is a rural district located in

Yamagata Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Yamagata Prefecture has a population of 1,079,950 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 9,325 km² (3,600 sq mi). Yamagata Prefecture borders Akita Prefecture to the nor ...

, Japan. In August 2013, the district had an estimated population of 14,695 and an area of 208.41 km². All of the city of Sakata north of the

Mogami River The is a river in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. Description and history It is 224 km long and has a watershed of 7,040 km2. It is regarded as one of the three most rapid rivers of Japan (along with the Fuji River and the Kuma River). ...

was formerly part of Akumi District.

Towns and villages

Yuza is a town located in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 13,615 in 4956 households, and a population density of 65 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Geography Yuza is located in the extreme no ...

History

Akumi County was formerly part of

Dewa Province was a province of Japan comprising modern-day Yamagata Prefecture and Akita Prefecture, except for the city of Kazuno and the town of Kosaka. Dewa bordered on Mutsu and Echigō Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . History Early per ...

, and was mentioned in the

Engishiki The is a Japanese book about laws and customs. The major part of the writing was completed in 927. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Engi-shiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 178. History In 905, Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of th ...

records of the early

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese ...

. The area came to be known as Yuza District from the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

through the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

. Under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

, much of the area was ruled as part of

Tsuruoka Domain is a city in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 125,389 in 49,024 households, and a population density of 95.74 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Tsuruoka is the biggest city in Tōhoku region ...

or its subsidiary domain, Matsumine Domain. Following the

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

it came under the new province of

Uzen Province is an old province of Japan in the area of Yamagata Prefecture (consisting mostly minus Akumi District). Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Ōmi''" in . It was sometimes called , with Ugo Province. This province was in the Tōhoku region ...

, which became part of Yamagata Prefecture in 1876. At that time, the area consisted of two towns and 154 villages. The area became and was organized as Akumi District in 1878. Yamagata Akumi-gun 1889

With the establishment of the municipality system on April 1, 1889, two towns (Sakata and Matsumine) and 27 villages were established. akata was raised to city status on April 1, 1933, and Yura was raised to town status on April 1, 1941. The town of Yawata was created on December 1, 1954, and Hirata was elevated to town status on August 1, 1964. On November 1, 2005, as part of the Heisei period

Municipal mergers and dissolutions in Japan can take place within one municipality or between multiple municipalities and are required to be based upon consensus. History There have been waves of merger activity between Japanese municipalities. The first merger, known as , had happened ...

, the city of Sakata and the towns of Hirata,

Matsuyama 270px, Matsuyama City Hall 270px, Ehime Prefectural Capital Building is the capital city of Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku in Japan and also Shikoku's largest city. , the city had an estimated population of 505,948 in 243541 househo ...

and

Yawata is a city located in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. the city has an estimated population of 70,433 and a population density of 2,893 persons per km². The total area is 24.35 km². The city was founded on November 1, 1977 and currently has a ...

merged to form the new city of Sakata. {{Authority control Districts in Yamagata Prefecture