Rikuchu Province

Rikuchu Province (red)

Rikuchū ( Japanese 陸中国 , Rikuchū no kuni , Eng . "Middle Mutsu ") was a province of Japan during the early Meiji period .

Their area corresponded roughly to that of today's Iwate Prefecture , excluding the southeast of Iwates with the district of Kesen-gun , the cities of Rikuzentakata , Ōfunato and the southern part of Kamaishi , as well as the northwest of Iwates with the Ninohe-gun . It also included the northeast of Akita Prefecture with today's cities of Kazuno and Kosaka .

The 1872 census counted 510,521 inhabitants for Rikuchū.

history

On January 19, 1869 (Meiji 1/12/7), the provinces of Rikuchū, Iwashiro , Iwaki and Rikuzen (German "front Mutsu") were separated from the province of Mutsu .

Fiefdom

The following fiefs ( han ) were in Rikuchū :

Morioka ( 盛岡藩 ) / Shiroishi ( 白石藩 ) (1599–1870)
Mizusawa ( 水沢藩 ; 1695–1699; branch of Sendai-han in Rikuzen Province )
Ichinoseki ( 一関藩 ) (1660–1871; branch of Sendai-han in Rikuzen Province)

First shrine

haiden of the Komagata Shrine

Rikuchū was not one of the traditional provinces of Japan and therefore had no state First Shrine ( ichi-no-miya ). Regardless of this, the pilgrim organization Zenkoku Ichi-no-miya-kai ( 全国一の宮会 , German: “National Association of the First Shrines”) named the Komagata Shrine ( 駒形神社 , Komagata-jinja ) in Ōshū as the “New First Shrine of the Province Rikuchū “( 陸中国新一の宮 , Rikuchū shin-ichi-no-miya ).

Counties

The following districts ( gun ) were in Rikuchū :

Isawa-gun ( 胆沢郡 )
Iwai-gun ( 磐井郡 )
Iwate-gun ( 岩手郡 )
Esashi-gun ( 江刺郡 )
Kunohe-gun ( 九戸郡 )
Kazuno-gun ( 鹿角郡 )
Shiwa-gun ( 紫波郡 )
Hienuki-gun ( 稗貫郡 )
Hei-gun ( 閉伊郡 )
Waga-gun ( 和賀郡 )