View source for Iki Province

{{short description|Former province of Japan}}
{{Redirect|Isshu|a fictional region in [[Pokémon]]|Pokémon Black and White#Setting}}
{{Infobox former subdivision
|_noautocat             = 
|native_name            = {{lang|ja|壱岐国}}
|conventional_long_name = Iki Province
|common_name            = Iki Province
|subdivision            = [[Provinces of Japan|Province]]
|nation                 = Japan
|status_text            = 
|government_type        = 
|p1                     = 
|flag_p1                = 
|s1                     = 
|flag_s1                = 
|title_leader           = 
|leader1                = 
|year_leader1           = 
|leader2                =  
|year_leader2           = 
<!-- General information -->
|capital                = Ishida District
|coordinates            = 
|political_subdiv       = <!-- Accepts wikilinks -->
|today                  = [[Iki, Nagasaki]]
<!-- Rise and fall, events, years and dates -->
<!-- Only fill in the start/end event entry if a specific article exists. Don't just say "abolition" or "declaration". -->
|year_start             = 7th century
|year_end               = 1871
|event_start            =
|date_start             = 
|event_end              = 
|date_end               = <!-- Optional: Date of disestablishment -->
|event1                 =
|date_event1            =
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|life_span              = 
|era                    = 
|event_pre              = <!-- Optional: A crucial event that took place before before "event_start" -->
|date_pre               = 
|event_post             = <!-- Optional: A crucial event that took place before after "event_end" -->
|date_post              = 
<!-- Images -->
|image_map              = Provinces of Japan-Iki.svg{{!}}300px
|image_map_caption      = Map of Japanese provinces (1868) with Iki Province highlighted
<!-- Area and population of a given year (up to 5) -->
|stat_year1             = <!-- year of the statistic, specify either area, population or both, numbered 1–5 -->
|stat_area1             = <!-- area in square kilometres (w/o commas or spaces), area in square miles is calculated -->
|stat_pop1              = <!-- population (w/o commas or spaces), population density is calculated if area is also given -->
|footnotes              = <!-- Accepts wikilinks -->
}}
{{nihongo|'''Iki Province'''|壱岐国|Iki no Kuni|{{IPA|ja|iꜜ.kʲi (no kɯ.ɲi)}}<ref>{{cite book|script-title=ja:NHK日本語発音アクセント新辞典|publisher=NHK Publishing|editor=NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute|date=24 May 2016|lang=ja}}</ref>}} was a [[Provinces of Japan|province]] of [[Japan]] which consisted of the [[Iki Island]]s, now a part of modern [[Nagasaki Prefecture]].<ref>[[Louis-Frédéric|Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric]]. (2005). "''Iki''" in {{Google books|p2QnPijAEmEC|''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 379|page=379}}.</ref>  Its abbreviated name was {{nihongo|'''Isshū'''|壱州}}. Iki is classified as one of the provinces of the [[Saikaidō]]. Under the ''[[Engishiki]]'' classification system, Iki was ranked as an "inferior country" (下国) and a "far country" (遠国).

==History==
The Iki Islands have been inhabited since the [[Japanese Paleolithic]] era, and numerous artifacts from the [[Jōmon period|Jōmon]], [[Yayoi period|Yayoi]] and [[Kofun period]]s have been found by archaeologists, indicating continuous human occupation and activity. In the Chinese ''Weizhi Worenchuan'' (Japanese 魏志倭人伝, ''Gishi [[Wajinden]]''), part of the [[Records of the Three Kingdoms]] dating from the 3rd century AD, mention is made of a country called "[[Ikikoku]]", (一支国), located on an archipelago east of the [[Korean Peninsula]]. Archaeologists have tentatively identified this with the large Yayoi period settlement of {{ill|Harunotsuji|ja|原の辻遺跡}} (原の辻), one of the largest to have been discovered in Japan, where artifacts uncovered indicate a close contact with the Japanese islands and the Asian mainland. It is also mentioned in the ''[[Weilüe]],'' the ''[[Book of Liang]]'' and the ''[[Book of Sui]].''

The islands were organized as Iki Province under the ''[[Ritsuryō]]'' reforms in the latter half of the seventh century, and the name "Iki-no-kuni" appears on wooden markers found in the imperial capital of [[Nara, Nara|Nara]].

The exact location of the provincial capital is not known, but is traditionally believed to have been in the former town of [[Ashibe, Nagasaki|Ashibe]], in former Ishida District. where the ruins of the [[provincial temple|''Kokubun-ji'']] of Iki Province have been discovered. Two shrines vie for the title of ''[[Ichinomiya]]'' of the province: the {{nihongo|Amenotanagao-Jinja|天手長男神社||}}, in former town of [[Gonoura, Nagasaki|Gonoura]] and the {{nihongo|Ko-Jinja|興神社||}}, in Ashibe
After the [[abolition of the han system]] in July 1871, Iki Province became part of "Hirado Prefecture" from 1871, which then became part of Nagasaki Prefecture.

==Historical districts==
* [[Iki District, Nagasaki|Iki District]]
** [[Iki District, Nagasaki|Iki District]] (壱岐郡) - absorbed Ishida District on April 1, 1896; now dissolved
** [[Ishida District, Nagasaki|Ishida District]] (石田郡) - merged into Iki District on April 1, 1896

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* [[Louis-Frédéric|Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric]] and Käthe Roth. (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC  ''Japan encyclopedia.''] Cambridge: [[Harvard University Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-674-01753-5}}; [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/58053128?referer=di&ht=edition  OCLC 58053128]
* Papinot, Edmond. (1910). ''Historical and Geographic Dictionary of Japan.'' Tokyo: Librarie Sansaisha. [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/77691250 OCLC 77691250]

== External links ==
{{Commons category-inline|Iki Province}}
* [http://www.maproom.org/00/05/sub1/1.html  Murdoch's map of provinces, 1903]
* {{in lang|ja}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20060720165144/http://www.max.hi-ho.ne.jp/m-kat/yamatai1/04houi.htm Wokou chronicles]

{{Japan Old Province}}

[[Category:History of Nagasaki Prefecture]]
[[Category:Former provinces of Japan]]
[[Category:Iki Island]]