is a

rural district A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. I ...

located in

Gunma Prefecture is a landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of . Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fuk ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. As of January 2015, the district had an estimated population of 56,994 and an area of 1,278.55 km², with a population density of 44.6 people per square kilometer.

Towns and villages

# former Agatsuma (now part of Higashiagatsuma) # former Azuma (now part of Higashiagatsuma) # Kusatsu # former Kuni (now part of Nakanojō) # Takayama # Tsumagoi # Nakanojō # Naganohara

History

The area of Agatsuma District was formerly part of

Kōzuke Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today Gunma Prefecture. Kōzuke bordered Echigo Province, Echigo, Shinano Province, Shinano, Musashi Province, Musashi and Shimotsuke Province, Shimotsuke Provinces. Its abb ...

, and per a census conducted at the start of the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

, consisted of 42 villages administered as ''

tenryō The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil war ...

'' directly by the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

and four towns and 44 villages administered as ''

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the Shōgun, shogunates in History of Japan, Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred ...

''-territory, primarily by the Oguri-clan. With the establishment of the municipality system on April 1, 1889, the area was organized into three towns (Nakanojō, Haramachi, and Naganohara) and ten villages file:Gumma Agatsuma-gun 1889.png, Historic Map of Agatsuma District in 1889:
1. Nakanojō, 2. Haramachi, 3. Azuma, 4. Ōta, 5. Sakaue, 6. Iwashima. 7. Naganohara, 8. Tsumagoi, 9. Kusatsu, 10. Sawada, 11.Isuma, 12.Nakuta, 13. Kuga *1896, April 1 – Takayama village was transferred from Nishigunma District to Agatsuma District; Kuga Village was transferred to Tone District, Gunma, Tone District *1900, July 1 – Kusatsu Village was reorganized into Kusatsu Town and Kuni Village *1955, March 1 – Ōta, Iwashima and Sakaue villages, and Haramachi (town) were merged into Agatsuma Town *1955, April 15 – Sawada, Isama and Nakuta villages were merged into Nakanojō Town *1956, February 1 – Hara Town was merged into Agatsuma Town * 2006, March 27 – the town of Agatsuma, and the village of Azuma were merged to form the new town of Higashiagatsuma. *2010, March 28 – the village of Kuni merged into the town of Nakanojō.

References

{{Authority control Districts in Gunma Prefecture