Ōsumi Province

Map of Japanese provinces (1868) with Osumi Province highlighted

Ōsumi Province (大隅国 Ōsumi no Kuni) was an old province of Japan in the area that is today the eastern part of Kagoshima Prefecture.[1] It was sometimes called Gūshū (隅州). Ōsumi bordered on Hyūga and Satsuma Provinces.

Osumi's ancient capital was near modern Kokubu. During the Sengoku and Edo Periods, Ōsumi was controlled by the Shimazu clan of neighboring Satsuma and did not develop a major administrative center.

The Ōsumi region has developed its own distinct local dialect. Although Ōsumi is part of Kagoshima Prefecture today, this dialect is different from that spoken in the city of Kagoshima. There is a notable cultural pride in traditional poetry written in Ōsumi and Kagoshima dialects.

Japan's first satellite, Ōsumi, was named after the province.

Historical record

In the 3rd month of the 6th year of the Wadō era (713), the land of Ōsumi Province was administratively separated from Hyūga Province. In that same year, Empress Gemmei's Daijō-kan continued to organize other cadastral changes in the provincial map of the Nara Period.[2]

Historical districts

Notes

  1. ↑ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Ōsumi" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 762, p. 762, at Google Books.
  2. ↑ Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 64., p. 64, at Google Books

References

Other websites

Media related to Osumi Province at Wikimedia Commons