Ancient and classical Hida Hida existed as a political entity before the
Ritsuryō system and the implementation of the
Taihō Code of the
Nara period. Ancient Hida was governed by a
Kuni no miyatsuko, but the area was so depopulated, a tax exception was granted. By the
Nara period, the area was already so noted for its carpentry that the official court position of
Hida-no-takumi (飛騨工) consisting of two craftsmen from Hida Province was established. The ruins of the
provincial capital of the province have been located in "Kokufu-cho" of the city of Takayama, and the
provincial temple,
Hida Kokubun-ji is also located in the city, as is the province's
ichinomiya, the
Minashi Shrine. During the
Heian and
Kamakura period, Hida's extensive forests were a major source of timber and metals for other provinces. River traffic from Hida down to Mino Province and
Owari Province was heavy. By the
Muromachi period, the
Kyōgoku clan held the position of
shugo for many generations; however, towards the start of the
Sengoku period, the province was fragmented into many small warlord territories, with the province as a whole becoming contested territory between the powerful
Takeda clan based in
Kai Province and the
Uesugi clan based in
Echigo Province. The
Ikkō-ikki movement from neighboring Kaga and Etchū Provinces also added to the instability.
Medieval and pre-modern Hida During the
Sengoku period, the Miki clan changed its name to
Anenokōji and temporarily unified the Hida area. After the
Honnō-ji Incident,
Kanamori Nagachika, one of
Oda Nobunaga's and later
Toyotomi Hideyoshi's generals, was sent to occupy Hida Province and became its
daimyō. He built
Takayama Castle and later fought on the side of
Tokugawa Ieyasu at the
Battle of Sekigahara. As a result, he was reconfirmed as
daimyō of
Takayama Domain under the
Tokugawa shogunate with a
kokudaka of 38,000
koku. His heirs ruled Takayama for six generations, until
Kanamori Yoritoki was transferred to
Kaminoyama Domain in
Dewa Province in 1692. From 1692 until the end of the
Edo period, Hida Province was
tenryō territory ruled directly by the Tokugawa shogunate. The official in charge of Hida was the . Initially, this was a
daikon-level position located at a
daikansho built on the site of the
shimoyashiki of Takayama Castle and was held by 11 men from 1692 to 1765. The
daikansho was then elevated to that of a ''
jin'ya and the final 14 holders of the office were styled Gundai
rather than Daikan
. The Takayama jin'ya
has the distinction of being the only jin'ya
on tenyrō
territory. The area under its control consisted of 414 villages with a total kokudaka
of 57,182 koku''.
Meiji period and beyond Following the
Meiji Restoration and the
abolition of the han system in 1871, the post of
Hida Gundai was also abolished. The area was divided into three
districts and was renamed "Hida Prefecture" on July 12, 1868. Ten days later, it was renamed "Takayama Prefecture" and on December 31, 1871, became "Chikuma Prefecture". On August 21, 1876, Chikuma was merged with the former Mino Province to become Gifu Prefecture. Also in this era, the Hida region became a center for the nationally important silk-making industry, leading to many women traveling there from the surrounding regions for work. ==Historical districts==