Uzen Province (羽前国, Uzen no Kuni; Japanese pronunciation: [ɯꜜ.(d)zeɴ, -(d)zen no kɯ.ɲi]) is an old province of Japan in the area of Yamagata Prefecture (consisting mostly minus Akumi District). It was sometimes called Ushū (羽州), with Ugo Province.
This province was in the Tōhoku region of Honshū island. It was the place where the Mogami clan was established.
Echigo Province (越後国, Echigo no Kuni; Japanese pronunciation: [eꜜ.tɕi.ɡo (no kɯ.ɲi), -tɕi.ŋo-, e.tɕiꜜ.ɡo-, -tɕiꜜ.ŋo-, e.tɕi.ɡoꜜ, -tɕi.ŋoꜜ-]) was an old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It bordered on Uzen, Iwashiro, Kōzuke, Shinano, and Etchū Provinces. It corresponds today to Niigata Prefecture, minus the island of Sado.
Its abbreviated form name was Esshū (越州), with Echizen and Etchū Provinces. Under the Engishiki classification system, Echigo was ranked as one of the 35 "superior countries" (上国) in terms of importance, and one of the 30 "far countries" (遠国) in terms of distance from the capital Kyoto.