Wakasa Province

Map of Japanese provinces (1868) with Wakasa Province highlighted

Wakasa Province (若狭国, Wakasa no kuni) was an old province of Japan in the area that is today southern Fukui Prefecture.^[1] It is also known as Jakushū (若州) or Reinan (嶺南).

The province's ancient capital was at Obama, which continued to be the main castle town through the Edo period.

Wakasa bordered on Echizen, Ōmi, Tamba, Tango, and Yamashiro Provinces.

History

Before the ritsuryō period (7th-8th centuries), Wakasa Province was a part of the Yamato dynasty. Many shrines and temples were established during this period. Wakasa Province also provided fish and other maritime products to the Yamato State, and was called "the land of foods".

From the ritsuryō period until the Edo Period, fish from Wakasa, particularly mackerel, was transported to Nara or Kyoto. In the Edo Period, the city of Tsuruga was a base of the Kitamaebune ships which connected Osaka to Hokuriku and Ezo in the north.

Historical districts

Fukui Prefecture
- Mikata District (三方郡)
- Ōi District (大飯郡)
- Onyū District (遠敷郡) - dissolved

Power plants

Today, the Wakasa area has five nuclear power plants, and is called the "downtown of nuclear power plants".

Temples

Many temples in the Wakasa area were important sites in the Nara Period, such as Wakasahiko Shrine (Obama) and Kehi Shrine (Tsuruga). Because of the preponderance of temples, Obama is sometimes called "Nara by the sea".

Notes

↑ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Wakasa no Kuni" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 1025, p. 1025, at Google Books.

References

Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128

External links

Media related to Wakasa Province at Wikimedia Commons

Murdoch's map of provinces, 1903

Former provinces of Japan (List)

Kinai	Izumi Kawachi Settsu Yamashiro Yamato Yoshino 716–738

Tōkaidō	Awa Hitachi Iga Ise Izu Kai Kazusa Mikawa Musashi Owari Sagami Shima Shimōsa Suruga Tōtōmi

Tōsandō	Dewa -1869 Hida Iwaki 718–724 Iwaki 1869– Iwase 718–724 Iwashiro 1869– Kōzuke Mino Ōmi Mutsu –1869 Rikuō (or Mutsu) 1869– Rikuchū 1869– Rikuzen 1869– Shimotsuke Shinano Suwa 721–731 Ugo 1869– Uzen 1869–

Hokurikudō	Echigo Echizen Etchū Kaga Noto Sado Wakasa

San'indō	Hōki Inaba Izumo Iwami Oki Tajima Tanba Tango

San'yōdō	Aki Bingo Bitchū Bizen Harima Mimasaka Nagato Suō

Nankaidō	Awa Awaji Iyo Kii Sanuki Tosa

Saikaidō	Bungo Buzen Chikugo Chikuzen Higo Hizen Hyūga Iki Ōsumi Satsuma Tane 702–824 Tsushima

Hokkaidō 1869–	Chishima Hidaka Iburi Ishikari Kitami Kushiro Nemuro Oshima Shiribeshi Teshio Tokachi

Pre-Taihō Code provinces	Chichibu Fusa Hi Keno Kibi Koshi Kumaso Toyo Tsukushi

Source: Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 780, p. 780, at Google Books; excerpt, "Japan's former provinces were converted into prefectures by the Meiji government ... [and] grouped, according to geographic position, into the 'five provinces of the Kinai' and 'seven circuits'."

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