Higo Province (, Higo no kuni) was an old province of Japan in the area that is today Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Ky?sh?.[1] It was sometimes called Hish? (), with Hizen Province. Higo bordered on Chikugo, Bungo, Hy?ga, ?sumi, and Satsuma Provinces.
The castle town of Higo was usually at Kumamoto City. During the Muromachi period, Higo was held by the Kikuchi clan, but they were dispossessed during the Sengoku period, and the province was occupied by neighboring lords, including the Shimazu clan of Satsuma, until Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Ky?sh? and gave Higo to his retainers, first Sassa Narimasa and later Kat? Kiyomasa. The Kato were soon stripped of their lands, and the region was given to the Hosokawa clan.
During the Sengoku Period, Higo was a major center for Christianity in Japan, and it is also the location where the philosopher, the artist[2] and swordsman Miyamoto Musashi stayed at the Hosokawa daimy?s invitation, Hosokawa Tadatoshi third lord of Kumamoto, while completing his The Book of Five Rings.
Statue of Hosokawa Tadatoshi within Suizen-ji J?ju-en.
Mon of the Hosokawa clan.
Mon of Miyamoto Musashi born in ?hara-ch? province of Mimasaka.[3]
Statue of Miyamoto Musashi à ?hara-ch?.
In the Meiji period, the provinces of Japan were converted into prefectures. Maps of Japan and Higo Province were reformed in the 1870s.[4] At the same time, the province continued to exist for some purposes. For example, Higo is explicitly recognized in treaties in 1894 (a) between Japan and the United States and (b) between Japan and the United Kingdom.[5]
Aso-jinja was the chief Shinto shrine (ichinomiya) of Higo.[6]