Echigo Province
Echigo ( Japanese 越 後 国 , Echigo no kuni ) was one of the historic provinces of Japan in north-central Japan, on the Sea of Japan . It bordered the provinces of Uzen , Iwashiro , Kozuke , Shinano and Etchūs .
The province was created between 689 and 692 through the splitting of the old Koshi ( 越 国 ) province into the provinces of Echizen ("front Koshi"), Etchū ("middle Koshi") and Echigo ("rear Koshi") as described in the Taihō Codex "). These were also collectively referred to as etsushū ( 越 州 , "Koshi province (s)"). The characters of Echigo were also read as Koshi no michi no shiri in the early days .
Today the area corresponds to the prefecture of Niigata , to which the province of Sado was added.
Echigo was ruled by Uesugi Kenshin and his heirs during the Sengoku period, and later became a fiefdom of Ieyasu Tokugawa's relatives, the Matsudaira .
Coordinates: 37 ° 34 ' N , 139 ° 3' E