Kawachi Province (河内国,Kawachi no kuni) was aprovince ofJapan in the eastern part of modernOsaka Prefecture.[1] It originally held the southwestern area that was split off intoIzumi Province. It was also known asKashū (河州).
The area was radically different in the past, withKawachi Bay and lake dominating the area over what is now land. That the became the plains in the west of the province was in part due to the sediment flowing from theYodo andYamato Rivers.
Kawachi was divided into three counties (地区,chiku): northern (北河内,Kita Kawachi), central (中河内,Naka Kawachi), and southern (南河内,Minami Kawachi).[when?]
Kawachi province was established in the 7th century. On 11 May 716, theŌtori,Izumi, andHine districts were split off to formIzumi Province (和泉監,Izumi-gen). In December 720, the Katashimo (堅下郡,Katashimo-gun) and Katakami (堅上郡,Katakami-gun) districts were combined to become Ōagata (大縣郡,Ōagata-gun). On 15 September 740, Izumi Province was merged back in. On 30 May 757, that area was again separated to form Izumi Province (this time with the normalkuni designation).
UnderDōkyō's administration,Yuge-no-Miya (由義宮) was established, taking the name ofNishi-no-Miyako (西京, "Western Capital"); moreover, in 769 the office of Kawachikokushi was abolished, and the special administration structure ofKawachi shiki (河内職) was established. With the downfall of Dōkyō, the prior system was restored the following year.
The provincial capital was inShiki District, which is believed to have been atKouiseki (国府遺跡, "provincial capital ruins") inFujiidera, but this is not known for certain. It may have been moved during theNara period (both locations would still be within modern Fujiidera). However, in theShūgaishō, the capital was in Ōagata District. In theSetsuyōshū,Tanboku District was mentioned as the seat.
It seems that there was no office ofshugo before theJōkyū War. It is unknown where the original shugo's residence was, but afterwards, it transferred to the Tannan, Furuichi, Wakae, and Takaya areas.
Aprovincial temple for monks was constructed in theTenpyō era; they were at modern Kokubuhiganjō inKashiwara, but they went out of use in sometime around theNanboku-chō period. Similarly, one for nuns was also near the same place, but it seems that it was in ruin by theHeian period.
Hiraoka Shrine was designated as the chief Shinto shrine (ichinomiya) of Kawachi Province.[2] The shrine is located inHigashiōsaka. In addition,Katano Shrine inHirakata, is labelled the "Primary Shrine of Kashū" (河州一ノ宮,Kashū Ichi-no-Miya), but this may be a mixup where what was once the primary shrine for the Katano township was confused for the primary shrine of Kawachi.
Thesecondary shrine is said to have beenOnji Shrine [ja]. However, just having the second most influence in Kawachi Province does not necessarily mean it was a secondary shrine in the shrine system. That it is called the secondary shrine is also a recent innovation.
There were no lower-level shrines.
Thesōja (Shinto) wasShiki-Agatanushi Shrine; there is a theory that this shrine was moved to where the sōja's land was, and another theory that it came to be the sōja due to its proximity to the capital.
The province of Kawachi was once the power of theMononobe clan; Kizuri inHigashiōsaka was, in ancient times, one of their strongholds.
Tsuboi inHabikino became a stronghold of the warrior family that was theMinamoto clan (i.e., theKawachi Genji). The likes ofHachimantarō Yoshiie who made vassals out of the samurai of the eastern provinces, his fatherMinamoto no Yoriyoshi, and Yoshiyori's fatherMinamoto no Yorinobu's tomb of three generations is even now close to theTsūhō-ji remains that was the Kawachi Genji's family temple.Minamoto no Yoritomo (who founded theKamakura shogunate) was a descendant of these Kawachi Genji.
Near the end of theKamakura period,Kusunoki Masashige and his household, being a powerful clan of southern Kawachi, rose up in defiance of the shogunate; barricaded in theShimo Akasaka,Kami Akasaka, andChihaya castles, he baffled the Kamakura shogunal armies. With the direct imperial rule ofKenmu, Kusunoki was appointed as bothkokushi andshugo.
TheNanboku-chō period arrived asAshikaga Takauji opposedEmperor Go-Daigo, and Kawachi became a hotspot for battles; Kusunoki Masashige's eldest sonKusunoki Masatsura was killed in action at thebattle of Shijō Nawate.
"After the death ofChikafusa theSouthern Court moved from Anau to Amano in the province of Kawachi, making the Kongoji its headquarters."[3]
With the advent of theMuromachi period, the post of Kawachishugo fell to one of the threekanrei, of theHatakeyama clan;Hatakeyama Mitsuie andHatakeyama Mochikuni continued this, making what should have been a dynasty of sorts, but in dispute over Mochikuni's family headship, the adoptedHatakeyama Masanaga and the begottenHatakeyama Yoshinari quarreled, and as Kawachi became the background for that feud, it fell to waste.
Masanaga was attacked atShōgaku-ji (正覚寺,Kami-Shōgaku-ji,Hirano-ku,Osaka) byHosokawa Masamoto andHatakeyama Yoshitoyo, but his sonHisayoshi was inKishū attempting to recoup for another attack; finally, they succeeded in making a comeback as the shugo of Kawachi and Kishū, and Hisayoshi's sonTanenaga ultimately managed to destroyYoshihide of Yoshinari's line, once again consolidating the house of Hatakeyama. However, through all this, Kawachi had been the battleground, and had essentially been reduced toscorched earth.
By theSengoku period, the consolidated Kawachi was the asset ofHatakeyama Tanenaga, but the real power was imbued in theshugodai, a title that passed into the hands ofYusa Naganori: theshugo came to be reduced to a mere figurehead. Moreover, thekanrei house ofHosokawa continued to face internal strife; in addition to the Hosokawa inheritance dispute betweenTakakuni,Sumimoto, andSumiyuki, the son of Sumimoto (the victor of that conflict)Harumoto attacked and overthrew the shugodai in Sakai who played an active role in the Hosokawa clan's internal strife,Miyoshi Motonaga.
Thebakufu, which was an asset for Harumoto, had been preserved, but Miyoshi's sonNagayoshi proceeded to the capital fromAwa; while he accepting a wife from the shugodai of Kawachi who had thede facto power (Yusa Naganori) and received other such favors of power, in subordination to Harumoto, but not in subordination to the wishes of Harumoto, he played an active role in such things as attackingKizawa Nagamasa in Takaida (in modernKashiwara,Osaka).
However, being in opposition later on, Nagayoshi would fight his father's cousin in Harumoto's faction,Miyoshi Masanaga, in dispute overKawachi Jū Nana Kasho at places likeEnami Castle, going on to break down Harumoto's controlled political power; theshōgun was reduced to a figurehead and along with seizing the real power of the bakufu, he transferred the stronghold fromAkutagawa Mountain Castle inSettsu toIimori Mountain Castle in Kawachi (Shijōnawate,Osaka).
But even Nagayoshi had to pass away at the age of 42, and afterwards retainers were in conflict (theMiyoshi triumvirate andMatsunaga Hisahide), making a battleground of Kawachi andYamato. The event that finally closed the period and these conflicts wasOda Nobunaga's procession to the capital.
Upon his ascension to the capital,Oda Nobunaga gave the task of governing the northern half of Kawachi toMiyoshi Yoshitsugu, and that of the southern half toHatakeyama Akitaka (his son-in-law). However, they both fell in the conflicts around theGenki era, and control of Kawachi fell to Oda's chief vassalSakuma Nobumori. But even Nobumori would later be shunned and banished by Nobunaga.
When Oda died in theIncident at Honnō-ji,Hashiba Hideyoshi, who attackedAkechi Mitsuhide at thebattle of Yamazaki, as a result of theKiyosu Conference, came to control the province.
Hideyoshi came to rule all Japan, and whenOsaka Castle was built,Wakae Castle, which had once been an important spot in Kawachi, became derelict.
After the death of Hideyoshi, theBattle of Sekigahara ensued, andTokugawa Ieyasu became ruler of all Japan: theSei-i Taishōgun; he opened hisbakufu, but as Kawachi wasToyotomi Hideyori's fiefdom, it was not entered into thebakuhan taisei.
When Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyori had their showdown at theSiege of Osaka, Kawachi also became a battleground. This fight had a winter and a summer campaign, but since the winter campaign was a battle around Osaka Castle, Kawachi was not a war location then. The aspect of the summer campaign was completely turned about, and the outer moat of Osaka Castle was buried, leaving the castle exposed; the Osaka side judged a siege defense to be impossible, and intercepted Tokugawa's side going from Kyoto to Osaka in the field. Therefore, fights occurred at various places in Kawachi, it being between Kyoto and Osaka. The primary battles that developed were theBattle of Dōmyōji (Gotō Matabee vs.Date Masamune,Matsudaira Tadateru, andMizuno Katsunari;Sanada Yukimura,Kitagawa Nobukatsu, andSusukida Kanesuke vs. Date Masamune, Matsudaira Tadateru, and Mizuno Katsunari) and thebattle of Yao and Wakae (Kimura Shigenari vs.Ii Naotaka;Chōsokabe Morichika vs.Tōdō Takatora).
In theEdo period, Kawachi was dotted withtenryō as well ashatamotos. As fordaimyōs, there were only two: theHōjō ofSayama Domain and theTakagi ofTannan Domain. In addition, theInaba ofYodo Domain had many territories.
Though Kawachi was a very small province, many important people in ancient and medieval Japan had to do with the area and the decisive moments in Japanese history that took place there or around it.
