Map of Japan, 1855 – The major Sengoku period feudal domains between 1564 and 1573.
A Japanese/Cyrillic 1789 map of Japan showing provincial borders and the castle towns of han and major shogunate castles/cities
Map of Japan, 1855 with provinces.
Map of Japan, 1871 with provinces.

The list of han or domains in the Tokugawa period (1603–1868) changed from time to time during the Edo period. Han were feudal domains that formed the effective basis of administration in Tokugawa-era Japan. The Han are given according to their domain seat/castle town by modern region (-chihō, roughly comparable to ancient circuits, -dō) and ancient province (kuni/-shū, roughly comparable to modern prefectures, -to/-dō/-fu/-ken). Han usually comprised territories around/near the capital, but were beyond that in many cases disconnected and distributed over several provinces.

The han system was abolished by the Meiji government in 1871 when all remaining -han were transformed into -ken ("prefectures"). In several waves of mergers, splits and territorial transfers – the first major consolidation followed immediately in 1871/72 – the prefectures were reorganized to encompass contiguous, compact territories, no longer resembling Edo period han, but in many cases territorially identical to provinces which had remained the most important primary geographical subdivision even during feudal times.[1][2]

Hokkaidō

See also: Hokkaidō

Tōhoku

See also: Tōhoku region

Mutsu Province (Present-day Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori Prefectures)

See also: Mutsu Province

Dewa Province (Present-day Yamagata and Akita Prefectures)

See also: Dewa Province

Kantō region

See also: Kantō region

Hitachi Province (Present-day Central Ibaraki Prefecture)

See also: Hitachi Province

Shimotsuke Province (Present-day Tochigi Prefecture)

See also: Shimotsuke Province

Kōzuke Province (Present-day Gunma Prefecture)

See also: Kōzuke Province

Shimōsa Province (Present-day Northern Chiba, Southeastern Ibaraki and West portion of the Edogawa River in Saitama Prefectures)

See also: Shimōsa Province

Kazusa Province (Present-day Central Chiba Prefecture)

See also: Kazusa Province

Awa Province (Present-day Southern Chiba Prefecture)

See also: Awa Province (Chiba)

Musashi Province (Present-day Tokyo, Saitama, Northern Kanagawa and Western Chiba Prefectures)

See also: Musashi Province

Sagami Province (Present-day Southwestern Kanagawa Prefecture)

See also: Sagami Province

Chūbu

See also: Chūbu region

Echigo Province (Present-day Niigita Prefecture)

See also: Echigo Province

Shinano Province (Present-day Nagano Prefecture)

See also: Shinano Province

Kai Province (Present-day Yamanashi Prefecture)

See also: Kai Province

Etchū Province (Present-day Toyama Prefecture)

See also: Etchū Province

Kaga Province (Present-day Southern Ishikawa Prefecture)

See also: Kaga Province

Echizen Province (Present-day Northern Fukui Prefecture)

See also: Echizen Province

Wakasa Province (Present-day Southern Fukui Prefecture)

See also: Wakasa Province

Tōkai

See also: Tōkai region

Suruga Province (Present-day Central Shizuoka Prefecture around Shizuoka City)

See also: Suruga Province

Tōtōmi Province (Present-day Western Shizuoka Prefecture)

See also: Tōtōmi Province

Mikawa Province (Present-day Eastern Aichi Prefecture around Toyohashi)

See also: Mikawa Province

Owari Province (Present-day Western Aichi Prefecture around Nagoya)

See also: Owari Province

Hida Province (Present-day Northern Gifu Prefecture)

See also: Hida Province

Mino Province (Present-day Southern Gifu Prefecture)

See also: Mino Province

Kansai

See also: Kansai

Ise Province (Present-day Central Mie Prefecture)

See also: Ise Province

Shima Province (Present-day Eastern Mie Prefecture)

See also: Shima Province

Ōmi Province (Present-day Shiga Prefecture)

See also: Ōmi Province

Yamashiro Province (Present-day Southern Kyoto Prefecture)

See also: Yamashiro Province

Yamato Province (Present-day Nara Prefecture)

See also: Yamato Province

Kii Province (Present-day Wakayama and Southern Mie Prefecture)

See also: Kii Province

Izumi Province (Present-day Southern Osaka Prefecture)

See also: Izumi Province

Kawachi Province (Present-day Eastern Osaka Prefecture)

See also: Kawachi Province

Settsu Province (Present-day Eastern Hyogo and Northern Osaka Prefectures)

See also: Settsu Province

Tanba Province (Present-day Northeastern Hyogo and Central Kyoto Prefecture)

See also: Tanba Province

Tango Province (Present-day Northern Kyoto Prefecture)

See also: Tango Province

Harima Province (Present-day Southern Hyogo Prefecture)

See also: Harima Province

Tajima Province (Present-day Northern Hyogo Prefecture)

See also: Tajima Province

Awaji Province (Present-day City of Hyogo Prefecture)

See also: Awaji Province

Chūgoku

See also: Chūgoku region

Inaba Province (Present-day Eastern Tottori Prefecture)

See also: Inaba Province

Hōki Province (Present-day Western Tottori Prefecture)

See also: Hōki Province

Izumo Province (Present-day Eastern Shimane Prefecture)

See also: Izumo Province

Iwami Province (Present-day Western Shimane Prefecture)

See also: Iwami Province

Bizen Province (Present-day Southwestern Okayama Prefecture)

See also: Bizen Province

Mimasaka Province (Present-day Northeastern Okayama Prefecture)

See also: Mimasaka Province

Bitchū Province (Present-day Western Okayama Prefecture)

See also: Bitchū Province

Bingo Province (Present-day Eastern Hiroshima Prefecture)

See also: Bingo Province

Aki Province (Present-day Western Hiroshima Prefecture)

See also: Aki Province

Suō Province (Present-day Eastern Yamaguchi Prefecture)

See also: Suō Province

Nagato Province (Present-day Western Yamaguchi Prefecture)

See also: Nagato Province

Shikoku

See also: Shikoku

Awa Province (Present-day Tokushima Prefecture)

See also: Awa Province (Tokushima)

Sanuki Province (Present-day Kagawa Prefecture)

See also: Sanuki Province

Iyo Province (Present-day Ehime Prefecture)

See also: Iyo Province

Tosa Province (Present-day Kochi Prefecture)

See also: Tosa Province

Kyūshū

See also: Kyūshū

Chikuzen Province (Present-day Northwestern Fukuoka Prefecture)

See also: Chikuzen Province

Chikugo Province (Present-day Southern Fukuoka Prefecture)

See also: Chikugo Province

Buzen Province (Present-day Northeastern Fukuoka and Northwestern Oita Prefecture)

See also: Buzen Province

Bungo Province (Present-day Central Oita Prefecture)

See also: Bungo Province

Hizen Province (Present-day Saga and Nagasaki Prefectures)

See also: Hizen Province

Tsushima Province (Present-day City of Nagasaki Prefecture)

See also: Tsushima Province

Higo Province (Present-day Kumamoto Prefecture)

See also: Higo Province

Hyūga Province (Present-day Miyazaki Prefecture)

See also: Hyūga Province

Satsuma Province and Ōsumi Province (Present-day merged as Kagoshima Prefecture)

See also: Satsuma Province and Ōsumi Province

Notes

Map of Japan, 1789 -- the Han system affected cartography
  1. ^ Shizuoka prefectural comprehensive education center (for children): Map showing the general division between Tokugawa-controlled territories (shogunate domain + allied domains) and the domains held by other lords (in Japanese)
  2. ^ Ishida Satoshi, 地理データ集 (private website by a high school teacher): List of prefectures (-fu/-ken) and domains (-han) under the 1868 -fu/-han/-ken system, Maps of prefectures after the 1871–1872 consolidation [Note: 12/27 in the Japanese calendar was already in the Gregorian calendar year 1872], after the second 1876 consolidation, in 1889, in 1900 (in Japanese)
  3. ^ Aomori Prefectural Board of Education: Aomori-ken no tanjō ("The birth of Aomori Prefecture")
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ravina, Mark. (1998). Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan, p. 222.
  5. ^ a b Deal, William E. (2005). Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan, p. 81.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Deal, p. 82.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Echigo Province" at JapaneseCastleExplorer.com; retrieved 2013-7-8.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Shinano Province" at JapaneseCastleExplorer.com; retrieved 2013-7-8.
  9. ^ "Kai Province" at JapaneseCastleExplorer.com; retrieved 2013-7-8.
  10. ^ "Etchū Province" at JapaneseCastleExplorer.com; retrieved 2013-7-9.
  11. ^ "Kaga Province" at JapaneseCastleExplorer.com; retrieved 2013-7-9.
  12. ^ a b c d e f "Echizen Province" at JapaneseCastleExplorer.com; retrieved 2013-7-9.
  13. ^ "Wakasa Province" at JapaneseCastleExplorer.com; retrieved 2013-7-9.
  14. ^ a b c d "Suruga Province" at JapaneseCastleExplorer.com; retrieved 2013-4-10.
  15. ^ Deal, pp. 81-82.
  16. ^ Deal, p. 83.
  17. ^ Lin, Man-houng. "The Ryukyus and Taiwan in the East Asian Seas: A Longue Durée Perspective," Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. October 27, 2006, translated and abridged from Academia Sinica Weekly, No. 1084. 24 August 2006.

References

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