Bitchu Province
Bitchū ( Japanese 備 中国 , Bitchū no kuni ) was one of the historical provinces of Japan on the west side of the island of Honshū facing the Seto Inland Sea . It is today's western part of Okayama Prefecture . Bitchū bordered the provinces of Hoki , Mimasaka , Bizen and Bingo .
The province emerged in the second half of the 7th century by splitting the old province of Kibi ( 吉 備 国 ) into the provinces of Bizen ("Front Kibi"), Bitchū ("Middle Kibi") and Bingo ("Rear Kibi") ). These were collectively referred to as Bishū ( 備 州 , "Kibi province (s)"). The characters of Bitchū were also read as Kibi no michi no naka in the early days .
The old capital ( kokufu ) and the provincial temples were built around the city of Soja . For most of the Muromachi period , the province was dominated by the Hosokawa clan , who resided on Shikoku and gave the province some independence.
In the Sengoku period , other clans fought for bitchu. Oda Nobunaga and Mōri Terumoto were fighting in the provinces when Oda died. After 1600 the province was divided among a large number of fiefs ( Han ) and several castles were built as a result. At the time of the reorganization of the country into prefectures , the main city was the Kurashiki port .
Coordinates: 34 ° 50 ' N , 133 ° 31' E