Nagato Province
Nagato ( Japanese 長 門 国 , Nagato no kuni ) or Chōshū ( 長 州 ) was one of the historical provinces of Japan . It was located in the far west of the island of Honshū - in the area of today's Yamaguchi Prefecture . Nagato bordered the Iwami Province and the Suō Province .
The old capital of the province ( kokufu ) was in today's district Chōfu (a contraction of the words Chōshū and Kokufu) by Shimonoseki . The Daimyat Chōshū , later located in the province, sat in Hagi . Nagato was ruled by the Mōri before and after the Battle of Sekigahara .
In 1871 , with the abolition of feudalism in Japan and the establishment of prefectures after the Meiji Restoration , the provinces of Nagato and Suo were amalgamated to form today's Yamaguchi prefecture.
The Meiji oligarchy , which came to power with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, had numerous representatives from the province such as Itō Hirobumi , Yamagata Aritomo , Kido Takayoshi , (probably also Katsura Kogoro ), as well as Yoshida Shoin , Takasugi Shinsaku and Kusaka Genzui .
Coordinates: 34 ° 15 ' N , 131 ° 23' E