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was a province of Japan in the area that is today the northern portion of Fukui Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). " Echizen" in . Echizen bordered on Kaga Province, Wakasa Province, Hida Province, and Ōmi Provinces. It was part of Hokurikudō Circuit. Its abbreviated form name was 越州.
In 701 AD, per the reforms of the Taihō Code, Koshi was divided into three separate provinces: Echizen, Etchū, and Echigo Province. The original Echizen included all of what is now Ishikawa Prefecture. In 718 A.D., four districts of northern Echizen (Hakui District, Noto District (also called Kashima District), Fugeshi District and Suzu District), were separated to form Noto Province. During the Nara period, the poet Nakatomi no Yakamori was exiled to Echizen, where he wrote some of his 40 poems collected in the Man'yōshū, including his love letters to Sanuno Otogami no Otome. Another famous Man'yōshū poet, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, wrote many pieces about Echizen. .
In 823 AD, the two eastern districts of Echizen (Kaga and Enuma) were separated to form Kaga Province. Kaga was thus the last province to be created under the ritsuryō system, and Echizen received its current borders at that time. During the Heian period, the provincial governor of Echizen, Fujiwara no Tametoki, was the father of the celebrated author Murasaki Shikibu. Lady Murasaki left her hometown of Kyoto only once in her life, to go to Echizen with her father. She stayed for just over one year, and then returned home to marry Fujiwara no Nobutaka. Her experiences in Echizen are said to have had a major influence on her greatest work, The Tale of Genji, and many place names from Echizen appear in her stories and poems.
Echizen was a strategically important province due to its proximity to Kyoto and Nara and due to its location on the Sea of Japan with contacts to the Asian continent. The province was traditionally famous for its production of washi paper. A text dated AD 774 mentions the washi made in this area. Echizen is also well known for its ceramics. It is one of the so-called six old kiln sites of Japan (the others being Shigaraki, Bizen, Seto, Tanba, and Tokoname).
The exact location of the Kokufu and Provincial temple of Echizen are unknown, but are believed to have been in what is now the city of Echizen.
During most of the Muromachi period, the Shiba clan ruled as shugo of Echizen. The Shiba were displaced by the Asakura clan towards the start of the Sengoku period, who made Ichijōdani their headquarters. Under Asakura Yoshikage, Echizen enjoyed a peace and stability far greater than the rest of Japan during this chaotic period, partly due to his negotiations with the Ikkō-ikki. As a result, Echizen became a refuge for people fleeing the violence to the south.
When Oda Nobunaga invaded Echizen, he defeated the Asakura clan, burned Ichijōdani Castle to the ground and re-established the provincial capital at Echizen-Fūchu, divided among his generals Fuwa Mitsuharu, Sassa Narimasa, and Maeda Toshiie. The province remained in their hands only for a short time, after which the three were granted larger fiefs of their own elsewhere. After the death of Nobunaga, control of Echizen passed on to Shibata Katsuie, who built his castle at Kitanosho Castle in what is now the city of Fukui. Shibata himself only held Echizen Province for a few years, after which he was defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
After the Battle of Sekigahara and the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, the entire province was awarded by the first shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu to his second son, Yūki Hideyasu, who became the daimyō of Echizen Domain, from his base at Fukui Castle.Georges Appert. (1888). "Matsudaira" in Ancien Japon, pp. 70; compare Edmond Papinot. (1906). Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon; Papinot, (2003). Nobiliare du Japon, pp. 29–30; retrieved 2013-3-26. During the early years of the Tokugawa shogunate, many Kuge moved to Fukui city in hopes to win the favor of Hideyasu, who was widely expected to become the new shōgun. There was great disappointment and resentment when the shogunate passed on to Ieyasu's third son, Tokugawa Hidetada. However, Echizen remained a strategically important military and political base; the Tokugawa shōguns needed loyal daimyō in the provinces surrounding the imperial capital, and Echizen served as a powerful buffer between Kyōto and the Maeda clan of Kaga Province, who were not among the fudai (hereditary Tokugawa allies).
Much of the province remained in the control of the Matsudaira clan until the Meiji Restoration; however, due to internal conflicts, the kokudaka of Fukui Domain was much reduced from its initial size, and several new Han system were created. A large portion of the area of the province also became tenryo territory (shogunal demenses) administered directly by the shogunate.
Although Echizen no longer existed after 1871 and maps of Japan were reformed after that dateNussbaum, "Provinces and prefectures" at p. 780. At the same time, Echizen continued to exist legally for certain purposes. For example, Echizen is explicitly recognized in treaties in 1894 (a) between Japan and the United States and (b) between Japan and the United Kingdom.US Department of State. (1906). A digest of international law as embodied in diplomatic discussions, treaties and other international agreements (John Bassett Moore, ed.), Vol. 5, p. 759.
In a border adjustment between Fukui prefecture and Gifu Prefecture on October 15, 1958, the village of Itoshiro in Ōno District was transferred to Gifu.
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