Discover

'Ōsumi' (大隅国; -no kuni) was an old province of Japan in the area that is today the eastern part of Kagoshima prefecture. Osumi bordered on Hyūga and Satsuma Provinces.
Osumi's ancient capital was near modern Kokubu. During the Sengoku and Edo periods, Osumi was controlled by the Shimazu clan of neighboring Satsuma, and did not develop a major administrative center.
The Osumi region has developed its own distinct local dialect. Although Osumi is part of Kagoshima prefecture today, this dialect is different from that spoken in Kagoshima city. There is a notable cultural pride in traditional poetry written in Osumi and Kagoshima dialects.
Japan's first satellite, ''Osumi'', was named after the province.

Contents

Historical record

References

Notes

Further reading

Historical record

In the 3rd month of the 6th year of the ''Wadō'' era (713),
the land of Ōsumi''-no kuni'' was administratively separated from Hyūga province (日向国). In that same year, Empress Gemmei's ''Daijō-kan'' continued to organize other cadastral changes in the provincial map of the Nara period.
In ''Wadō'' 6, Mimasaka province (美作国) was sundered from Bizen province (備前国); and Tamba province (丹波国) was divided from Tango province (丹後国).^[1] In ''Wadō'' 5 (712), Mutsu province (陸奥国) had been severed from Dewa province (出羽国).^[1]

References

Notes

1. Titsingh, p. 64.
2. Titsingh, p. 64.

Further reading

★ Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo, 1652], ''Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon, tr. par M. Isaac Titsingh avec l'aide de plusieurs interprètes attachés au comptoir hollandais de Nangasaki; ouvrage re., complété et cor. sur l'original japonais-chinois, accompagné de notes et précédé d'un Aperçu d'histoire mythologique du Japon, par M. J. Klaproth.'' Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.--''Two copies of this rare book have now been made available online: (1) from the library of the University of Michigan, digitized January 30, 2007; and (2) from the library of Stanford University, digitized June 23, 2006.'' Click here to read the original text in French.