Gokishichido
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was the name for ancient administrative units organized in Japan during the Asuka Period (AD 538–710), as part of a legal and governmental system borrowed from the Chinese. Though these units did not survive as administrative structures beyond the Muromachi Period (1336–1573), they did remain important geographical entities up until the nineteenth century. The Gokishichido consisted of five provinces in the Kinai (畿内) or capital region, plus seven "do" (道) or circuits, each of which contained provinces of its own.
The five Kinai provinces were local areas in and around the imperial capital (first Heijo-kyo at Nara, then Heian-kyo at Kyoto). They were:
- Yamato (now Nara prefecture)
- Yamashiro (now the southern part of Kyoto prefecture, including the city of Kyoto)
- Kawachi (now the southeastern part of Osaka prefecture)
- Settsu (now the northern part of Osaka prefecture, including the city of Osaka and parts of Hyogo prefecture)
- Izumi (now the southern part of Osaka prefecture)
The seven "do" (道) or circuits, written with the character for "road," were administrative areas stretching away from the Kinai region in different directions. Running through each of the seven areas was an actual road of the same name, connecting the imperial capital with all of the provincial capitals along its route. The seven "do" (道) were:
- Tokaido (running east along Japan's Pacific coast)
- Tosando (northeast through the Japanese Alps)
- Hokurikudo (northeast along the Sea of Japan coast)
- Sanindo (west along the Sea of Japan coast)
- Sanyodo (west along the northern side of the Seto Inland Sea)
- Nankaido (south to the Kii Peninsula and the islands of Awaji and Shikoku)
- Saikaido (the southern island, Kyushu)
The Gokishichido roads should not be confused with the Gokaido (五街道, the Edo Five Routes), which were the five major roads leading to Edo during the Edo Period (1603–1867). The Tokaido road was one of the Gokaido routes, but the others were not.
A few Japanese regions, such as Hokuriku, still retain their ancient Gokishichido names. Other parts of Japan, namely Hokkaido and the Ryukyu Islands were never included in the Gokishichido because they were not colonized by Japan until the nineteenth century, just as the Gokishichido geographic divisions and the feudal han (藩) domains were being replaced with the modern system of prefectures. Initially the government tried to organize Hokkaido as an eighth "do" (hence the name) but it was soon consolidated into a single prefecture.
More information can be found at Wikipedia's Provinces of Japan article.
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