Hitachi Province

Map of Japanese provinces (1868) with Hitachi Province highlighted.

Hitachi Province (常陸国, Hitachi no Kuni) was an old province of Japan in the area of Ibaraki Prefecture. It was sometimes called Jōshū (常州). Hitachi Province bordered on Iwashiro, Iwaki, Shimousa, and Shimotsuke Provinces.

The ancient provincial capital and temple were located near modern Ishioka and have been excavated, while the chief shrine was further east at Kashima. In the Sengoku Period the area was divided among several daimyo, but the chief castle town was usually the modern city of Mito.

References

• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 10-ISBN 0-674-01753-6; 13-ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128