Yamato Province (大å'Œå›½, Yamato no Kuni) was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in HonshÅ«. It was also called WashÅ« (å'Œå·ž). At first, the name was written with one different character (大å€; cf. Names of Japan), and for about ten years after 737, this was revised to use more desirable characters (大養徳). The final revision was made in the second year of the TenpyÅ-hÅji era (c. 758). It is classified as a great province in the Engishiki.
The name Yamato derives from the Yamato people; the Yamato Period in the history of Japan refers to the late Kofun Period (c. 250â€"538) and Asuka Period (538â€"710). Japanese archaeologists and historians emphasize the fact that during the early Kofun Period the Yamato chieftainship was in close contention with other regional powers, such as Kibi Province near present-day Okayama Prefecture. Around the 6th century, the local chieftainship gained national control and established the Imperial court in Yamato Province.
The battleship Yamato, the flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet during the World War II, was named after this ancient province.
Capital
The provincial capital was Wakigami in KatsujÅ District (modern northeastern Gose), but accompanying the HeijÅ-kyÅ capital transfer, it was moved to Takaichi District (JÅroku in modern Kashihara, where the ÅŒgaru and Ishikawa towns meet, called Karu no Chimata). Where exactly the capital was is guessed at by various sources, but not known for sure. There was no shugo's mansion; the KÅfuku-ji played that role.
In the SetsuyÅshÅ«, Toichi District is listed as the seat.
Temples
The provincial temple for monks is popularly thought to have been TÅdai-ji, but it may have in fact been a different one in Kashihara. The one for nuns was Hokke-ji.
The primary shrine was Sakurai’s ÅŒmiwa Shrine, but the there have been no records stating as such found at the shrine itself. There were no secondary shrines. The sÅja was Kokufu Shrine (Takatori, Takaichi, Nara).
Kami of Yamato
- Minamoto no Shigetoki
- Minamoto no SuetÅ
- Utsunomiya Nobufusa
- Oda Hidanaga
- Oda Toshisada
- Oda Tatsusada
- Oda Tatsukatsu
- Mitsuki Naoyori
- HonjÅ Fusanaga
- TÅyama KagetÅ
- Jushii-ge Nakai Masakiyo
- Jushii-ge Matsudaira Tomonori
- Jushii-ge Matsudaira Naotsune
- Jugoi-ge KanÅ Hisachika
- Jushii-ge Matsudaira Naonobu
- Jushii-ge Matsudaira Tsunenori
- Jushii-ge Matsudaira Naoyoshi
Districts
Domains
- Yagyū Domain
- KÅriyama Domain
- Koizumi Domain
- Yanagimoto Domain
- Kaijū Domain / Shibamura Domain
- Kujira Domain
- Uda-Matsuyama Domain
- Takatori Domain
- Okidome Domain
- Tatsuta Domain
- Tawaramoto Domain
- Kishida Domain
- Yamato-ShinjÅ Domain
- Gose Domain
- Yamato-GojÅ Domain
