Mino Province (美濃国 Mino no kuni), one of the old provinces of Japan, encompassed part of modern-day Gifu Prefecture.[1] It was sometimes called Nōshū (濃州). Mino Province bordered Echizen, Hida, Ise, Mikawa, Ōmi, Owari, and Shinano Provinces.
Although the ancient provincial capital was near Tarui, the main castle town was at Gifu, the home of Inabayama Castle.
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In 713, the road crossing through Mino and Shinano provinces was widened to accommodate increasing numbers of travelers.[2]
Mino Province served an important military and political role as the path to Kyoto as well as to Tokaido.
During the Kamakura and Muromachi Period, Mino Province was governed by Toki clan and later in Azuchi period controlled by Oda Nobunaga. His heirs continued to control it after Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi took power.
The Battle of Sekigahara took place at the western edge of Mino, near the mountains between the Chūbu Region and the Kinki Region.
Below is an incomplete list of the shugo who controlled Mino Province and the years of their reign:
Mino and Owari provinces were separated by the Sakai River, which means "border river."
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