Dewa Province
Dewa is a redirect to this article. For other meanings, see Dewa (disambiguation).
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Dewa (jap. 出羽国, Dewa no kuni), also known as Ushū (羽州), is one of the historical provinces of Japan. Today, Yamagata Prefecture and Akita Prefecture (except for the cities of Kazuno and Kosaka) are located in the area.
Dewa was split off from Echigo Province in 708 and then slowly expanded northward as the Ainu native to northern Honshū were pushed back by the Japanese. It was called Ideha Province with the same spelling until the Heian period.
In the Sengoku period, the southern part of the province was held by the Mogami clan and the northern by the Akita. Both families had fought for Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Sekigahara.
In the Meiji period, the province was split into the provinces of Uzen (羽前国, Engl. "front Dewa") and Ugo (羽後国, Engl. "back Dewa").
Province Dewa (red) with the later province Ugo in the north and the later province Uzen in the south
Shrines
The following shrines are listed for Dewa in the Jimmyōchō deity directory of the Engishiki:
- Ōmonoimi-jinja (大物忌神社; today: Chōkaisan-Ōmonoimi-jinja (鳥海山大物忌神社)) in present-day Yuza, Akumi-gun, Yamagata: a Myōjin taisha.
- Omonoimi-jinja (小物忌神社) in the Akumi-gun (today: Yamadate, Sakata, Yamagata).
- Gassan-jinja (月山神社) in the Akumi-gun (today: Tachiyazawa, Shōnai, Yamagata): a Myōjin taisha.
- Oga-jinja (遠賀神社) in Tagawa-gun (now: 3 ronsha (論社)) in the Inooka, Ogawara and Tonojima districts of Tsuruoka, Yamagata.
- Yuzusame-jinja (由豆佐売神社) in Tagawa-gun (today: Yutagawa, Tsuruoka, Yamagata).
- Ideha-jinja (伊弖波神社, today: 出羽神社) in Tagawa-gun (today: Tōge, Haguro-machi, Tsuruoka, Yamagata).
- Shioyuhiko-jinja (塩湯彦神社) in Hiraka-gun (today: Omatsukawa, Sannai, Yokote, Akita).
- Haushiwake-jinja (波宇志別神社, today: Horowasan-Haushiwake-jinja (保呂羽山波宇志別神社)) in the Hiraka-gun (today: Yasawagi, Ōmori-machi, Yokote, Akita).
- Soegawa-jinja (副川神社) in Yamamoto-gun, with 4 ronsha (論社) of this existing today:
- Soegawa-jinja in present-day Uraō-machi, Hachirōgata, Akita.
- Takerokusho-jinja (嶽六所神社) in present-day Jingūji, Daisen, Akita.
- Hachiman-jinja (八幡神社) in present-day Jingūji, Daisen, Akita.
- Soegawa-shinmeija (添川神明社) in present-day Soegawa, Akita, Akita.
The Gassan-jinja and the Ideha-jinja are both shrines of the Three Mountains of Dewa.
The first shrine (ichi no miya) - in the sense of supreme shrine - of the province was the Ōmonoimi-jinja. The honden (main shrine) is located at the top of Chōkai-san and at its feet are the two kuchi no miya (satomiya, meaning "village shrine", in the sense of "more easily accessible from the village") Fukura (吹浦) and Warabioka (蕨岡). Both fought over being the First Shrine until the Tokugawa Shōgunate established Ōmonoimi-jinja on the mountain top as the First Shrine of the province. The Second Shrine of the province was the Kinowa-jinja (城輪神社), a sessha of the Ōmonoimi-jinja. The Third Shrine of the province was the Omonoimi-jinja.
