Kyushu (Japan)

...The Kinai government, which was established based on the Kinai region, and the Ritsuryo state, which developed from it, were strongly aware that Eastern Japan was a region different from itself, but Western Japan was a region with which the state had various exchanges before it was established, and it seems that the term "Western Japan," which refers to a different region in the west, naturally came to be used to refer to a country outside the Japanese archipelago. Meanwhile, Kyushu was a region where political forces opposed the forces of Kinai for a long time, and in the entry for April 14, 5th year of Emperor Tenmu (676), in the "Nihon Shoki," it is written that "Western Japan" is in contrast to "Eastern Japan," but Ryosuke Ishii interprets this as meaning "Saikaido" = "Kyushu." In fact, there are many examples of the term "Western Japan" being used to refer to Kyushu, which came to be called "Chinzei" after the Chinzei-fu was temporarily established in place of Dazaifu in 743 (Tenpyo 15), from the end of the Heian period onwards. ...

*Some of the terminology that mentions "Kyushu (Japan)" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…畿内を基盤として成立した畿内政権，その発展である律令国家にとって，東日本はみずからと異質な地域と強く意識されていたが，西日本はこの国家の成立するまでにさまざまな交流のあった地域で，西方の異質な地域をさす西国の語は，おのずと日本列島の外の国について用いられることになったものと思われる。　その間にあって，九州は長期にわたり畿内の勢力に対抗した政治勢力のあった地域であり，《日本書紀》天武天皇5年(676)4月14日条に，東国に対して西国とあるのを，石井良助は西海道＝九州と解している。事実，743年(天平15)大宰府に代えて一時的に鎮西府が置かれてから，鎮西とも呼ばれるようになった九州をさす語として，平安末期以降，西国が用いられた例は少なからず見いだされる。…

※「九州（日本）」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報