was a province of Japan

Provinces of Japan

Before the modern prefecture system was established, the land of Japan was divided into tens of kuni , usually known in English as provinces. Each province was divided into gun ....

 in the area modern Chiba Prefecture

Chiba Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region and the Greater Tokyo Area. Its capital is Chiba City.- History :Chiba Prefecture was established on June 15, 1873 with the merger of Kisarazu Prefecture and Inba Prefecture...

, and Ibaraki Prefecture

Ibaraki Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan, located in the Kantō region on the main island of Honshu. The capital is Mito.-History:Ibaraki Prefecture was previously known as Hitachi Province...

. It lies to the north of the Bōsō Peninsula

Boso Peninsula

thumb|Locationthumb|Landsat image with high-resolution data from Space Shuttle is a peninsula in Chiba prefecture on Honshū, the largest island of Japan. It forms the eastern edge of Tokyo Bay, separating it from the Pacific Ocean....

 (房総半島), whose name takes its first kanji

Kanji

Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...

from the name of Awa Province and its second from Kazusa and Shimōsa Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was or .

Shimōsa is classified as one of the provinces of the Tōkaidō

Tokaido

In Japanese, Tōkaidō may refer to:Spelled 東海道 :*Tōkaidō , an ancient country subdivision of Japan*Tōkaidō , one of the Five Routes of Japan during the Edo period...

. It was bordered by Kazusa Province to the south, Musashi

Musashi Province

was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Prefecture, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama...

 and Kōzuke Province

Kozuke Province

was an old province located in the Tōsandō of Japan, which today comprises Gunma Prefecture. It is nicknamed as or .The ancient provincial capital was near modern Maebashi. During the Sengoku period, Kōzuke was controlled variously by Takeda Shingen, Uesugi Kenshin, the late Hōjō clan, and...

s to the west, and Hitachi

Hitachi Province

was an old province of Japan in the area of Ibaraki Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Hitachi Province bordered on Iwashiro, Iwaki, Shimousa, and Shimotsuke Provinces....

 and Shimotsuke Province

Shimotsuke Province

is an old province of Japan in the area of Tochigi Prefecture in the Kanto region. It was sometimes called or .The ancient capital of the province was near the city of Tochigi, but in feudal times the main center of the province was near the modern capital, Utsunomiya.-History:Different parts of...

s to the north. Under the Engishiki

Engishiki

-History:In 905 Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of a new set of laws. Fujiwara no Tokihira began the task, but work stalled when he died four years later in 909. His brother Fujiwara no Tadahira continued the work in 912 eventually completing it in 927...

classification system, Shimōsa was ranked as a "great country" (大国) and a far country (遠国).

History

Shimōsa was originally part of a larger territory known as , which was divided into “upper” and “lower” portions (i.e. Kazusa and Shimōsa) during the reign of Emperor Kōtoku

Emperor Kotoku

was the 36th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.The years of his reign lasted from 645 through 654.-Traditional narrative:Before Kōtoku ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name was or...

 (645-654). It was well-known to the Imperial Court in Nara Period

Nara period

The of the history of Japan covers the years from AD 710 to 794. Empress Gemmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō . Except for 5 years , when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capital of Japanese civilization until Emperor Kammu established a new capital, Nagaoka-kyō, in 784...

 Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 for its fertile lands, and is mentioned in Nara period records as having supplied hemp

Hemp

Hemp is mostly used as a name for low tetrahydrocannabinol strains of the plant Cannabis sativa, of fiber and/or oilseed varieties. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food and fuel with modest...

 to the Court. Shimōsa was divided into 11 (later 12) counties. The exact location of the capital of Shimōsa is not precisely known, but is believed to have been somewhere within the borders of the modern city of Ichikawa, Chiba

Ichikawa, Chiba

is a city located in northwest Chiba, Japan, approximately 20 kilometers from the center of Tokyo. The city was founded on November 3, 1934. As of January 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 474,586 and a density of 8,259.42 persons per km². The total area is 57.46 km²...

, near Station where the ruins of the Kokubun-ji

Provincial temple

Emperor Shōmu of Japan established so-called provincial temples in each province of Japan...

 have been located. However, the Ichinomiya of Shimōsa Province is the Katori Jingu in what is now the city of Katori, Chiba

Katori, Chiba

is a city located in northern Chiba, Japan. As of February 2011, the city had an estimated population of 82,633 and a population density of 315 persons per km². The total area was 262.31 km²...

 on the opposite coast of the province.

During the Heian period

Heian period

The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...

, the province was divided into numerous shōen

Shoen

A was a field or manor in Japan. The Japanese term comes from the Tang dynasty Chinese term zhuangyuan.Shōen, from about the 8th to the late 15th century, describes any of the private, tax-free, often autonomous estates or manors whose rise undermined the political and economic power of the...

controlled by local samurai

Samurai

is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...

 clans, primarily the Chiba clan

Chiba clan

The ' was a branch family of the Taira clan descended from Chiba no Suke, son of Taira no Tadatsune. Historically, they controlled the city of Chiba, outside Tokyo, and also an area called Soma which included the Grand Shrine of Ise....

, which sided with Minamoto Yoritomo in the Genpei War

Genpei War

The was a conflict between the Taira and Minamoto clans during the late-Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the fall of the Taira clan and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto Yoritomo in 1192....

. During the Kamakura period

Kamakura period

The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....

, much of the province was under the control of the Chiba clan

Chiba clan

The ' was a branch family of the Taira clan descended from Chiba no Suke, son of Taira no Tadatsune. Historically, they controlled the city of Chiba, outside Tokyo, and also an area called Soma which included the Grand Shrine of Ise....

. By the early Muromachi period

Muromachi period

The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate, which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kemmu restoration of imperial...

, the area was a highly contested region highly fragmented by various samurai clans. However, by the Sengoku period

Sengoku period

The or Warring States period in Japanese history was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century. The name "Sengoku" was adopted by Japanese historians in reference...

, the Late Hōjō clan

Late Hojo clan

The ' was one of the most powerful warrior clans in Japan in the Sengoku period and held domains primarily in the Kantō region.The clan is traditionally reckoned to be started by Ise Shinkurō, who came from a branch of the prestigious Ise clan, a family in the direct employment of the Ashikaga...

 held sway following the Battle of Kōnodai (1538)

Battle of Konodai (1538)

The 1538 battle of Kōnodai took place during the Sengoku period of Japanese history, fought by the leader of the Hōjō, Hōjō Ujitsuna, against the combined forces of Satomi Yoshitaka and Ashikaga Yoshiaki . After a long fought battle between the Hōjō and the allied forces, Ujitsuna arose as the...

 against the Ashikaga clan

Ashikaga clan

The ' was a prominent Japanese samurai clan which established the Muromachi shogunate and ruled Japan from roughly 1336 to 1573.The Ashikaga were descended from a branch of the Minamoto clan, deriving originally from the town of Ashikaga in Shimotsuke province .For about a century the clan was...

 and the Satomi clan

Satomi clan

The Satomi clan was a clan of samurai which claimed descent from Nitta Yoshishige , whose son Yoshitoshi took 'Satomi' as his surname. The Satomi moved from Kōzuke province to Awa province in the mid-15th century, and remained there into the Edo Period. During the Sengoku period, the Satomi were...

.
Following the installation of Tokugawa Ieyasu

Tokugawa Ieyasu

 was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan , which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara  in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but...

 in Edo

Edo

, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...

, after the Battle of Odawara

Siege of Odawara (1590)

The third ' occurred in 1590, and was the primary action in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's campaign to eliminate the Hōjō clan as a threat to his power. The months leading up to it saw hasty but major improvements in the defense of the castle, as Hideyoshi's intentions became clear...

, he created eleven han within the borders of Shimōsa to reward his followers, with the remaining area retained as tenryō territory owned directly by the Shogun

Shogun

A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...

 and administered by various hatamoto

Hatamoto

A was a samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as gokenin. However, in the Edo period, hatamoto were the upper vassals of the Tokugawa...

. The entire province had an assessed revenue of 681,062 koku.
Following the Meiji Restoration

Meiji Restoration

The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...

, these various domains and tenryō territories were transformed into short-lived prefectures in July 1871 by the abolition of the han system

Abolition of the han system

The was an act, in 1871, of the new Meiji government of the Empire of Japan to replace the traditional feudal domain system and to introduce centralized government authority . This process marked the culmination of the Meiji Restoration in that all daimyo were required to return their authority...

. Most of Shimōsa Province became part of the new Chiba Prefecture on June 15, 1873, with four districts ( Yūki, Toyoda, Sashima, Okada) going to the new Ibaraki Prefecture and the portion to the west of the Edogawa River

Edo River

thumb|The Edo River in [[Nagareyama, Chiba]] PrefectureThe is a river in the Kantō region of Japan. It splits from the Tone River at the northernmost tip of Narita City, crosses through Nagareyama and Matsudo, and empties into Tokyo Bay at Ichikawa. The Edo forms the borders between Tokyo, Chiba,...

 going to the new Saitama Prefecture

Saitama Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Saitama.This prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, and most of Saitama's cities can be described as suburbs of Tokyo, to which a large amount of residents commute each day.- History...

.

The area of former Shimōsa Province was organized into nine districts by the Meiji cadastral reforms, later reduced to five:

1. Higashikatsushika District
   Higashikatsushika District, Chiba
   was a district located in Chiba, Japan until March 27, 2005. On March 28, 2005 the district was dissolved when the town of Shōnan merged into the city of Kashiwa.-Area:...
   
    :ja:東葛飾郡
2. Nishikatsushika District :ja:西葛飾郡; merged with Sashima District March 29, 1896
3. Chiba District
   Chiba District, Chiba
   Chiba was a district located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan.The district was dissolved on January 1, 1967 when the town of Yachiyo gained city status.-Chiba District areas:*Chiba-all areas excluding parts of Midori-ku...
   
    :ja:千葉郡
4. Inba District
   Inba District, Chiba
   is a district located in Chiba, Japan.As of 2011, the district has an estimated population of 43,480 and a density of 845 persons per km². The total area is 51.48 km².There are two towns within the district.*Sakae*Shisui-District timeline:...
   
    :ja:印旛郡
5. Katori District
   Katori District, Chiba
   is a district located in Chiba, Japan.Since there is no population data since 2003, the post-Katori-Narita creation district had an estimated population of 40,260...
   
    :ja:香取郡
6. Kitasōma District :ja:北相馬郡
7. Minamisōma District :ja:南相馬郡; merged with Higashikatsushika District April 1, 1897
8. Kaijō District
   Kaijo District, Chiba
   Kaijō was a district located in Chiba, Japan.As of 2003, the district had an estimated population of 21,982 and a density of 469.10 persons per km²...
   
    :ja:海上郡
9. Sōsa District :ja:匝瑳郡
10. Yūki District :ja:結城郡
11. Sashima District
    Sashima District, Ibaraki
    Sashima is a district located in Ibaraki, Japan.Following the Bandō merger but with 2004 population data, the district has an estimated population of 125,153 and a density of 726 persons per km²...
    
     :ja:猿島郡
12. Toyoda District :ja:豊田郡 (下総国); merged with Yūki District March 29, 1896
13. Shimohabu District :ja:下埴生郡; merged with Inba District April 1, 1897
14. Okada District :ja:岡田郡); merged with Yūki District March 29, 1896

Edo period Domains in Shimōsa Province

Domain	Daimyo	Dates	Revenue (koku)	Type

}
| Doi
|1590-1871
| 80,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Hotta
|1590-1871
| 110,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Mizuno
|1590-1871
| 18,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Kuze
|1590-1871
| 43,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Morikawa
|1627-1871
| 10,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Inoue
|1640-1871
| 10,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Matsudaira (Hisamatsu)
|1713-1871
| 10,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Uchida
|1594-1871
| 10,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Toda
|1871-1871
| 12,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Miura
|1590-1639
| 10,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Hōjō
|1590-1613
| 10,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Toki
|1590-1617
| 10,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Okabe
|1590-1609
| 12,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Naruse
|1600-1638
| 16,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Sakai
|1690-1604
| 30,000
| fudai
|-
|
| Ōta
|1635-1638
| 15,600
| fudai
|-
|
| Doi
|1658-1677
| 10,000
| fudai
|-
|}