thumb|upright=1.5|Map of Japanese provinces (1868) with Suō Province highlighted

was a province of ancient Japan in the area that is today the eastern part of Yamaguchi Prefecture. Suō bordered on Aki, Iwami, and Nagato Provinces.

Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō system, Suō was one of the provinces of the San'yōdō circuit. Under the Engishiki classification system, Suō was ranked as one of the "superior countries" (上国) in terms of importance, and one of the "far countries" (遠国) in terms of distance from the imperial capital, Kyoto. The provincial capital was located in what is now the city of Hōfu, Yamaguchi. The ichinomiya of the province is the Tamanooya Shrine also located in Hōfu.

thumb|right|[[Hiroshige ukiyo-e "Suo" in "The Famous Scenes of the Sixty States" (六十余州名所図会), depicting the Kintai Bridge]]

History

Before the establishment of the Ritsuryō system, the area of Suō was under control of various semi-independent kuni no miyatsuko: Ōshima Kuni (Suō-Ōshima), Suō Kuni (Kumage County, Kuga County), Hakuki Kuni (Kishiki County), Tsunu Kuni (Tono County), and Sawa Kuni (Sawa County) . These were united to form the Ritsuryo province, which initially consisted of five counties: Oshima, Kumage, Tsuno, Sawa, and Kisiki. Kuga County was divided from Kumage in 721 to form the sixth counties. In the Asuka period, the Iwakisan Kōgoishi mountain fortification was constructed against a possible invasion by Tang dynasty China and the Kingdom of Silla in Korean peninsula. Wooden tally strips bearing the name of 'Suho Province', 'Shuyō Province' and 'Suō Province' have been found at the ruins of Fujiwara-kyō and Heijō-kyō and the names were used interchangeably in Nara period records, such as the Nihon Shoki.

During the Kamakura period, the ruling Hōjō clan were the shugo of the province, and were replaced in the Muromachi period by the Ōuchi clan. During the Sengoku period, the Mōri clan supplanted the Ōuchi, and the province became part of the holdings of Chōshū Domain in the Edo Period. Following the Meiji restoration, the province became part of Yamaguchi Prefecture. The area of former Suo Province is now divided between the cities of Hōfu, Kudamatsu, Iwakuni, Hikari, Yanai, Shūnan, Ōshima District, Kuga District, Kumage District, and most of Yamaguchi city (excluding the former Ato Town), and a portion of Ube.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Bakumatsu period domains

|-

! Name !! Clan !! Type !! kokudaka

|-

| 25px Chōshū || Mōri clan || Tozama || 369,000 koku

|-

| 25px Tokuyama || Mōri clan || Tozama || 40,000 koku

|-

| 25px Iwakuni || Kikkawa clan || Tozama || 60,000 koku

|-

|}

Meiji period

Following the Meiji restoration, Suō was divided into six districts. Per the early Meiji period , an official government assessment of the nation’s resources, the province had 295 villages with a total kokudaka of 548,861 koku.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Districts of Suō Province

|-

! District !! kokudaka !! Controlled by || at present ||Currently

|-

| || 35,446 koku || 21 villages: Chōshū, Iwakuni || || Suō-Ōshima

|-

| || 119,966 koku || 112 villages: Chōshū, Iwakuni || ||Iwakuni, Waki

|-

| || 87,846 koku || 39 villages: Chōshū, Tokuyama || ||Hikari, Kaminoseki, Tabuse, Hirano, parts of Shūnan, Yanai

|-

| || 103,817 koku || 47 villages: Chōshū, Tokuyama || dissolved || Kudamatsu, most of Shūnan

|-

| || 90,192 koku || 41 villages: Chōshū, Tokuyama || dissolved || most of Hofu, part of Yamaguchi, Shūnan

|-

| || 111,591 koku || 35 villages: Chōshū || dissolved || most of Yamaguchi, part of Hōfu, Ube

|}

<gallery>

Tamanooya-jinja (Hofu), shaden.jpg|Tamanooya Shrine, ichinomiya of the province

Suo Kokubunji, tou-ato.jpg|Ruins of Suo Kokubun-ji

周防国衙跡 - panoramio.jpg|Ruins of Suo Kokuga

Tenshu of Iwakuni Castle 3.jpg|Iwakuni Castle

Shōhō Kuniezu - Suō Province (Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives).jpg|Shōhō Kuniezu - Suō Province, with Nagato in yellow, Iwami in blue, and Aki in pink (Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives)

Genroku Kuniezu - Suō Province (Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives).jpg|Genroku Kuniezu - Suō Province, with Nagato in red, Iwami in green, and Aki in pink (Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives)

Tenpō Kuniezu - Suō Province (Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives).jpg|Tenpō Kuniezu - Suō Province (Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives)

Yamaguchi Prefecture (Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives).jpg|1878 map of Yamaguchi Prefecture, marked with its two constituent provinces of and , as well as neighbouring and (Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives)

</gallery>

Notes

References

  • Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ; OCLC 58053128
  • Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon (Nihon Ōdai Ichiran). Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691.
  • Murdoch's map of provinces, 1903