Etchū Province

Map of Japanese provinces (1868) with Etchu Province highlighted

Etchū Province (越中国 Etchū no kuni) was an old province in central Honshū, on the Sea of Japan side.^[1] It was sometimes called Esshū (越州), with Echizen and Echigo Provinces. It bordered Echigo, Shinano, Hida, Kaga, and Noto provinces. The area is now called Toyama Prefecture.

The ancient provincial capital was Takaoka, but by the Sengoku Period the area was usually held by lords from neighboring provinces like Echigo and Kaga.

Maps of Japan and Etchū Province were reformed in the 1870s when the prefecture system was introduced.^[2] At the same time, the province continued to exist for some purposes. For example, Etchū is explicitly recognized in treaties in 1894 (a) between Japan and the United States and (b) between Japan and the United Kingdom.^[3]

Historical districts

• Toyama Prefecture
  • Imizu District (射水郡) - dissolved
    • Himi District (氷見郡) - split from Imizu District on April 1, 1896; now dissolved
  • Nei District (婦負郡) - dissolved
  • Niikawa District (新川郡):
    • Kaminiikawa District (上新川郡) - dissolved
      • Nakaniikawa District (中新川郡) - split from Kaminiikawa District on April 1, 1896
    • Shimoniikawa District (下新川郡)
  • Tonami District (礪波郡):
    • Higashitonami District - dissolved
    • Nishitonami District - dissolved

See also

• Toyama Domain

Notes

1. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Etchū" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 183, p. 183, at Google Books.
2. Nussbaum, "Provinces and prefectures" at p. 780.
3. 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.

References

• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128
• Papinot, Edmond. (1910). Historical and Geographic Dictionary of Japan. Tokyo: Librarie Sansaisha. OCLC 77691250

External links

Media related to Etchu Province at Wikimedia Commons

• Murdoch's map of provinces, 1903