Mutsu Province (陸奥国 Mutsu no kuni or), also called Rikuō Province (陸奥国 Rikuō no kuni) was an old province of Japan in the area of Iwate and Aomori prefecture.[1]
It was also known as Ōshū (奥州) or Rikushū (陸州). In the Meiji era, the province was cut down to cover only present-day Aomori and given the new name Rikuō Province, which retained the original kanji.[2]
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On December 7, 1868 (January 19, 1869 in the Gregorian calendar), four additional provinces (Rikuchū, Rikuzen, Iwaki, and Iwashiro) were separated from Mutsu, leaving only a rump corresponding to today's Aomori Prefecture. At the same time, while the characters of the name were unchanged, the official reading was changed to the on'yomi version "Rikuō".[2] This short-lived province was in turn abolished by the abolition of the han system and the nation-wide conversion to the prefectural structure of modern Japan in 1872.
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