was an old province of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 in the area of Saga

Saga Prefecture

is located in the northwest part of the island of Kyūshū, Japan. It touches both the Sea of Japan and the Ariake Sea. The western part of the prefecture is a region famous for producing ceramics and porcelain, particularly the towns of Karatsu, Imari, and Arita...

 and Nagasaki

Nagasaki Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. The capital is the city of Nagasaki.- History :Nagasaki Prefecture was created by merging of the western half of the former province of Hizen with the island provinces of Tsushima and Iki...

 prefectures. It was sometimes called , with Higo Province

Higo Province

Higo Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. It was sometimes called , with Hizen Province. Higo bordered on Chikugo, Bungo, Hyūga, Ōsumi, and Satsuma Provinces....

. Hizen bordered on the provinces of Chikuzen

Chikuzen Province

was an old province of Japan in the area that is today part of Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyūshū. It was sometimes called , with Chikugo Province. Chikuzen bordered Buzen, Bungo, Chikugo, and Hizen Provinces....

 and Chikugo

Chikugo Province

is the name of a former province of Japan in the area that is today the southern part of Fukuoka Prefecture on Kyūshū. It was sometimes called , with Chikuzen Province...

. The province was included in Saikaidō

Saikaido

, literally meaning "western sea circuit," is a Japanese term denoting both an ancient division of the country and the main road running through it. Saikaido was one of the main circuits of the Gokishichidō system, which was originally established during the Asuka Period.This name identified the...

. It did not include the regions of Tsushima

Tsushima Province

was an old province of Japan on Tsushima Island which occupied the area corresponding to modern-day Tsushima, Nagasaki. It was sometimes called .-Political History:...

 and Iki

Iki Province

was a province of Japan in the area of Nagasaki Prefecture. The province which occupied the entire area of Iki Island. It is also known as .- Political History :...

 that are now part of modern Nagasaki prefecture.

The name "Hizen" dates from the Nara Period

Nara period

The of the history of Japan covers the years from AD 710 to 794. Empress Gemmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō . Except for 5 years , when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capital of Japanese civilization until Emperor Kammu established a new capital, Nagaoka-kyō, in 784...

 Ritsuryō

Ritsuryo

is the historical law system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Chinese Legalism in Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei"...

Kokugunri system reforms, when the province was divided from Higo Province

Higo Province

Higo Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. It was sometimes called , with Hizen Province. Higo bordered on Chikugo, Bungo, Hyūga, Ōsumi, and Satsuma Provinces....

.