Susanoo Tsukuyomi Ame-no-Uzume
Izumo mythology	Yamata no Orochi Hare of Inaba Ōkuninushi Kuni-yuzuri Kotoshironushi Takeminakata
Hyūga mythology	Tenson kōrin Ninigi Konohanasakuya-hime Hoderi Hoori Toyotama-hime Ugayafukiaezu
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