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...

 which is now Shimane Prefecture

Shimane Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is Matsue. It is the second least populous prefecture in Japan, after its eastern neighbor Tottori. The prefecture has an area elongated from east to west facing the Chūgoku Mountain Range on the south side and to...

. It was sometimes called . Oki province consisted of the Oki Islands

Oki Islands

are a group of islands in the southwestern part of the Sea of Japan and belong to Japan.-Geography:The Oki Islands are situated between 40 to 80 kilometers north of the coast of Honshū.The islands are of volcanic origin and have a total area of 346,1 km2...

 in the Sea of Japan

Sea of Japan

The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...

, located off the coast of the provinces of Izumo

Izumo Province

was an old province of Japan which today consists of the eastern part of Shimane Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province is in the Chūgoku Region.- History :It was one of the regions of ancient Japan where major political powers arose...

 and Hōki

Hoki Province

was an old province of Japan in the area that is today the western part of Tottori Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Hōki bordered on Inaba, Mimasaka, Bitchū, Bingo, and Izumo Provinces....

.

The Oki Islands comprise two relatively big islands and some smaller ones. The capital of the province was located where the present-day city of Saigo stands, but few relics of the old capital have been found, apart from the provincial temple

Provincial temple

Emperor Shōmu of Japan established so-called provincial temples in each province of Japan...

, which remains today in Saigo city.

Oki was an exile site, and both Emperor Go-Toba

Emperor Go-Toba

was the 82nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1183 through 1198....

 and Emperor Go-Daigo

Emperor Go-Daigo

Emperor Go-Daigo was the 96th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession....

 were exiled to this province.

From the Kamakura Period

Kamakura period

The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....

 Oki Province was governed primarily by the shugo

Shugo

was a title, commonly translated as "Governor," given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the shogun to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan...

 of Izumo Province. In the Muromachi Period

Muromachi period

The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate, which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kemmu restoration of imperial...

, it was ruled successively by the Sasaki clan

Sasaki clan

are a historical Japanese clan. - Brief history :They are descended directly from Emperor Uda by his grandson Minamoto no Masanobu , but were adopted by the Seiwa Genji...

, the Yamana clan

Yamana clan

The ' was a Japanese samurai clan which was one of the most powerful of the Muromachi period ; at its peak, members of the family held the position of Constable over eleven provinces. Originally from Kōzuke province, and later centered in Inaba province, the clan claimed descendance from the Seiwa...

 and the Kyogoku clan

Kyōgoku clan

The were a Japanese samurai kin group which rose to prominence during the Sengoku and Edo periods. The clan claimed descent from the Uda Genji. The name derives from the Kyōgoku quarter of Kyoto during the Heian period....

. In the Sengoku Period

Sengoku period

The or Warring States period in Japanese history was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century. The name "Sengoku" was adopted by Japanese historians in reference...

 the Amago clan

Amago clan

The , descended from the Emperor Uda by the Sasaki clan .Sasaki Takahisa in the 14th century, having lost his parents at the age of three years, he was brought up by a nun...

 held this province. After they fell and the Tokugawa Shogunate

Tokugawa shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...

 arose, the Shogunate declared the province a dominion of the shogun

Shogun

A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...

 and appointed as governor Matsue han

Han (Japan)

The or domain was the name of the estate belonging to a warrior in Japan after the 17th century. The fiefs of the daimyos of the samurai class of Japan during the Edo period were called han.-Edo period:...

, a daimyo belonging to the Matsudaira clan

Matsudaira clan

The was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Minamoto clan. It first originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province . Over the course of its history, the clan produced many branches, most of which also centered around Mikawa Province...

, relatives of the Shogun. At this time the rice production from Oki province was calculated at five thousand koku

Koku

The is a Japanese unit of volume, equal to ten cubic shaku. In this definition, 3.5937 koku equal one cubic metre, i.e. 1 koku is approximately 278.3 litres. The koku was originally defined as a quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year...

 per year.

Today it is Oki District, Shimane

Oki District, Shimane

is a district located in Shimane, Japan.As of 2003, the district has an estimated population of 24,500 and a density of 70.79 persons per km². The total area is 346.10 km².The Oki District encompasses the Oki Islands, historically called Oki Province....

, a part of Shimane Prefecture

Shimane Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is Matsue. It is the second least populous prefecture in Japan, after its eastern neighbor Tottori. The prefecture has an area elongated from east to west facing the Chūgoku Mountain Range on the south side and to...

.