<P> Satsuma Province (薩摩 国, Satsuma - no Kuni) was an old province of Japan that is now the western half of Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū . Its abbreviation is Sasshū (薩州). </P> <P> Satsuma's provincial capital was Satsumasendai . During the Sengoku period, Satsuma was a fief of the Shimazu daimyō, who ruled much of southern Kyūshū from their castle at Kagoshima city . They were the initial patrons of Satsuma ware, which was later widely exported to the West . </P>

The satsuma is named after a province in which country