Mimasaka Province

Map of Japanese provinces (1868) with Mimasaka Province highlighted

Mimasaka Province (美作国, Mimasaka-no kuni^?) or Sakushu (作州, Sakushū^?) was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is today northeastern Okayama Prefecture.^[1] Mimasaka bordered Bitchū, Bizen, Harima, Hōki, and Inaba Provinces.

Mimasaka was landlocked, and was often ruled by the daimyo in Bizen. The ancient capital and castle town was Tsuyama. During the Edo Period the province was controlled by the Tsuyama Domain.

Mimasaka is the home of the samurai Miyamoto Musashi, the author of The Book of Five Rings.

Historical record

In the 3rd month of the 6th year of the Wadō era (713), the land of Mimasaka-no kuni was administratively separated from Bizen Province. In that same year, Empress Gemmei's Daijō-kan continued to organize other cadastral changes in the provincial map of the Nara Period.

In Wadō 6, Tamba Province was sundered from Tango Province; and Hyūga Province was divided from Osumi Province.^[2] In Wadō 5 (712), Mutsu Province had been severed from Dewa Province.^[2]

Notes

1. ^ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Mimasaka" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 631 at Google Books; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File.
2. ^ ^{a b} Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 64. at Google Books

References

• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 10-ISBN 0-674-01753-6; 13-ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Odai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691.