Izu Province

Izu Province (伊豆国, Izu-no kuni) was a province of Japan in the area of Shizuoka Prefecture. Izu bordered on Sagami and Suruga Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was Zushū (豆州).

The mainland portion of Izu Province, comprising the Izu Peninsula is today the eastern portion of Shizuoka Prefecture and the Izu Islands are now part of Tokyo.

History

In 680 A.D., two districts of Suruga Province, Tagata District and Kamo District, were separated into the new Izu Province. At some point between the year 701 and 710, Naka District was added. The capital of the new province was established at Mishima, which also had the Kokubun-ji and the Ichinomiya (Mishima Taisha) of the province. Under the Engishiki classification system, Izu was ranked as a "lesser country" (下国). Under the ritsuryō legal system, Izu was one of the preferred locations for exile for those convicted of political crimes by the Heian period court.

In the Kamakura period, Izu was ruled by the Hōjō clan. During the Muromachi period, Izu was ruled nominally by the Uesugi clan due to their position as Kantō Kanrei; however, in reality, Izu came under the domination of whoever ruled the Kantō provinces of Sagami and Musashi. By the Sengoku period, this was the Late Hōjō clan based in Odawara. After the Battle of Odawara, Toyotomi Hideyoshi changed the fief of Tokugawa Ieyasu from his domains in the Tōkai region for the Kantō region instead, and Izu was one of the provinces that came under Tokugawa rule. After the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, Izu remained as a tenryō territory administed directly by the Shōgun. Much of the province was ruled by a daikan established in Nirayama, although portions were assigned to various hatamoto and to Odawara Domain. During the Edo Period, Kimisawa District was added to the three ancient districts of Izu.