Ground Province

Note: in Five Rings tradition, people's surnames are invoked before given names.

The Ground Province is the largest, most populous, and most economically powerful province in The Book of Five Rings. Over the years, arms manufacturing, information technology, and agriculture have become the dominant industries in The Book of Five Rings. The prominence of these industries can be easily felt in this province. Military presence here is more diluted compared to the Water, Wind, and maybe Fire Province, although still visible. Government officials from this province or its subordinate prefectures often use the economic clout of this province when negotiating with government officials from other jurisdictions.

Premier Shoguns of the Ground Province have been an unstable mix of military, civilian, and quasi-military (or, to put it another way, quasi-civilian) leaders. The current one is information technology mogul Hata Aki.

The Ground Province consists of six prefectures:

Highlands Prefecture

The Highlands Prefecture is, predictably, mostly highland. It was home to the earliest known settlers of the Book of Five Rings. Now, it has become a mostly rural place populated by several prominent monasteries, making this a more religious part of the country. There is a mix of Buddhist, Taoist, and Shinto temples, although there are also historic sites of the old religions, i.e. nameless animistic religions that the earliest Five Rings settlers practiced before Buddhism, Taoism, or Shintoism was introduced to the country.

Brick Prefecture

Arms manufacturing has become the most important industry in The Book of Five Rings. Most of the publicly accessible elements of the industry are gathered in this prefecture (significant defense industrial establishments are said to exist within the navy, air force, and ground forces of The Book of Five Rings). The Mortar Academy, where most of the generals in the Five Rings Ground Forces (FRGF) graduated from, is located here. This prefecture and the Mortar Academy are frequently referred to collectively as "Brick and Mortar".

Roof Prefecture

The largest city in the Book of Five Rings, Shinshyuu, is located in this prefecture. Understandably, it is also home to the largest university, financial district, and many others of the most metropolitan or cosmopolitan elements of the country. The information technology industry, the second-largest sector of the Book of Five Rings economy, is particularly prominent here.

Desert Prefecture

This prefecture has some small oil reserves to the west, the operation of which have been quite profitable relative to their scope of operation, and some agricultural production to the east. Otherwise, it is mostly desert.

Tundra Prefecture

This prefecture is mostly cold and barren. It is, however, the more prominently militaristic prefecture in the Ground Province. The Onizuka Army Base, the largest known FRGF base, is located here, as well as the provincial capital, Jyuuzou. There are also some rich farmlands to the west. Otherwise, the place is largely underdeveloped. There are, however, various ongoing development projects in this prefecture, as the local governments here are interested in turning this relatively large prefecture into a major economic power in the country.

Frontier Prefecture

This prefecture holds the largest non-arctic forests in the country. Some of the forests are designated as parks while others are used for lumber. Most of the country's Red Leafs are somewhere in the forests.