Kinai
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese term denoting an ancient division of the country. Kinai is a name for the ancient provinces around the capital Nara
Nara, Nara
is the capital city of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. The city occupies the northern part of Nara Prefecture, directly bordering Kyoto Prefecture...

 and Heian-kyō
Heian-kyo
Heian-kyō , was one of several former names for the city now known as Kyoto. It was the capital of Japan for over one thousand years, from 794 to 1868 with an interruption in 1180....

. The five provinces were called go-kinai after 1760.

The name is still used to describe part of the Kansai region, but the area of the Kinai corresponds only generally to the land of the old provinces.

The region was established as one of the Gokishichidō
Gokishichido
was the name for ancient administrative units organized in Japan during the Asuka Period , as part of a legal and governmental system borrowed from the Chinese...

("Five provinces and seven roads") during the Asuka period
Asuka period
The , was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 , although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period...

 (538-710). It consisted of Yamashiro
Yamashiro Province
was a province of Japan, located in Kinai. It overlaps the southern part of modern Kyoto Prefecture on Honshū. Aliases include , the rare , and . It is classified as an upper province in the Engishiki....

, Yamato
Yamato Province
was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. It was also called . At first, the name was written with one different character , and for about ten years after 737, this was revised to use more desirable characters . The final revision was made in...

, Settsu
Settsu Province
was a province of Japan, which today comprises the eastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture and the northern part of Osaka Prefecture. It was also referred to as or .Osaka and Osaka Castle were the main center of the province.-History:...

, Kawachi
Kawachi Province
was a province of Japan in the eastern part of modern Osaka Prefecture. It originally held the southwestern area that was split off into Izumi Province...

, and Izumi
Izumi Province
was a province of Japan. It is also referred to as . It lay in Kinai, and its area today composes the south-western part of Osaka Prefecture . The Ōshōji in Sakai was the border with Settsu Province, until the beginning of the Meiji period, when the boundary was changed to be at the Yamato River...

provinces.
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