Mikawa Province
Mikawa ( Japanese 三河 国 / 参 河 国 , Mikawa no kuni , literally: "Land of the three rivers") or Sanshū ( 三 州 / 参 州 ) was the name of one of the historical provinces of Japan for an area that is now the eastern Aichi Prefecture . The provinces were replaced by a system of prefectures during the Meiji Restoration in 1867.
Administrative breakdown
The area roughly comprises the following regions:
- Nishi-Mikawa ( 西 三河 , West-Mikawa ) with the cities:
- Mikawa-Nambu ( 三河 南部 , South Mikawa ) with:
- Higashi-Mikawa ( 東 三河 , East Mikawa ) with:
Mikawa caused a sensation in the 16th century with the emergence of the Matsudaira family (later Tokugawa ). The family produced the famous unifier of Japan, Tokugawa Ieyasu . Mikawa was also the original fief of the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu before he took control of Kantō . Okazaki was originally the main castle of the province. The neighboring castle Yoshida near Toyohashi was also an important fiefdom for a time.
The province was economically very favored by its location on Tōkaidō Street. It had its greatest heyday in the Edo period (1603-1867).
Mikawa Province is famous in Japan for its fireworks and still produces most of the fireworks in Japan today. This is due to the fact that the Shogun only allowed the production of gunpowder in this area, which he controlled .
Local traditional specialties include hatchō- miso ( 八 丁 味噌 ), a miso paste with a strong flavor, rice wine , fireworks and stone carving (stone lanterns).
A famous fireworks display takes place in Okazaki every year.
Coordinates: 35 ° 2 ′ N , 137 ° 24 ′ E