Kazusa Province

The old name of the central part of Chiba Prefecture. One of the 15 provinces of the Tokaido. It is bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the east, Tokyo Bay to the west, Awa to the south, and Shimousa to the north. In ancient times it was called Fusa Province (said to derive from the archaic word "fusa" for hemp), but was divided into two provinces, Kazusa and Shimousa, during the Taika Reforms (645). In 718 (Yoro 2), four districts were separated from Kazusa Province to create Awa Province, but in 741 (Tenpyo 13) it was restored to its former state. Later, in 757 (Tenpyo Houji 1), Awa Province was separated again and its territory was fixed. In the Civil Section of the Engishiki, it was classified as a large province and belonged to the distant provinces. The district is made up of 11 districts: Ichihara, Unakami, Ahiru, Mouda, Sue, Amaha, Ijimi, Hanyu, Nagara, Yamanobe, and Musa. There are various theories about the location of the ancient provincial capital, including Soja, Noman, and Korimoto in Ichihara City, but it has not yet been confirmed. The site of the provincial temple is located in Donomae, Soja, Ichihara City, and its foundation stones remain. Ichinomiya is Tamasaki Shrine in Ichinomiya Town, Chosei District, and is listed in the Engishiki Shinmeicho as "Haniyu District Ichiza O Tamasaki Shrine Myojin O." It has long been a base for strategy in the Tohoku region, and played a major role in transporting grain. In the 9th century, the Fushu Rebellion broke out in Ichihara County and other areas. In 936 (Shohei 6), Kazusa no Suke Taira Yoshikane fought against his nephew Masakado and was defeated, but in 940 (Tenkei 3), Masakado's rebellion was put down and King Okiyo was executed by Fujiwara Kimimasa in Kazusa. After that, from 1028 (Chogen 1), the rebellion of former Kazusa no Suke Taira Tadatsune continued for four years, and the 22,980 cho of Honda in Kazusa was devastated, and by the end of the war, it had drastically decreased to just over 18 cho (Sakeiki). Tadatsune's descendants became the Kazusa and Chiba clans, both of which prospered, and in 1180 (Jisho 4), they supported Minamoto no Yoritomo when he raised an army. However, Kazusa Gonnosuke Chiba (Taira) Hirotsune was misunderstood by Yoritomo and was assassinated in 1183 (Juei 2) in the Kamakura camp. The shugo was Chiba Hirotsune in the early Kamakura period, the Ashikaga clan in the later period, the Sasaki, Chiba, Nitta and Uesugi clans during the Nanboku-cho period, and the Uesugi clan during the Muromachi period. In the Sengoku period, the shugodai Takeda clan was active in Mariya and Chonan, and the Satomi clan of Awa also invaded Kazusa. After the second battle of Konodai, the northern half of Kazusa Province was almost entirely under the power of the Gohojo clan, while the Satomi clan maintained their influence in the southern part.

After the fall of Odawara Castle in 1590 (Tensho 18) and Tokugawa Ieyasu's entry into Edo, Odawara became the home of the Edo Shogunate. The area was ruled by a mixture of small Fudai feudal domains, Hatamoto domains, and Daikan domains, forming a land of tangled dog-tooth relations. In terms of industry, the Kujukuri Coast flourished as the largest fishing ground in Japan, and local cotton such as Kazusa cotton and Yokaichiba cotton was also produced. In Edo Bay, fisherman Kakubei from Suhara Village in Kishu (Yuasa Town, Arida County, Wakayama Prefecture) introduced the Taikatsuraami (sea bream net) early on, and during the Bunsei era (1818-1830), Omiya Jinbei also cultivated nori (seaweed). In terms of culture, private schools and temple schools became popular in the middle and later periods. Ogyu Sorai studied here in his youth, and Ino Tadataka was also born in eastern Kazusa. During the Boshin War, the small domain of Jozai Domain is well known for resisting the government forces to the very end. When the domains were abolished and prefectures were established in 1871 (Meiji 4), this province, consisting of Miyatani Prefecture and 15 other domains and prefectures, came under the jurisdiction of Kisarazu Prefecture, and then on June 15, 1873, came under the jurisdiction of Chiba Prefecture.

[Yu Kawamura]

"History of Chiba Prefecture" by Nagakazu Ogasawara and Masaru Kawamura (1971, Yamakawa Publishing)" ▽ "History of Chiba Prefecture, Meiji Period" (1962, Chiba Prefecture)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

千葉県中央部の旧国名。東海道十五か国の一つ。東は太平洋、西は東京湾、南は安房(あわ)、北は下総(しもうさ)国に連なる。古くは総(ふさ)の国（麻の古語「ふさ」によるという）といったが、大化改新（645）で上総、下総の2国に分かれた。718年（養老2）上総国のうち4郡を割き安房国をたてたが、741年（天平13）旧に復す。その後757年（天平宝字1）にふたたび安房国が分離独立して領域が固定した。『延喜式(えんぎしき)』民部上では大国で遠国に属した。郡は市原、海上(うなかみ)、畔蒜(あひる)、望陀(もうだ)、周准(すえ)、天羽(あまは)、夷灊(いじみ)、埴生(はにう)、長柄(ながら)、山辺(やまのべ)、武射(むさ)の11郡からなる。古代国府の所在地は市原市惣社(そうじゃ)、同能満(のうまん)、同郡本(こおりもと)の諸説があり、まだ確定していない。国分寺址(し)は市原市惣社字堂ノ前にあり、礎石などが現存している。一宮(いちのみや)は長生郡一宮町の玉前(たまさき)神社で、『延喜式』神名帳には「埴生郡一座大玉前神社名神大」とある。古くから東北地方経略の根拠地で、穀類輸送などで大きな役割を果たした。9世紀には俘囚(ふしゅう)の乱が市原郡などに起こった。936年（承平6）には上総介(かずさのすけ)平良兼(よしかね)は甥(おい)の将門(まさかど)と戦って敗れたが、940年（天慶3）将門の乱は平定され、興世(おきよ)王は上総で藤原公雅(きみまさ)に誅(ちゅう)された。その後、1028年（長元1）から4年間前上総介平忠常(ただつね)の乱が続き、上総の本田2万2980町歩余は荒廃して、戦乱の終わりごろには18町余に激減したという（『左経記(さけいき)』）。忠常の子孫は上総・千葉両氏となってともに繁栄、1180年（治承4）源頼朝(よりとも)が挙兵するとともにこれを後援した。しかし上総権介(ごんのすけ)千葉（平）広常は頼朝の誤解を招き、1183年（寿永2）鎌倉の営中で暗殺された。守護は、鎌倉初期に千葉広常、後期に足利(あしかが)氏、南北朝時代には佐々木・千葉・新田(にった)・上杉氏、室町時代には上杉氏が務めた。戦国時代に入り、守護代武田氏が真里谷(まりやつ)・庁南(ちょうなん)に拠(よ)り活動、安房の里見氏も上総に進攻した。再度の国府台(こうのだい)合戦以後、上総国の北半はほぼ後北条(ごほうじょう)氏の勢威下にあり、南部は里見氏が勢力を保った。

　1590年（天正18）小田原落城、徳川家康の江戸入り以降は江戸幕府の御膝元(おひざもと)として位置づけられた。支配は譜代(ふだい)小藩、旗本領、代官領が入り交じり、まさしく犬牙錯綜(けんがさくそう)の地を形成した。産業面では九十九里浜が本邦最大の漁場として栄え、上総木綿、八日市場木綿などの地木綿の生産もあった。江戸湾では早く紀州栖原(すはら)村（和歌山県有田(ありだ)郡湯浅(ゆあさ)町）の漁夫角兵衛により鯛桂網(たいかつらあみ)が導入され、文政(ぶんせい)年間（1818～30）には近江屋甚兵衛(おうみやじんべえ)による海苔(のり)養殖も行われた。文化面では中・後期から私塾・寺子屋も普及した。荻生徂徠(おぎゅうそらい)も若きころ当地で修学し、伊能忠敬(いのうただたか)のような篤学者も東上総で生まれた。戊辰(ぼしん)の騒乱にあたっては、最後まで官軍に抵抗した小藩請西(じょうざい)藩のことがよく知られる。1871年（明治4）廃藩置県時点、宮谷(みやざく)県ほか15の藩県からなる当国は、木更津(きさらづ)県管下となり、ついで73年6月15日千葉県管下となった。

［川村　優］

『小笠原長和・川村優著『千葉県の歴史』（1971・山川出版社）』▽『『千葉県史　明治編』（1962・千葉県）』

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