From before the
Kofun period, the area of Hōki was part of the Izumo cultural area, including the
production of iron and the forging of swords. According to the "Hōki
Fudoki", the
hydra monster
Yamata no Orochi pursued
Princess Inada into the mountains of Hōki, where she called out for her mother to save her. Her cries of "Hahakimase" became shortened to "hahaki" and eventually "Hōki". The ancient
Kojiki states that the burial place of the creator
kami,
Izanami was located on the border of Izumo with Hōki. During the late Kofun period to
Asuka period, Hōki was gradually incorporated into Yamato rule. At the end of the
Kamakura period, exiled
Emperor Go-Daigo escaped from his prison on the
Oki Islands and made Hōki his initial base of operations against the
Kamakura shogunate. During the
Muromachi period, the
Yamana clan were nominally
shugo of the province; however, their control over the province was very weak, and local warlords and aggressive neighbors often usurped Yamana authority. In the
Sengoku period, the province was a contested area between the
Amago clan.
Mōri clan and
Oda Nobunaga, with Nobunaga's general,
Hashiba Hideyoshi eventually seizing control. In the
Edo period, the entire province was ruled by a branch of the
Ikeda clan as part of the 320,000
koku Tottori Domain centered on
Tottori Castle in neighboring
Inaba Province, although the important temple and pilgrimage center of
Daisen-ji remained independent. Following the
Meiji restoration and the
abolition of the han system in 1871, Hōki became part of Tottori Prefecture on August 29,1871. However, Tottori was merged into
Shimane Prefecture on August 21, 1876. It was separated back out on September 12, 1881. However, the name of province continued to exist for some time afterwards for legal purposes. For example, Hōki is explicitly recognized in treaties in 1894 (a) between Japan and the
United States and (b) between Japan and the
United Kingdom. Per the early
Meiji period , an official government assessment of the nation’s resources, the province had 778 villages with a total
kokudaka of 245,034
koku. } || 28,645
koku || 108 villages ||
Misasa,
Yurihama || merged with Kume and Yabase Districts to become
Tōhaku District (東伯郡) on March 29, 1896 ==Gallery==