Owari is mentioned in records of the
Nara period, including the
Kujiki, although the area has been settled since at least the
Japanese Paleolithic period, as evidenced by numerous remains found by archaeologists. Early records mention a powerful “Owari clan”, vaguely related to, or allied with the
Yamato clan, who built massive
kofun burial mounds in several locations within the province, from which archaeologists have recovered bronze artifacts and mirrors dating from the 4th century.
Atsuta Shrine is of very ancient origin, ranking with
Ise Shrine in importance, and is the repository of one of the
Imperial Regalia of Japan, the
Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. Under the
Engishiki classification system, Owari was divided into eight counties, which persisted as administrative units into the
Edo period. The exact location of the provincial capital is not known, but is traditionally considered to have been located in what is now the city of
Inazawa, although the
Ichinomiya of the province is located in what is now
Ichinomiya. During the
Heian period, the province was divided into numerous
shōen controlled by local
samurai clans. However, by the
Sengoku period, the province had fragmented into many small territories largely dominated by the
Oda clan. Under
Oda Nobunaga, the province was reunified. Nobunaga began his campaign to reunify Japan from his stronghold at
Kiyosu Castle. and many of his retainers (who later became
daimyōs under the
Tokugawa shogunate) were natives of Owari, including
Toyotomi Hideyoshi and
Katō Kiyomasa. Under
Tokugawa Ieyasu, the province was assigned as a
feudal domain to his ninth son,
Tokugawa Yoshinao with official revenues of 619,500
koku, the largest domain in the Tokugawa clan holdings outside of the shogunate itself. Yoshinao was founder of the
Owari Tokugawa clan, one of the
Gosanke, which had the hereditary right of succession to the position of
shōgun should the main line fail. The
castle town of Nagoya prospered during this period, and Owari Province was especially known for its ceramics industry. Following the
abolition of the han system in 1871 after the
Meiji Restoration, former
Owari Domain and
Inuyama Domain were transformed into short-lived prefectures, which were joined with
Nukata Prefecture, which was the former Mikawa Province, to form the new Aichi Prefecture in January 1872. At the same time, the province continued to exist for some purposes. For example, Owari is explicitly recognized in treaties in 1894 (a) between Japan and the
United States and (b) between Japan and the
United Kingdom. ==Bakumatsu-period domains in Owari Province==