was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Metropolis, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama. Musashi bordered on Kai, KÃ
Âzuke, Sagami, ShimÃ
Âsa, and Shimotsuke Provinces.
Musashi was the largest province in the KantÃ
 region.
History
Musashi had its ancient capital in modern FuchÃ
«, Tokyo, and its provincial temple in what is now Kokubunji, Tokyo. By the Sengoku period, the main city was Edo, which became the dominant city of eastern Japan. Edo Castle was the headquarters of Tokugawa Ieyasu before the Battle of Sekigahara and became the dominant city of Japan during the Edo period, being renamed Tokyo during the Meiji Restoration.
Hikawa-jinja was designated as the chief Shinto shrine (ichinomiya) of the province; and there are many branch shrines.
The former province gave its name to the battleship of the Second World War.
Timeline of important events
- 534 (Ankan 1, 12th month): The Yamato court sends a military force to appoint Omi as the governor of Musashi Province, his rival, Wogi was executed by the court. Omi presented four districts of Musashi Province to the court as royal estates.
- July 18, 707 (Keiun 4, 15th day of the 6th month): Empress Genmei is enthroned at the age of 48.
- 707 (Keiun 4): Copper was reported to have been found in Musashi province in the region which includes modern day Tokyo.
- 708 (Keiun 5): The era name was about to be changed to mark the accession of Empress Genmei; but the choice of WadÃ
 as the new nengÃ
 for this new reign became a way to mark the welcome discovery of copper in the Chichibu District of what is now Saitama Prefecture. The Japanese word for copper is ; and since this was indigenous copper, the "wa" (the ancient Chinese term for Japan) could be combined with the "dÃ
Â" (copper) to create a new composite termâÂÂ"wadÃ
Â"âÂÂmeaning "Japanese copper".
- May 5, 708 (WadÃ
 1, 11th day of the 4th month): A sample of the newly discovered Musashi copper was presented in Genmei's Court where it was formally acknowledged as Japanese copper. The WadÃ
 era is famous for the first Japanese coin .
- 1590 (TenshÃ
 18): Siege of Odawara. Iwatsuki Domain and Oshi Domain founded in Musashi Province.
Historical districts
Musashi Province had 21 districts and then added one later.
- Saitama Prefecture
- Chichibu District (ç§©ç¶é¡)
- Hanzawa District (æ¦Âæ²¢é¡) – merged into Ã
Âsato District (along with Hatara and Obusama Districts) on March 29, 1896
- Hatara District (幡ç¾Â
é¡) – merged into Ã
Âsato District (along with Hanzawa and Obusama Districts) on March 29, 1896
- Hiki District (æ¯Âä¼Âé¡) – absorbed Yokomi District on March 29, 1896
- Iruma District (Ã¥Â
¥éÂÂé¡) – merged into Koma District on March 29, 1896
- Kami District (è³Âç¾Âé¡, å ç¾Âé¡) – merged into Kodama District (along with Naka District) on March 29, 1896
- Kodama District (Ã¥Â
ÂçÂÂé¡) – absorbed Kami and Naka Districts on March 29, 1896
- Koma District (é«ÂéºÂé¡) – merged into Iruma District on March 29, 1896
- Naka District (é£çÂÂé¡) – merged into Kodama District (along with Kami District) on March 29, 1896
- Niikura District (æÂ°åº§é¡, æÂ°åÂÂé¡, æÂ°ç¾Â
é¡) – merged into Kitaadachi District on March 29, 1896
- Obusuma District (ç·衾é¡) – merged into Ã
Âsato District (along with Hanzawa and Hatara Districts) on March 29, 1896
- Ã
Âsato District (大éÂÂé¡) – absorbed Hanzawa, Hatara and Obusama Districts on March 29, 1896
- Saitama District (å¼çÂÂé¡)
- Kitasaitama District (å¼çÂÂé¡) – dissolved
- Minamisaitama District (å¼çÂÂé¡)
- Yokomi District (横è¦Âé¡) – merged into Hiki District on March 29, 1896
- Tokyo Metropolis (-to) (until 1943: Tokyo Prefecture (-fu))
- Ebara District (èÂÂÃ¥ÂÂé¡) – merged into Tokyo (City/-shi) in 1932
- Toshima District (è±Âå¶Âé¡)
- Kitatoshima District (Ã¥ÂÂè±Âå³¶é¡) – merged into Tokyo City in 1932
- Minamitoshima District (Ã¥ÂÂè±Âå³¶é¡) – merged with Higashitama District to become Toyotama District on April 1, 1896, merged into Tokyo City in 1932
- Kanagawa Prefecture
- Kuraki District (ä¹Â
è¯å²Âé¡) – dissolved
- Tachibana District (æ©Â樹é¡) – dissolved
- Tsuzuki District (é½çÂÂé¡) – dissolved
- Mixed
- Adachi District (è¶³ç«Âé¡)
- Kitaadachi District (Saitama) (Ã¥ÂÂè¶³ç«Âé¡) – absorbed Niikura District on March 29, 1896
- Minamiadachi District (Tokyo) (Ã¥ÂÂè¶³ç«Âé¡) – merged into Tokyo City on October 1, 1932
- Katsushika District (èÂÂ飾é¡) – Transfer from ShimÃ
Âsa Province in 1683 (some say 1622âÂÂ1643) for the river improvement of Naka River.
- Kitakatsushika District (Saitama) (Ã¥ÂÂèÂÂ飾é¡) – absorbed Nakakatsushika District (ShimÃ
Âsa, Saitama) on March 29, 1896
- Minamikatsushika District (Tokyo) (Ã¥ÂÂèÂÂ飾é¡) – merged into the Tokyo City on October 1, 1932
- Tama District (å¤ÂæÂ©é¡, å¤Â麻é¡, å¤Â磨é¡)
- Higashitama District (æÂ±å¤ÂæÂ©é¡, Higashi-Tama-gun, "East Tama District") – part of Tokyo since its creation, merged with Minamitoshima District to become Toyotama District (è±Âå¤ÂæÂ©é¡) on April 1, 1896, in turn merged into Tokyo City in 1932
- Kitatama District (Ã¥ÂÂå¤ÂæÂ©é¡, Kita-Tama-gun, "North Tama District") – was part of Kanagawa in 1878 until being transferred to Tokyo in 1893; North Tama's last towns became [by definition: district-independent] cities in 1970
- Minamitama District (Ã¥ÂÂå¤ÂæÂ©é¡, Minami-Tama-gun, "South Tama District") – was part of Kanagawa in 1878 until being transferred to Tokyo in 1893; South Tama's last towns were turned into cities in 1971
- Nishitama District (西å¤ÂæÂ©é¡, Nishi-Tama-gun, "West Tama District") – was part of Kanagawa in 1878 until being transferred to Tokyo in 1893
See also
Notes
References
External links