Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in the area of the

Saga Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...

and

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

prefectures. It was sometimes called , with

Higo Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. It was sometimes called , with Hizen Province. Higo bordered on Chikugo, Bungo, Hyūga, Ōsumi, and Satsuma Provinces. History The cas ...

. Hizen bordered on the provinces of Chikuzen and Chikugo. The province was included in

Saikaidō The is a Japanese geographical term. It means both an ancient division of the country and the main road running through it. Saikaido was one of the main Circuit (subnational entity), circuits of the Gokishichidō system, which was originally es ...

. It did not include the island provinces (now municipalities) of Tsushima and

Iki IKI may refer to: * Internationales Kulturinstitut, in Vienna * Iodine potassium-iodide, a chemical compound * Russian Space Research Institute, originally known as IKI RAN * Iki Airport, IATA code Iki or iki may refer to: * Iki Island, a Japane ...

that are now part of modern Nagasaki Prefecture.

History

The name "Hizen" dates from the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...

Ritsuryō is the historical Japanese legal system, legal system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Legalism (Chinese philosophy), Chinese Legalism in Feudal Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (). ''Kya ...

'' ''Kokugunri'' system reforms, when the province was divided from

. The name appears in the early chronicle ''Shoku Nihongi'' from 696 AD. The ancient

provincial capital A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational division, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encomp ...

of Hizen was located near

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai, Nara, Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a Names of Japan, name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial ...

City. During the late

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

, the province was the site of much early contact between Japan and Portuguese and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

merchants and missionaries.

Hirado is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 28,172, and a population density of 120 people per km2. The total area of the city is Geography Hirado City occupies the northern part of Nagasaki P ...

, and later

became major foreign trade centers, and a large percentage of the population converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

directed the invasion of Korea from the city of

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

, in Hizen, and after the suppression of foreign contacts and prohibition against the ''

Kirishitan The Japanese term , from Portuguese ''cristão'' (cf. Kristang), meaning "Christian", referred to Catholic Christians in Japanese and is used in Japanese texts as a historiographic term for Catholics in Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries ...

'' religion, the

Shimabara Rebellion The , also known as the or , was an rebellion, uprising that occurred in the Shimabara Domain of the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan from 17 December 1637 to 15 April 1638. Matsukura Katsuie, the ''daimyō'' of the Shimabara Domain, enforced unpo ...

also took place in Hizen province.

List of han

During the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, Hizen Province was divided among several ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

s'', but dominated by the

Nabeshima clan is a Japanese samurai kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Nabeshima", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p.38 retrieved 2013-5-5. History The clan controlled Saga D ...

, whose domain was centered at the castle town of

. At the end of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

, Hizen was divided between the following ''han'': During this period, the port of Nagasaki remained a

tenryō The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil war ...

territory, administered for the Tokugawa government by the

Nagasaki bugyō were officials of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan. Appointments to this prominent office were usually '' fudai'' ''daimyōs'', but this was amongst the senior administrative posts open to those who were not ''daimyōs''.Beasley, Wi ...

, and contained the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...

trading post of

Dejima or Deshima, in the 17th century also called , was an artificial island off Nagasaki, Japan, that served as a trading post for the Portuguese (1570–1639) and subsequently the Dutch (1641–1858). For 220 years, it was the central con ...

. After the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

in 1868 came the

abolition of the han system The in the Empire of Japan and its replacement by a system of prefectures in 1871 was the culmination of the Meiji Restoration begun in 1868, the starting year of the Meiji period. Under the reform, all daimyos (, ''daimyō'', feudal lords) ...

in 1871, whereby all daimyo were obliged to surrender their domains to the new

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...

, which then divided the nation into numerous

prefectures A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

, which were consolidated into 47 prefectures and 3 urban areas by 1888. The former Hizen province was divided into modern

Saga Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of roughly 780,000 and has a geographic area of . Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasaki Prefect ...

and a portion of

Nagasaki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan, mainly located on the island of Kyūshū, although it also includes a number of islands off Kyūshū's northwest coast - including Tsushima and Iki. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,246,4 ...

. At the same time, the province continued to exist for some purposes. For example, Hizen is explicitly recognized in treaties in 1894 (a) between Japan and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and (b) between Japan and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

.US Department of State. (1906)
''A digest of international law as embodied in diplomatic discussions, treaties and other international agreements'' (John Bassett Moore, ed.), Vol. 5, p. 759

Historical districts

** Fujitsu District (藤津郡) ** Kanzaki District (神埼郡) ** Kii District (基肄郡) – merged with Mine and Yabu Districts to become Miyaki District (三養基郡) on March 26, 1896 ** Kishima District (杵島郡) ** Mine District (三根郡) – merged with Kii and Yabu Districts to become Miyaki District on March 26, 1896 ** Ogi District (小城郡) – dissolved ** Saga District (佐賀郡) – dissolved ** Yabu District (養父郡) – merged with Kii and Mine Districts to become Miyaki District on March 26, 1896 *

** Sonogi District (彼杵郡) *** Higashisonogi District (東彼杵郡) *** Nishisonogi District (西彼杵郡) *** Nagasaki-shi (長崎市) ** Takaki District (高来郡) *** Kitatakaki District (北高来郡) – dissolved *** Minamitakaki District (南高来郡) – dissolved * Mixed **

Matsuura District Matsuura (written: 松浦) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Akiko Matsuura, Japanese drummer * Atsushi Matsuura (footballer born 1982), former Japanese football player * Atsushi Matsuura (musician) (born 1968), Jap ...

(松浦郡) ***

Higashimatsuura District is a district located in Saga Prefecture, Japan. At the present it has only one town. As of April 1, 2021, the district has an estimated population of 5,211 and a density of 145 persons per square kilometre. The total area is . Municipalities * ...

(東松浦郡) – part of Nagasaki Prefecture; transferred to Saga Prefecture in 1883 (along with Nishimatsuura District) *** Kitamatsuura District (北松浦郡) – part of Nagasaki Prefecture *** Minamimatsuura District (南松浦郡) – part of Nagasaki Prefecture *** Nishimatsuura District (西松浦郡) – part of Nagasaki Prefecture; transferred to Saga Prefecture in 1883 (along with Higashimatsuura District)

Maps

Keichō Kuniezu - Hizen Province (1837 copy) (Takeo City Library and Historical Museum).jpg, ''

Keichō was a after '' Bunroku'' and before '' Genna''. This period spanned from October 1596 to July 1615. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * 1596 : The era name was changed to ''Keichō'' to mark the passing of various natural disaste ...

Kuniezu'' - Hizen Province (1837 copy of lost c.1605 original) ( Takeo City Library and Historical Museum) Shōhō Kuniezu - Hizen Province (Chōkokan).jpg, ''

Shōhō was a after '' Kan'ei'' and before '' Keian''. This period spanned the years from December 1644 through February 1648. The reigning emperor was .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834) ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', p. 412./ref> Change of era * 1644 : T ...

Kuniezu'' - Hizen Province (1647) ( Chōkokan) Genroku Kuniezu - Hizen Province (Chōkokan).jpg, ''

Genroku was a after Jōkyō and before Hōei. The Genroku period spanned the years from September 1688 to March 1704. The reigning emperor was .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', p. 415. The period was known for its peace and ...

Kuniezu'' - Hizen Province (1701) ( Chōkokan) Tenpō Kuniezu - Hizen Province (National Archives of Japan).jpg, ''

Tenpō was a after '' Bunsei'' and before '' Kōka.'' The period spanned from December 1830 through December 1844. The reigning emperor was . Introduction Change of era * December 10, 1830 () : In the 13th year of ''Bunsei'', the new era name of ...

Kuniezu'' - Hizen Province, with Chikuzen in pink and Chikugo in yellow (1838) (

National Archives of Japan The preserve Japanese government documents and historical records and make them available to the public. Although Japan's reverence for its unique history and art is well documented and illustrated by collections of art and documents, there is a ...

)

Notes

References

* Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan encyclopedia.''
Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

.
OCLC 58053128
* Papinot, Edmond. (1910). ''Historical and Geographic Dictionary of Japan.'' Tokyo: Librarie Sansaisha
OCLC 77691250

Other websites

* National Archives of Japan

{{Authority control History of Nagasaki Prefecture History of Saga Prefecture