, often called , was a
provinceBefore 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 ....
of
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of 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...
. It was at the extreme western end of
Honshūor Honshu is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Strait...
, in the area that is today
Yamaguchi Prefectureis a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Yamaguchi located in the center of the Prefecture: The largest city, by contrast, is Shimonoseki.- History :...
. Nagato bordered on
IwamiIwami was an old province of Japan in the area that is today the western part of Shimane Prefecture. Iwami bordered Aki, Bingo, Izumo, Nagato, and Suō provinces.In the Heian era the capital was at modern-day Hamada....
and
Suōwas a province of Japan in the area that is today the eastern part of Yamaguchi Prefecture. Suō bordered on Aki, Iwami, and Nagato Provinces.The ancient provincial capital was in Hōfu. Suō was ruled for much of the Muromachi Period by the Ōuchi clan, who built a castle at Yamaguchi...
Provinces.
Although the ancient capital of the province was
Shimonosekiis a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. It is at the southwestern tip of Honshū, facing the Tsushima Strait and also Kitakyushu across the Kanmon Straits.-Description:...
,
Hagiis a city located in Yamaguchi, Japan and was incorporated as a city on July 1, 1932. Formerly part of Abu District.On March 6 2005, the former city of Hagi merged with the towns of Susa and Tamagawa, and the villages of Asahi, Fukue, Kawakami and Mutsumi to form the new city of Hagi.Iwami Airport...
was usually the seat of the
hanThe , or domains, were the fiefs of feudal lords of Japan that were created by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and existed until their abolition in 1871, three years after the Meiji Restoration. The number of han varied; typically, there were around 300 han in the Edo period. Most were led by a daimyo whose...
(fief). Nagato was ruled by the
Mōri clanThe Mōri clan was a family of daimyō, descended from Ōe no Hiromoto and established themselves in Aki Province. Their name was derived from a shōen in Mōri, Aikō District, Sagami Province. The generation of Hiromoto began to name themselves Mōri.After the Jōkyū War, Mōri was appointed to the jitō...
before and after the
Battle of SekigaharaThe , popularly known as the , was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 which cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu...
.
In 1871 with the
abolition of feudal domainsThe 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...
and the establishment of
prefecturePrefecture indicates the office, seat, territorial circumscription of a Prefect. The term prefecture is also used to refer to offices analogous to prefectures.-Antiquity:...
s (
Haihan Chiken) after the
Meiji RestorationThe , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution or Renewal, was a chain of events that led to enormous changes in Japan's political and social structure...
, the provinces of Nagato and
Suōwas a province of Japan in the area that is today the eastern part of Yamaguchi Prefecture. Suō bordered on Aki, Iwami, and Nagato Provinces.The ancient provincial capital was in Hōfu. Suō was ruled for much of the Muromachi Period by the Ōuchi clan, who built a castle at Yamaguchi...
were combined to eventually establish Yamaguchi Prefecture.
HistoricallyThe written history of Japan begins with brief information of Twenty-Four Histories, a collection of Chinese historical texts, in the 1st century AD. However, there is evidence that suggests people were living on the islands of Japan since the upper paleolithic period...
, the
oligarchyAn Oligarchy is a form of government in which power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society distinguished by royal, wealth, intellectual, family, military, or religious hegemony. The word oligarchy is from the Greek words for "few" and "rule"...
that came into power after the Meiji Restoration of 1868 had a strong representation from the Chōshū province, as
Itō HirobumiPrince was a Japanese statesman, Resident-General of Korea, four time Prime Minister of Japan and genrō. Itō was assassinated by An Jung-geun, a Korean nationalist who was against the Annexation of Korea by the Japanese Empire....
,
Yamagata AritomoField Marshal Prince , also known as Yamagata Kyōsuke, was a field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army and twice Prime Minister of Japan. He is considered one of the architects of the military and political foundations of early modern Japan. Yamagata Aritomo can be seen as the father of Japanese...
, and Kido Kōin were from there. Other natives famous for their role in the restoration include
Yoshida ShōinYoshida Shōin was one of the most distinguished intellectuals in the closing days of the Tokugawa shogunate. He devoted to developing many Ishin Shishi who made an outstanding contribution to the Meiji Restoration....
,
Takasugi Shinsaku; was a samurai from the Chōshū domain of Japan who contributed significantly to the Meiji Restoration.He used the alias to hide his activities from the shogunate.-Early life:...
, and Kusaka Genzui among others.
The Japanese battleship
NagatoNagato was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the lead ship of her class. She was the first battleship in the world to mount 16 inch class guns, and her armour protection and speed made her one of the most powerful capital ships at the time of her commissioning.She was the flagship of...
was named after this province.