Kai Province

Map of Japanese provinces with province highlighted

Kai Province (甲斐国, Kai no kuni), also known as Kōshū (甲州), is an old province in Japan in the area of Yamanashi Prefecture on the island of Honshū.[1]

History

View of Kai Province, woodblock print by Hiroshige, 1853
Kai coast, woodblock print by Hokusai, 1830

During the Sengoku period, the warlord Takeda Shingen ruled Kai from his stronghold at Kōfu. After the Takeda, the area was controlled by the Tokugawa clan.[1]

In the Meiji period, the provinces of Japan were converted into prefectures. The maps of Japan and Kai Province were reformed in the 1870s.[2]

The area was briefly renamed Kōfu Prefecture; and it was renamed Yamanashi Prefecture in 1871.[1]

Geography

Kai is west of Tokyo. The province is landlocked. It is in a mountainous region that includes Mount Fuji along its border with Shizuoka Prefecture.

Shrines and Temples

Asama jinja was the chief Shinto shrine (ichinomiya) of Kai. [3]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Kai" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 448.
  2. ↑ Nussbaum, "Provinces and prefectures" at p. 780.
  3. ↑ "Nationwide List of Ichinomiya," p. 1 Archived 2013-05-17 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2012-1-17.

Other websites

Media related to Kai Province at Wikimedia Commons