SHINANO PROVINCE

is an old province of Japan that is now present day Nagano prefecture. Its abbreviation is 'Shinshu' (信州 Shinshū).
Shinano bordered on Echigo, Etchu, Hida, Kai, Kozuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Totomi provinces.
The ancient capital was located near modern Matsumoto, which became an important city of the province.
The World War II-era Japanese aircraft carrier ''Shinano'' was named after this old province.

Contents

Historical record

Former districts

References

Notes

Further reading

Historical record

In the sixth year of the Wadō era (713), the road which traverses Mino province (美濃国) and Shinano province (信濃国) was widened to accommodate increasing numbers of travelers; and the road was widened in the Kiso District of modern Nagano Prefecture.^[1]
In the Sengoku period, Shinano''no kuni'' was often split among several fiefs and several other castle towns developed, including Komoro, Ina, and Ueda. Shinano was one of the major centers of Takeda Shingen's power during his wars with Uesugi Kenshin and others.
In the Meiji period, 1871 with the abolition of feudal domains and the establishment of prefectures (''Haihan Chiken'') after the Meiji Restoration, Shinano province was administratively separated in 1871 into Nagano prefecture and Chikuma prefectures. These two tentative governmental and territorial units were then reconfigured together again in 1876, and modern prefecture of Nagano remains substantially the unchanged since that time.

Former districts

★ Azumi District(安曇郡)→Kitaazumi and (dissolved)Minamiazumi Districts

★ Chiisagata District(小県郡)

★ Chikuma District(筑摩郡)→Higashichikuma and Nishichikuma (now Kiso) Districts

★ Hanishina District(埴科郡)

★ Ina District(伊那郡)→Kamiina and Shimoina Districts

★ Minochi District(水内郡)→Kamiminochi and Shimominochi Districts

★ Saku District(佐久郡)→Kitasaku and Minamisaku Districts

★ Sarashina District(更級郡)

★ Suwa District(諏訪郡)

★ Takai District(高井郡)→Kamitakai and Shimotakai Districts

References

Notes

1. 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.