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Higo (肥後国; Higo no kuni) was an old province of
Japan in the area that is today Kumamoto prefecture on the island of Kyushu. Higo bordered on Chikugo, Bungo, Hyuga, Osumi, and Satsuma.
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 of Satsuma, until Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Kyushu and gave Higo to his retainers, first Sasa Narimasa and later Kato Kiyomasa.
During the Sengoku period, Higo was a major center for
Christianity in Japan, and it is also the location where Miyamoto Musashi stayed at the daimyo's invitation while completing his
The Book of Five Rings.
Category:Old provinces of Japan