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22-407: It was divided into Bizen (備前), Bitchū (備中), and Bingo (備後) Provinces in the late 7th century, and Mimasaka Province was separated from Bizen Province in the 8th century. The first three provinces took a kanji from the name of Kibi, and added zen , chū , and go ("near," "middle," and "far") according to their distance from the capital region. This Japanese history–related article

44-618: Is a National Historic Site . The presumed ruins of the Bizen Kokubun-niji are located 300 meters south of the monastery site. The details are not clear because no full-scale investigation has been conducted and the site is not covered by the National Historic Site designation, The ichinomiya of the province is Kibitsuhiko Shrine , located in Kita-ku, Okayama . Many shōen landed estates developed in

66-494: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Bizen Kokubun-ji The Bizen Kokubun-ji ( 備前国分寺 ) was a Buddhist temple located in what is now the city of Akaiwa, Okayama , Japan. It was one of the provincial temples per the system established by Emperor Shōmu during the Nara period (710 – 794) for the purpose of promoting Buddhism as the national religion of Japan and standardising imperial rule over

88-407: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Okayama Prefecture location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Hiroshima Prefecture location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Bizen Province Bizen Province ( 備前国 , Bizen-no-kuni ) was a province of Japan in the area that is eastern Okayama Prefecture in

110-582: Is believed to have been built in the early Kamakura period still stands on the site of the original Nara-period pagoda. By the Edo Period , the site had disappeared under paddy fields , and a nearby temple called Enjū-ji claimed to be the successor of the Bizen Kokubun-ji. It connection with the ancient kokubunji , if any is unknown. A large number of roof tiles from various eras, and shards of Nara Sancai pottery have been excavated from

132-517: Is controversial as it was largely based on the geographic name of the site, which may or may not date to the Nara period. The location of the Bizen Kokubun-ji is well defined, and is located in the city of Akaiwa, Okayama . It is located about 6.5 kilometers northeast of the estimated location of Bizen Kokufu . The foundations of the main temple buildings have been discovered, and the site

154-660: The Wamyō Ruijushō it was located in Mino District. However, ruins discovered in Joto District in what his now the Kokufuichi neighborhood of Naka-ku, Okayama ( 34°41′31.56″N 133°57′23.14″E  /  34.6921000°N 133.9564278°E  / 34.6921000; 133.9564278  ( 備前国庁跡 ) have been officially designated by the government as an Okayama Prefectural Historic Site. The designation

176-679: The Amago clan declined, Ukita Naoie , a vassal of the Urakami clan, drove out the remnants of Urakami clan, and conquered Mimasaka Province and parts of Bitchū and Bizen Province to become a daimyō of the Sengoku period. He established Okayama as his stronghold. His successor, Ukita Hideie was defeated at the 1600 Battle of Sekigahara and dispossessed by Tokugawa Ieyasu , who awarded Okayama to Kobayakawa Hideaki . When Kobayakawa Hideaki died without heir, Okayama Castle and all of Bizen Province

198-651: The Chūgoku region of western Japan. Bizen bordered Bitchū , Mimasaka , and Harima Provinces . Its abbreviated form name was Bishū ( 備州 ) . In terms of the Gokishichidō system, Bizen was one of the provinces of the San'yō circuit. Under the Engishiki classification system, Bizen was ranked as one of the 35 "superior countries" (上国) in terms of importance, and one of the "near countries" (近国) in terms of distance from

220-685: The Kofun period , and also had salt fields along its coast with the Seto Inland Sea , which also provided for convenience of marine transportation to the Kinai region Shikoku and Kyushu . The province was economically prosperous, and although its area as not large, it was ranked as a "superior country" under the Ritsuryō classification system. The location of the Bizen kokufu is uncertain. Per

242-604: The 10th century, but that the Lecture Hall and northern portion of the cloister was destroyed by a fire around the mid- to late-12th century. It is presumed that the pagoda and perhaps even the Main Hall were also lost around this time. Archaeological evidence suggests that a new Main Hall was constructed in the northeastern corner of the original Lecture Hall site in the early Kamakura period . A seven-story stone pagoda that

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264-456: The Middle gate were situated very close to each other, which is an unusual layout of the temple. The actual foundation date for this temple is uncertain, but it believed to have been built around the time of the imperial edict for the construction of the kokubunji temples in 741. Its name appears in the early Heian period Engishiki records, and it is believed that renovations were made in

286-481: The capital. The provincial capital was located in what is now the city of Okayama . After its conquest, the ancient Kingdom of Kibi became Kibi Province . It was divided into Bizen (備前), Bitchū (備中), and Bingo (備後) Provinces in the Ritsuryō administrative reforms in the late 7th century, with "Bizen" taking the first kanji of its name from "Kibi" and the second from its geographic position closest to

308-611: The capital. Bizen Province at this time included the territory of what would later become Mimasaka Province , Tsurashima (Torago, Kojima County), Shōdoshima , and the northern part of the Naoshima Islands . In 713, the six northern counties of Eita, Katsuta, Tomata, Kume and Mashima were separated from Bizen to form Mimasaka Province. Bizen, with much flat land and many rivers of reasonable size for flood control and water transportation, has been suitable for agriculture since ancient times. It has been an iron production area since

330-402: The new ritsuryō system. These were the kokubunji ( 国分寺 ) . The temples were constructed per a more-or-less standardized template, and were each to be staffed by twenty clerics who would pray for the state's protection. The associated provincial nunneries ( kokubunniji ) were on a smaller scale, each housing ten nuns to pray for the atonement of sins. This system declined when the capital

352-562: The power of the Akamatsu clan declined, the power of the Yamana clan increased, and Bizen gradually became a battlefield between the two clans and their proxies. During the Sengoku period , the Urakami clan, the shugodai , tried to rule Bizen Province by usurping the power of the Akamatsu clan, but were defeated by Amago Haruhisa , a powerful warlord from the San'in region . However, when

374-782: The province during the Heian and Kamakura periods , and during this time the province also became famous for its production of Japanese swords , especially that of the Osafune school and the Ichimonji schools. Bizen ware pottery also developed during this period, but did not reach national prominence for several centuries. In the Muromachi period , the Akamatsu clan , based in Harima Province , came to serve as shugo . When

396-406: The provinces. The temple no longer exists, but the temple grounds were designated as a National Historic Site in 1975. The Shoku Nihongi records that in 741 AD, as the country recovered from a major smallpox epidemic , Emperor Shōmu ordered that a state-subsidized monastery and nunnery be established in every province for the promotion of Buddhism and to enhance political unification per

418-544: Was awarded to Ikeda Tadatsugu , the second son of Ikeda Terumasa . The Ikeda clan continued to rule all of Bizen Province until the Meiji restoration . Under the Meiji government , on August 29, 1871, Bizen Province became part of Okayama Prefecture , with the exception of its islands in the Seto Inland Sea, which were transferred to Kagawa Prefecture and Ehime Prefecture . A small area of former Bizen Province

440-509: Was confirmed by an archaeological excavation in 1974, when the site was slated for development as a housing estate. Further excavation were conducted in the year 2003. During these excavations, the foundations of the South gate, Middle gate, Kondō , Lecture Hall, and priest's quarters were found to be aligned in a straight line from south to north within a 175 meters (east-to-west) by 190 meters (north-to-south) walled compound. The South gate and

462-609: Was moved from Nara to Kyoto in 794 AD. The Bizen Kokubun-ji temple site is located in the Umaya neighborhood of the city Akaiwa, on an alluvial fan between the Yoshii River and the Asahi River. The route of the ancient San'yōdō highway runs through the southern part of the temple grounds. Currently, Kokubunji Hachimangū Shrine is located in the center of the western portion of the former temple grounds. The temple's location

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484-422: Was transferred to Akō, Hyōgo in 1963 at the request of is local inhabitants. Per the early Meiji period Kyudaka kyuryo Torishirabe-chō ( 旧高旧領取調帳 ) , an official government assessment of the nation’s resources, the province had 680 villages with a total kokudaka of 423,379 koku . [REDACTED] Media related to Bizen Province at Wikimedia Commons This Okayama Prefecture location article

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