Chikugo Province

The old name of the southern part of Fukuoka Prefecture. One of the provinces in the Saikaido. In the Engishiki, it is ranked as Kami-kuni, and belongs to the Tokoku region. Originally, it was called Tsukushi Province together with Chikuzen Province, and was the home of the Tsukushi clan. With the establishment of the Ritsuryo system at the end of the 7th century, it was divided into the front and back, and when it was first divided, it was called Tsukushi no Michinoshirinokuni, but later it became Chikugo Province. It was divided into 10 districts: Mihara, Ikuha, Takeno, Yamamoto, Mii, Mizuma, Kamutsuma, Shimotsuma, Yamato, and Mike, and there were 54 townships (Wamyosho). The provincial capital and provincial temple were located in Mii County (Kurume City). There were manors such as Mihara Manor (Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine territory) in Mihara County, Oishi Manor (Kanzeonji territory) in Iwa County, Takeno Manor (Saidaiji territory) in Takeno County, Kusano Manor (Anrakuji territory) in Mii County, Mizuma Manor (Hoshogonin territory) in Mizuma County, Yoshida Manor (Anrakuji territory) in Kamitsuma County, Mizuta Manor (Anrakuji territory) in Shimotsuma County, Ogawa Manor (Usamiya territory) in Yamakado County, and Miike Manor (Konoe family territory) in Mike County.

When the Kamakura Shogunate was established, Otomo Yoshinao, a retainer of the eastern provinces, entered the area as Shugo. After that, the position of Shugo passed from the Otomo clan to the Hojo clan, the Shoni clan, the Utsunomiya clan, and then back to the Hojo clan at the end of the Kamakura period. When the Kenmu government was established, Utsunomiya Fuyutsuna was appointed Shugo, but during the civil war between the Northern and Southern Courts, the local lords of the province also split into the Northern and Southern Courts and fought each other, and when Ashikaga Tadafuyu went down to Kyushu, the area split into three factions, the Northern Court, the Southern Court, and Tadafuyu, leading to chaos. In 1359 (Shohei 14, Enbun 4), Kikuchi Takemitsu of Higo, who accompanied Prince Kaneyoshi, Shogun of the Western Expedition, went north, defeated Shoni Yorihisa at Ohobaru, and occupied Dazaifu, subjugating northern Kyushu. However, when Imagawa Ryoshun, the Kyushu Tandai, went down to Kyushu, the Northern Court launched a counterattack, and Shogun of the Western Expedition was driven into the mountains of Yabe. In the Muromachi period, the Kikuchi and Otomo clans competed for the position of Shugo, but the Otomo gradually gained the upper hand, and came to control Chikugo. In 1578 (Tensho 6), the Otomo clan suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Shimazu clan in the Battle of Mimikawa in Hyuga, and the local lords defected from the Otomo clan, and the Ryuzoji clan of Hizen came to have power. In 1585, the Shimazu clan invaded and took control of the region, but were forced to retreat when Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent troops.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who pacified Kyushu in 1587, gave the two northern districts along with the whole of Chikuzen and the two districts of Hizen to Kobayakawa Takakage, and gave Mori Hidekane to Kurume, Tachibana Muneshige to Yanagawa, and Tsukushi Hirokado to Fukushima (Yame City). After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 (Keicho 5), the Mori, Tachibana, and Tsukushi clans, which belonged to the Western Army, were stripped of their titles, the Kobayakawa clan was transferred to Bizen, and Tanaka Yoshimasa entered Yanagawa and ruled the whole of Chikugo. However, Yoshimasa's son Tadamasa had no heir, so the Tanaka clan died out in 1620 (Genwa 6), after which Arima Toyoji was given 210,000 koku in the eight northern districts and settled in Kurume, while the two southern districts with 110,000 koku were given back to Tachibana Muneshige, who settled in Yanagawa. The following year, Muneshige's nephew Oitanetsugu was given 10,000 koku and the Miike Domain was established, but in 1806 (Bunka 3), it was confiscated by the shogunate and restored to its former location in 1868 (Meiji 1). In 1668 (Kanbun 8), the Matsuzaki Domain was established as a branch of the Kurume Domain with 10,000 koku, but was abolished in 1684 (Jokyo 1).

In the early modern period, Chikugo Province was one of the leading grain-producing areas in Japan, and commercial crops such as rapeseed and haze were widely cultivated. Coal mining had been carried out in Miike since the first half of the 18th century, and the Kurume Gasuri textiles produced in the Kurume Castle area were famous as a handicraft industry.

With the abolition of feudal domains and the establishment of prefectures in July 1871 (Meiji 4), the feudal domains of Kurume, Yanagawa, and Miike each became prefectures, and in November of the same year, they were integrated into Mizuma Prefecture. In April 1876, Mizuma Prefecture annexed nine districts of Hizen Province (Saga Prefecture), but in August of the same year, it was separated, and the entire Chikugo Province was incorporated into Fukuoka Prefecture, where it remains to this day.

[Kazuo Shibata]

"History of Fukuoka Prefecture, 4 volumes (1962-65, Fukuoka Prefecture)" ▽ "History of Fukuoka Prefecture, edited by Takeuchi Rizo (1956, Bungado)" ▽ "History of Fukuoka Prefecture, written by Hirano Kunio and Iida Hisao (1974, Yamakawa Publishing)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

福岡県南部の旧国名。西海道(さいかいどう)の一国。『延喜式(えんぎしき)』の等級は上国で、遠国に属す。初め筑前国とあわせて筑紫(つくし)国といい、筑紫君の本拠地であった。7世紀末の律令(りつりょう)制の成立とともに前後に分割され、分割当初は筑紫後国(つくしのみちのしりのくに)と称したが、のち筑後国となった。御原(みはら)、生葉(いくは)、竹野(たかの)、山本、御井(みい)、三潴(みぬま)、上妻(かむつま)、下妻(しもつま)、山門(やまと)、三毛(みけ)の10郡に分かれ、54郷（和名抄(わみょうしょう)）が存在した。国府、国分寺は御井郡（久留米(くるめ)市）にあった。荘園(しょうえん)は、御原郡に三原荘（石清水八幡宮(いわしみずはちまんぐう)領）、生葉郡に大石荘（観世音寺(かんぜおんじ)領）、竹野郡に竹野荘（西大寺領）、御井郡に草野荘（安楽寺領）、三潴郡に三潴荘（宝荘厳院(ほうしょうごんいん)領）、上妻郡に吉田荘（安楽寺領）、下妻郡に水田荘（安楽寺領）、山門郡に小河荘（宇佐宮領）、三毛郡に三池荘（近衛(このえ)家領）などがあった。

　鎌倉幕府が成立すると、東国御家人(ごけにん)の大友能直(よしなお)が守護として入部した。その後、守護職(しゅごしき)は大友氏から北条氏、少弐(しょうに)氏、宇都宮(うつのみや)氏を経て、鎌倉末期にはふたたび北条氏に移った。建武(けんむ)政権が成立すると、宇都宮冬綱(ふゆつな)が守護に任じられたが、南北朝の内乱には当国の国人(こくじん)層も北朝方、南朝方に分かれて争い、足利直冬(あしかがただふゆ)が九州に下向すると、北朝方、南朝方、直冬方の3勢力に分かれて混乱した。1359年（正平14・延文4）征西将軍宮懐良(かねよし)親王を奉じて北上した肥後の菊池武光(たけみつ)は、大保原(おおほばる)において少弐頼尚(よりひさ)を破り、さらに大宰府(だざいふ)を占領して北部九州を制圧した。しかし九州探題今川了俊(りょうしゅん)が九州に下向すると北朝方の反攻が始まり、征西将軍宮は矢部山中に追われた。室町時代になると、菊池氏と大友氏が守護職を争ったが、しだいに大友氏が優勢となり、大友氏が筑後を支配することになった。1578年（天正6）大友氏が日向(ひゅうが)耳川の戦いで島津氏に大敗を喫すると、国人層は大友氏から離反し、肥前の龍造寺(りゅうぞうじ)氏の勢力が及ぶようになった。1585年には島津氏が侵入して当国を制圧したが、豊臣(とよとみ)秀吉の出兵によって撤退した。

　1587年九州を平定した豊臣秀吉は、北部2郡を筑前一国および肥前2郡とともに小早川隆景(こばやかわたかかげ)に与え、毛利秀包(ひでかね)を久留米に、立花宗茂(むねしげ)を柳河(やながわ)に、筑紫広門(ひろかど)を福島（八女(やめ)市）に封じた。1600年（慶長5）の関ヶ原の戦いののち、西軍に属した毛利、立花、筑紫の各氏が改易され、小早川氏が備前(びぜん)に転封されて、田中吉政(よしまさ)が柳河に入り筑後一国を支配した。しかし吉政の子忠政(ただまさ)に嗣子(しし)がなかったため、田中氏は1620年（元和6）に断絶し、そのあと有馬豊氏(とようじ)が北部8郡21万石を与えられて久留米に入部し、南部2郡11万石はふたたび立花宗茂に与えられ宗茂は柳河に入部した。翌21年宗茂の甥種次(おいたねつぐ)が1万石を分与されて三池(みいけ)藩が成立したが、1806年（文化3）幕府に収公され、1868年（明治1）旧地に復した。また1668年（寛文8）には久留米藩の支藩松崎藩1万石が立てられたが、1684年（貞享1）廃藩となった。

　近世の筑後国は全国でも有数の穀倉地帯であり、商品作物としてはナタネ（菜種）やハゼ（櫨）などが広く栽培されていた。三池では18世紀の前半から石炭の採掘が行われており、手工業としては久留米城下の久留米絣(がすり)が有名であった。

　1871年（明治4）7月の廃藩置県によって、久留米、柳河、三池の各藩はそれぞれ県となり、同年11月三潴(みづま)県に統合された。1876年4月三潴県は肥前国9郡（佐賀県）を併合したが、同年8月にはこれを分離し、筑後一国は福岡県に編入されて現在に至っている。

［柴多一雄］

『『福岡県史』全4巻（1962～65・福岡県）』▽『竹内理三編『福岡県の歴史』（1956・文画堂）』▽『平野邦雄・飯田久雄著『福岡県の歴史』（1974・山川出版社）』

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