was a rural

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

located in central

Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectur ...

, Japan. As a result of various consolidations and mergers of municipalities, the district was incorporated into the five cities of Kariya,

Anjō is a city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 188,693 in 76,087 households, and a population density of 2,193 persons per km². The total area of the city was . Geography Anjō is situated in southern Aichi Pr ...

, Takahama, Chiryū and

Hekinan is a city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 72,864 in 29,139 households, and a population density of 1,986 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Hekinan is located in south-central Aich ...

in 2005.

History

Hekikai is one of the ancient counties of western

Mikawa Province was an old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mikawa''" in . Its abbreviated form name was . Mikawa bordered on Owari, Mino, Shinano, and Tōtōmi Provinces. Mik ...

and is mentioned in

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...

records, under the alternative pronunciation of the ''

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

'' in its name (Aomi), of which the only remain is Aomi-cho, a section of Takahama. In 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 characteriz ...

, 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 ...

, most of the district was either part of

Kariya Domain was a feudal domain of the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate located in Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture), Japan, what is now part of the modern-day cities of Kariya and Anjō. It was centered on Kariya Castle, which was located in w ...

, a

feudal domain A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...

, or '' tenryō'' territory administered directly by the shogunate, and was of the richest agricultural areas of Mikawa. After 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 ...

, the area was merged into Aichi Prefecture. In the cadastral reforms of the early Meiji period, on October 1, 1889, Hekikai District was divided into three towns (Chiryū, Kariya and Ohama) and 56 villages (62 villages by 1891 due to reorganization). Kitaohama village became Shinkawa Town on August 1, 1892, followed by Yasaku village on February 19, 1893 and Takahama on July 9, 1900. In a round of consolidation in May 1906, the town of

was created, and the remaining number of villages was reduced from 61 to 9. Tanao was elevated to town status on January 1, 1924, leaving the district with eight towns and eight villages. After World War II, Ohama Shinkawa and Tanao towns merged to form the city of

on April 5, 1948. Kariya was elevated to city status on April 1, 1950 and Anjō to city status on May 3, 1952. On April 1, 1955, Yasaku town was annexed by

Okazaki city is a city located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 386,999 in 164,087 households, and a population density of 999 persons per km². The total area of the city was . Geography Okazaki is in the coastal plains ...

. In 1956, Takaoka and Sakurai villages were both elevated to town status, followed by Mutsumi in 1958 and Kamigō in 1961. Mutsumi was annexed by Okazaki on October 15, 1962, and Kamigō by

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

on March 1, 1964. Toyota also annexed Takaoka on September 1, 1965. On April 1, 1967 Sakurai was annexed by Anjō. Finally, on December 21, 1970 the towns of Chiryū and Takahama were both elevated to city status, and Hekikai District was abolished as an administrative unit.

External links

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Counties of Japan
{{Authority control Former districts of Aichi Prefecture