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上野国(Kōzuke no kuni): a map of Japanese provinces in 1868, with Kōzuke Province highlighted.
Etymology
From Old Japanese上毛野(Kami tsu Keno, literally “Upper Keno”), in turn from 上(kami, “upper”) + つ(ancient possessive particle) + 毛野(Keno, old name for a region corresponding to modern Gunma Prefecture and Tochigi Prefecture combined), where 毛野(Keno, literally “hairy field”) was ateji for 食野(Keno, literally “food field”) in reference to an imperialagricultural area. Over time, the final no in Kami tsu Keno was reanalyzed as the の(no) possessive particle and was omitted from the name, producing Kamitsuke. The mi then nasalized and caused the tsu to become voiced, producing Kaũdzuke, and then the -au- underwent a regular vowel shift to become -ō-.[1][2]
