Suruga Province (駿河国,Suruga no Kuni;Japanese pronunciation:[sɯꜜ.ɾɯ.ɡa(nokɯ.ɲi),-ɾɯ.ŋa-,sɯ.ɾɯ.ɡaꜜ-,-ɾɯ.ŋaꜜ-][1]) was anold province in the area that is today the central part ofShizuoka Prefecture.[2] Suruga bordered onIzu,Kai,Sagami,Shinano, andTōtōmi provinces; and was bordered by thePacific Ocean throughSuruga Bay to the south. Its abbreviated form name wasSunshū (駿州).
Suruga was one of the original provinces of Japan established in theNara period under theTaihō Code. The original capital of the province was located in what is nowNumazu, which also had theKokubun-ji and theIchinomiya (Mishima Taisha) of the province. Under theEngishiki classification system, Suruga was ranked as a "major country" (上国), and was governed by aKuni no miyatsuko ; under theritsuryō system, Suruga was classified as a "middle country" (中国).
In a 680 ADcadastral reform, the districts forming Izu Province were administratively separated from Suruga, and the provincial capital was relocated to the right bank of theAbe River in what is nowShizuoka City.
Records of Suruga during theHeian period are sparse, but during theKamakura period, Suruga was under direct control of theHōjō clan. With the development of theKamakura shogunate came increased traffic on theTōkaidō road connectingKamakura withKyoto. The province came under the control of theImagawa clan from the earlyMuromachi period through much of theSengoku period. The Imagawa made efforts to introduce the customs and rituals of thekuge aristocracy to their capital. However, afterImagawa Yoshimoto was defeated byOda Nobunaga at theBattle of Okehazama, the province taken byTakeda Shingen of Kai. The Takeda were in turn defeated byTokugawa Ieyasu, who was already master ofMikawa and Tōtōmi.
After theSiege of Odawara (1590),Toyotomi Hideyoshi forced the Tokugawa to exchange their domains for the provinces of theKantō region, and reassignedSunpu Castle to one of his retainers,Nakamura Kazuichi. However, after the defeat ofIshida Mitsunari at theBattle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu recovered his former domains, and madeSunpu Castle his home after he formally retired from the position ofShōgun.
During theEdo period, Suruga prospered due to its location on the Tōkaidō, and numerouspost towns developed. For defensive purposes, theTokugawa shogunate forbade the construction of bridges on the major rivers of Suruga Province (such as at theŌi River), which further led to town development on the major river crossings.
During this period, the major urban center ofSunpu remained atenryō territory, administered directly the Shōgun by theSunpu jōdai, and several smallerfeudal domains were assigned to closefudai retainers.
Following the defeat of the Tokugawa shogunate during theBoshin War of theMeiji Restoration, the last Tokugawashōgun,Tokugawa Yoshinobu returned to Suruga in 1868 to rule the short-livedShizuoka Domain until theabolition of the han system in 1871 by the newMeiji government.
Suruga was subsequently merged with the neighboring provinces of Tōtōmi and Izu (less theIzu Islands) to form modernShizuoka Prefecture. At the same time, the province continued to exist for some purposes. For example, Suruga is explicitly recognized in treaties in 1894 (a) between Japan and theUnited States and (b) between Japan and theUnited Kingdom.[3]
In the mid-19th century, Suruga was one of the most frequently mapped provinces in Japan.[4]
Suruga Province consisted of seven districts:
| Name | type | daimyō | kokudaka |
|---|---|---|---|
| Numazu Domain | fudai | Mizuno | 50,000koku |
| Tanaka Domain | fudai | Honda | 40,000koku |
| Ojima Domain | fudai | Matsudaira (Takiwaki) | 10,000koku |
Media related toSuruga Province at Wikimedia Commons
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|---|---|
| National | |
35°07′39″N138°29′12″E / 35.12750°N 138.48667°E /35.12750; 138.48667
