was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Mino" in . Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviated form name was . Under the Engishiki classification system, Mino was ranked as one of the 13 "great countries" (大国) in terms of importance, and one of the "near countries" (近国) in terms of distance from the capital. The provincial capital and ichinomiya were located in what is now the town of Tarui.
Historical record "Mino" is an ancient place name, and appears in mokkan wooden tags from the ruins of Asuka-kyō, Fujiwara-kyō, and other ancient sites, but using the kanji "三野国". Per the Kujiki, there were originally three separate countries in Mino, centered around what is now Ōgaki, Ōno, and Kakamigahara. Each had its own Kuni no miyatsuko, and together with Motosu (in eastern Gifu) and Mugetsu (in north-central Gifu), these five entities were joined under Yamato rule to form the province of Mino. The use of the kanji "美濃" is found in the Kojiki and became prevalent in the Nara period. Early Mino included much of Kiso District in Shinano and portions of northern Owari. The route of the ancient Tōsandō highway connecting the ancient capitals of Japan and the eastern provinces passed through Mino, and even in 713 AD, records indicate that the road was widened to accommodate increasing numbers of travelers.Titsingh, Isaac. (1834).
The Nihon Shoki and Shoku Nihongi indicates that numerous immigrants from the Hata clan and from Silla settled in Mino in the Asuka and Nara periods.
During the Kamakura and Muromachi Period, the Toki clan held the position of shugo of Mino Province. During the Sengoku period, Saitō Dōsan usurped political power from the Toki, and later the province was conquered by Oda Nobunaga. The Battle of Sekigahara took place at the western edge of Mino, near the mountains between the Chūbu Region and the Kinki Region. With the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate, several feudal domains were established in Mino. At the time of the Meiji restoration, Mino was divided into 18 districts, which in turn were divided into 131 subdistricts and 1561 villages. The total assessed kokudaka of the province was 654,872 koku.
Historical districts Mino Province consisted of twenty-one districts:
Gifu Prefecture Anpachi District (安八郡) – absorbed parts of Taki District; but lost parts to Kaisai and Shimoishizu Districts to become Kaizu District (海津郡) on April 1, 1896 Atsumi District (厚見郡) – merged with Kakami and parts of Katagata Districts to become Inaba District (稲葉郡) on April 1, 1896 Ena District (恵那郡) – dissolved Fuwa District (不破郡) Gujō District (郡上郡) – dissolved Haguri District (羽栗郡) – merged with Nakashima District to become Hashima District (羽島郡) on April 1, 1896 Ikeda District (池田郡) – merged with parts of Ōno (Mino) Districts to become Ibi District (揖斐郡) on April 1, 1896 Ishizu District (石津郡) Kamiishizu District (上石津郡) – merged with parts of Taki District to become Yōrō District (養老郡) on April 1, 1896 Shimoishizu District (下石津郡) – merged with Kaisai and parts of Anpachi Districts to become Kaizu District on April 1, 1896 Kaisai District (海西郡) – merged with Shimoishizu and parts of Anpachi Districts to become Kaizu District on April 1, 1896 Kakami District (各務郡) – merged with Atsumi and parts of Katagata Districts to become Inaba District on April 1, 1896 Kamo District (加茂郡) Kani District (可児郡) Katagata District (石津郡) – dissolved to split and merged into parts of Inaba, Motosu and Yamagata Districts on April 1, 1896 Mugi District (武儀郡) – dissolved Mushiroda District (席田郡) – merged with former Motosu, parts of Katagata and parts of Ōno (Mino) Districts to become Motosu District (本巣郡) on April 1, 1896 Nakashima District (中島郡) – merged with Haguri District to become Hashima District on April 1, 1896 Ōno District (Mino) (大野郡) – dissolved to split and merged into parts of Motosu and Ibi Districts on April 1, 1896 Taki District (石津郡) – dissolved to split and merged into parts of Yōrō and Anpachi Districts on April 1, 1896 Toki District (土岐郡) – dissolved Yamagata District (山県郡) – absorbed parts of Katagata District on April 1, 1896; now dissolved
Shugo Below is an incomplete list of the shugo who controlled Mino Province and the years of their control:
Kamakura shogunate Ōuchi Koreyoshi (大内惟義), 1187–1211 Ōuchi Korenobu (大内惟信), until 1221 Utunomiya Yasutsuna (宇都宮泰綱), from 1252 Hōjō clan, from 1285 Hōjō Tokimura (北条時村), 1296–1300 Hōjō Masataka (北条政高), until 1333
Muromachi shogunate Toki Yorisada (土岐頼貞), 1336–1339"Toki clan" at Sengoku-expo.net ; retrieved May 10, 2013. Toki Yoritō (土岐頼遠), 1339–1342 Toki Yoriyasu (土岐頼康), 1342–1387 Toki Yasuyuki (土岐康行), 1387–1389 Toki Yoritada (土岐頼忠), 1390–1394 Toki Yorimasu (土岐頼益), 1395–1414 Toki Mochimasu (土岐持益), 1422–1465 Toki Shigeyori (土岐成頼), 1468–1495 Toki Masafusa (土岐政房), 1495–1519 Toki Yorinari (土岐頼芸), 1519–1542Nussbaum, "Saitō Dōsan" at p. 809.
Edo period Domains + Domains in Mino Province Name HQ Daimyō & kokudaka Ōgaki Domain Ōgaki CastleIshikawa clan: 50,000; 1601–1616 (transfer to Hita Domain) Hisamatsu-Matsudaira clan: 20,000; 1616–1624 (transfer to Komoro Domain) Okabe clan: 50,000; 1624–1633 (transfer to Tatsuno Domain]) Matsudaira clan: 60,000; 1633–1635 (transfer to Kuwana Domain) Toda clan: 100,000,1635–1871 Ōgaki Shinden Domain Hatamura jin'yaToda clan: 10,000; 1688–1871 Gujō Domain Gujō Hachiman Castle Endo clan: 27,000→24,000; 1600–1692 (attainder) Inoue clan: 50,000; 1692–1697 (transfer to Kameyama Domain) Kanemori clan: 38,000; 1697–1758 (attainder due to mismanagement) Aoyama clan: 48,000; 1758–1871 Kanō Domain Kanō Castle Okudaira clan: 100,000; 1601–1632 (attainder) Ōkubo clan: 50,000; 1632–1639 (transfer to Akashi Domain) Toda-Matsudaira clan: 70,000; 1639–1711 (transfer to Yodo Domain) Andō clan: 65,000→50,000; 1711–1756 (transfer to Iwakitaira Domain) Nagai clan: 32,000; 1711–1871 Iwamura Domain Iwamura CastleOgyū-Matsudaira clan: 20,000; 1601–1638 (transfer from Hamamatsu Domain) Niwa clan: 20,000; 1638–1702 (transfer to Takayanagi Domain) Ogyū-Matsudaira clan: 20,000→30,000; 1702–1871 Naegi Domain Naegi CastleTōyama clan: 10,000; 1600–1871 Takatomi Domain Takatomi jin'yaHonjo clan: 10,000; 1709–1871 Imao Domain Imao CastleImao jin'yaIchihashi clan: 20,000; 1600–1610 (transfer to Yabase Domain Takenokoshi clan: 10,000→20,000→30,000→20,000; 1611–1871 (as part of Owari Domain) Takasu Domain Takasu CastleTakasu jin'ya Tokunaga clan: 50,000; 1600–1628 (attainder) Ogasawara clan: 22,000; 1640–1691 (transfer to Katsuyama Domain) Owari Tokugawa clan: 30,000; 1700–1870 (as part of Owari Domain) Kurono Domain Kurono CastleKato calan: 40,000; 1600–1610 (transfer to Yonago Domain) Ibi Domain Ibi CastleNishio clan: 30,000→25,500; 1600–1623 (attainder) Kaneyama DomainMatsudaira clan: 25,000; 1600–1601 (transfer to Hamamatsu Domain) Kozuchi Domain Ogurayama CastleKanemori clan: 18,000→20,000; 1600–1611 (attainder) Jushichijo Domain Jushichijo CastleInaba clan: 10,000→20,000, 1607–1627 (transfer to Moka Domain) Aono Domain Aono jin'yaInaba clan: 12,000; 1681–1684 (attainder) Seki Domain Seki jin'yaOshima clan: 18,000 1600–1604 (reduced to hatamoto holding) Kiyomizu Domain Kiyomisu CastleInaba clan: 12,000; 1600–1607 (attainder) Iwataki Domain Iwataki Jin'yaHonjo clan: 1,000: 1705–1709 (reelected to Takatomi Domai ) Tokuno Domain Tokuno jin'yaHiraoka clan: 10,000; 1604–1653 (attainder) Nomura DomainOda clan: 10,000; 1600–1631 (attainder) Mino-Hasegawa DomainHasegawa clan: 10,000 1617–1635 (divided into hatamoto holdings) Mino-Wakisaka DomainWakisaka clan: 10,000; 1615–1632 (attainder)
Geography Mino and Owari provinces were separated by the Sakai River, which means "border river."
Notes
References Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ; OCLC 58053128 Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon (Nihon Odai Ichiran). Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691.
Other websites
Murdoch's map of provinces, 1903