Shinano Province


Shinano Province or Shinshū is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture.
Shinano bordered on Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, which became an important city of the province.
The World War II–era Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano was named after this old province.

Historical record

In 713, the road that traverses Mino and Shinano provinces was widened to accommodate increasing numbers of travelers through the Kiso District of modern Nagano Prefecture.
In the Sengoku period, Shinano Province was often split among fiefs and castle towns developed, including Komoro, Ina, and Ueda. Shinano was one of the major centers of Takeda Shingen's power during his wars with Uesugi Kenshin and others.
Suwa taisha was designated as the chief Shinto shrine for the province.
In 1871, during the Meiji period, with the abolition of the han system and the establishment of prefectures after the Meiji Restoration, Shinano Province's ex-domains/1871 prefectures and ex-shogunate territories/1868 prefectures and Takayama/Hida which covered Hida Province were administratively merged into Nagano and Chikuma prefectures. The seat of the prefectural government of Nakano was Nakano town from Takai District, Nagano's prefectural capital was Nagano town in Minochi District, and Chikuma's capital was Matsumoto town, Chikuma district. In the second wave of prefectural mergers in 1875/76, Chikuma was split again: the Western part covering Hida Province was merged into Gifu, and the Eastern part in Shinano became part of Nagano. Since that time, Nagano is essentially contiguous to Shinano.

Historical districts

Shinano Province contained the following districts: