Fusa Province
 
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Fusa ( Japanese 総 国 / 捄 国 , Fusa no kuni ) was one of the historic provinces of Japan in ancient times . It extended over the Bōsō Peninsula of today's Chiba Prefecture and the southern strip of Ibaraki Prefecture .
According to the chronicle Kogoshūi compiled in 807 , fusa was an outdated term for “hemp” (modern asa ) and refers to the hemp plants cultivated here for the manufacture of clothing for the imperial court.
In the 7th century the province was split up into the provinces of Kami-tsu-Fusa ("Upper Fusa") and Shimo-tsu-Fusa ("Lower Fusa"). Towards the end of the 7th century, however, the dialect variants Kazusa and Shimousa prevailed. In 718 the province of Awa was split off from Kazusa . According to their geographical locations, Kazusa, partly including Awa, was also called Nansō ( 南 総 , dt. "South Fusa") and Shimousa also Hokuso ( 北 総 , dt. "North Fusa").
The name Fusa can still be found indirectly today in that of the Bōsō Peninsula, since Bōsō ( 房 総 ) is the Sino-Japanese reading of the second character of Awa and that of Fusa.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kogoshūi , p. 25, Japanese Historical Text Initiative