Ōmi Province (近江国,Ōmi no Kuni;Japanese pronunciation:[oꜜː.mʲi(nokɯ.ɲi)][1]) was aprovince of Japan, which today comprisesShiga Prefecture.[2] It was one of the provinces that made up theTōsandōcircuit. Its nickname isGōshū (江州). Under theEngishiki classification system, Ōmi was ranked as one of the 13 "great countries" (大国) in terms of importance, and one of the "near countries" (近国) in terms of distance from the imperial capital Kyoto.
Ōmi bordered onWakasa andEchizen Provinces to the north,Mino andIse Provinces to the east,Iga andYamato Provinces to the south, andYamashiro andTanba Provinces to the west.Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake, is located at the center of the province.
The area of Ōmi has been settled since at least theYayoi period, and the traces of several large settlements have been found. During theKofun period, the area appears to have been dominated by several powerful immigrant clans, most notably theWani clan, which was originally fromBaekje, a state in the southwestern Korean Peninsula. The names Ōmi and Lake Biwa do not appear in theKojiki,Man'yōshū or other ancient documents.
Ōmi initially had various names. Wooden tags in archaic Japanese from the ruins ofAsuka, Yamato, theYamato Kingship's capital on and off from 538-710, mention the Awapumi (淡海,Clear Lake), or variations thereof, including Tikaumi (近淡海,Freshwater Lake). The archaic nameApapumi evolved into thecurrent Japanese form, Ōmi no umi (近江海,Sea of Freshwater). The name was fixed asOld Japanese Awafumi (淡海) only after the enactment and enforcement of theTaiho Code in 701 and the decree of 713, which stipulated that the names of the provinces defined under theRitsuryō system should be written using two auspiciouskanji.
The Yamato state ruled briefly from this region. In the lateAsuka period (538-710),Emperor Tenji (r. 626 – January 7, 672) builtŌmi Ōtsu Palace in what is now the city ofŌtsu and ruled from it from 667 until 672. He issued the first legal code, theŌmi Code, while ruling from the Ōmi Ōtsu Palace. After his death, theJinshin War broke out among his fourteen children, one of the largest conflicts in Japanese history. Ōmi was the site of several battles, and afterwards, the capital returned to Asuka.
In the subsequentNara period, during the reign ofEmperor Shōmu (September 22, 701 – June 4, 756), the newRitsuryō system established akokufu (provincial capital) atŌmi Kokuchō in Ōtsu, near the ruins of the former Ōmi Ōtsu Palace. He also established aprovincial temple there. In 740, Emperor Shōmu built a personal residence, calledRakumura, in what is nowKōka, Shiga. He declared it the new capital in 745 and renamed itShigaraki Palace, but abandoned it the same year due to expenses.
Takebe taisha, enshriningYamato Takeru and his relics andŌkuninushi, was designated as theichinomiya (chief shrine) for the province.[3]
During theHeian period (794-1195), the proximity of Ōmi to the capital atHeian-kyō, its location on theTōkaidō andNakasendō highways connecting the capital with eastern Japan, and the main route from the capital to theSea of Japan, all gave the province great strategic importance. With the spread ofBuddhism in Japan,Saichō founded the greatTendai monastery ofEnryaku-ji in 788 onMount Hiei in Ōmi.
From the late Heian into theKamakura period, theSasaki clan controlled the post ofshugo (military governor) of Ōmi Province, and twocadet branches, theRokkaku andKyōgoku, dominated the province into theMuromachi period.
In the tumultuousSengoku period, internal struggles weakened both clans. Northern Ōmi became a battleground between theAzai andAsakura clans. In the south, the Rokkaku were supported by theKōka ikki, whoseshinobi operatives were infamous. In the late 1560s and early 1570s,Oda Nobunaga invaded from the east, defeating the Azai, Asakura, Rokkaku, Kōka, and finally, in 1573, theAshikaga shogunate itself. Nobunaga builtAzuchi Castle near the southwestern side of Lake Biwa in Ōmi, from which he planned to rule all of Japan and beyond.
AfterNobunaga was assassinated at Honnō-ji on 21 June 1582,Toyotomi Hideyoshi awarded much of the province toIshida Mitsunari. Mitsunari would later beTokugawa Ieyasu's archrival at theBattle of Sekigahara on October 21, 1600.
After the establishment of theTokugawa shogunate in 1603, much of the province was divided into severalfeudal domains, the largest of which wasHikone Domain, ruled by theIi clan. Ōmi continued to serve as a transportation conduit, with five of the53 Stations of the Tōkaidō and eight of the69 Stations of the Nakasendō.
Following theMeiji Restoration, on November 22, 1871, Ōtsu Prefecture and Nagahama Prefecture were created from formertenryō andhatamoto territories within the province, and each former domain formed its own prefecture. These were merged on January 19, 1872 to form Shiga Prefecture. From August 21, 1876 to February 7, 1881, the Reinan region ofFukui Prefecture (west ofTsuruga, Fukui) was part of Shiga Prefecture, thus giving it a shoreline on theSea of Japan. Local inhabitants strongly opposed the merger, and it was withdrawn.
Ōmi was divided into 12 Districts (郡), which were further subdivided into 93 counties (郷), containing 1,597 villages. The total assessed value of the province in terms ofkokudaka was 858,618koku.
| Name | Capital | Ruling clan and kokudaka |
|---|---|---|
| Hikone Domain | Sawayama Castle (1600- 1606) Hikone Castle (1606- 1871) | Ii clan (1600 - 1871, 180,000→150,000→200,000→250,000→300,000 (350,000→200,000→230,000) |
| Zeze Domain | Zeze Castle | Toda clan (1601 - 1616, 30,000 koku) |
| Minakuchi Domain | Minakuchi Castle | Kato clan (1682 - 1695, 20,000 koku) |
| Ōmizo Domain | Ōmizo jin'ya | Wakebe clan (1619- 1871, 20,000 koku) |
| Nisshōji Domain | Nisshōji jin'ya | Ichihashi clan (1620 - 1871, 20,000→18,000→17,000 koku) |
| Yamakami Domain | Yamakami jin'ya | Ando clan (1604 - 1695, 10,000 koku) |
| Ōmi-Miyagawa Domain | Miyagawa jin'ya | Hotta clan (1698 - 1871, 10,000→13,000) |
| Mikami Domain | Mikami jinya | Endo clan (1698 - 1870, 10,000→12,000 koku) |
| Katata Domain | Katata jin'ya | Hotta clan (1698 - 1826, 10,000→13,000 koku) |
| Kutsuki Domain | Kutsuki jin'ya | Kutsuki clan (1636 - 1648, 10,000 koku) |
| Ōmori Domain | Ōmori jin'ya | Mogami clan (1622 - 1632, 10,000 koku) |
| Ōmi-Takashima Domain | Sakuma clan (1600 - 1616, 15,000→20,000 koku) | |
| Ōmi-Komuro Domain | Komuro jin'ya | Kobori clan (1619 -1788, 12,460→11,460→16,300 koku) |
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