Hizen

Hizen Province (肥前国, Hizen-no kuni) was an old province of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Its territory roughly corresponds to the western and northern parts of modern Kyushu, including most of Saga and Nagasaki prefectures and the Gotō Islands. The province existed from the early Heian period under the Ritsuryō system and persisted as an administrative unit until the Meiji period, when provinces were replaced by prefectures in 1871.

During the Edo period, much of Hizen was governed as the Nabeshima Domain, with centers around Saga and Imari. The region was historically notable for cross-cultural contact through the harbor of Hirado, where European traders and missionaries arrived in the 16th century, and later for the port of Nagasaki, which became a major gateway in the early modern era.

Economically, Hizen is famous for porcelain production. The Arita kilns in present-day Saga produced some of the earliest Japanese porcelain; Imari porcelain, exported via the port of Imari, gained wide renown in the 17th and 18th centuries under Nabeshima oversight. The area also contributed to ceramic arts and related crafts that influenced Japanese pottery.

Today, the name Hizen is primarily of historical use; its territory is within Saga and Nagasaki prefectures. The term appears in historical works and in discussions of regional culture, geography, and genealogy, preserving the memory of a province that played a significant role in Kyushu’s history.