Bizen Province

Bizen Province (highlighted in red)

Bizen ( 備 前 国 bizen no kuni , Bizen country) is a historical province of Japan in the Chugoku region in the west of Honshu Island. Corresponds to the eastern part of modern Okayama Prefecture .

Bizen has long been a part of the Kibi state ( 吉 備 国 ), in the 7th century it was divided by the monarchs Yamato (Ancient name of Japan) into three administrative units - Bingo ( 備 後 , “back Kibi”), Beatu ( 備 中 , “middle Kibi”) and Bizen ( 備 前 , “front Kibi”).

At different times, Bizen was famous for its artisans - potters ^[1] , who made pottery in the "bizen-yaki" style, and gunsmiths who forged some of the best swords in Japan.

From the 15th to the 16th centuries, the Bizen province alternately belonged to the families of Akamatsu , Yaman, Urakami and Ukita. In the 17th century, Tokugawa Ieyasu transferred Hideaki province to Kobayakawa province for his assistance in the Battle of Sekigahara . But since Kobayakawa did not have an heir, in 1602, after his death, Bizen passed to the family of Ikeda. This clan, which also ruled neighboring Beatty, owned the provinces until 1868 .

In 1871 , as a result of administrative reform of the government, Okayama Prefecture was formed on the basis of Bizen province. Subsequently, in 1876, Bittyu Province and part of the lands of Bingo Province were included in it.