Mikawa Province

Although considered one administrative unit under the Engishiki classification system, this division (roughly based at the Yasaku River) persisted informally into the Edo period.

Traditionally considered to have been located in the Ko-machi (国府町) area of the modern city of Toyokawa because of the place name, archaeological investigations at the Hakuho-machi area of Toyota from 1991 to 1997 have revealed extensive ruins and ceramic shards indicating the possibility that the provincial capital was located there.

During the Edo period, Mikawa was the only area permitted by the shogunate to produce gunpowder, which led to its modern fireworks industry.

The various domains and tenryō territories were transformed into short-lived prefectures in July 1871 by the abolition of the han system, and was organized into ten districts by the early Meiji period cadastral reform of 1869.

After World War II, the territory of former Mikawa Province prospers as the capital of the Japanese automobile industry.