Izumi Province

Izumi Province (和泉国, Izumi no kuni) was a province of Japan. It is also referred to as Senshū (泉州^?) . It lay in Kinai, and its area today composes the south-western part of Osaka Prefecture (south of the Yamato River; not including the city of Osaka itself). The Ōshōji in Sakai was the border with Settsu Province, until the beginning of the Meiji period, when the boundary was changed to be at the Yamato River. Izumi was classified as a lower province in the Engishiki.

The northern part was called Senboku (泉北^?, "Izumi North") , and the southern part Sennan (泉南^?, "Izumi South") . Izumi included the southern portion of the large seaport of Sakai, and was usually held by whomever ruled Osaka Castle and Settsu Province.

Name

The name "Izumi" means "fountain" or "spring" (泉), but is written with two characters, the character for "peace" (和) being prepended due to an imperial edict in 713. This character does not play into the reading.

Because the provincial capital was in modern Fuchū town, Izumi city, Osaka Prefecture, the city adopted the name of the province as its name.