is a

rural district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the Ad ...

Iwate Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture at , with a population of 1,210,534 (as of October 1, 2020). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefectur ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. From 2005, the district consists only of the town of

Ōtsuchi An is a large wooden war mallet used by the samurai class of feudal Japan. The ōtsuchi had a shaft of about much like the ono (war axe). It was mainly used for door breaching Door breaching is a process used by military, police, or emerg ...

, which as of June 1, 2019 had an estimated population of 11,106 with a density of 55.4 per km² and an area of 200.42 km². The entire city of Tōno, and all of the city of

Kamaishi is a city located on the Sanriku rias coast in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 32,609, and a population density of 74 persons per km2, in 16,230 households. The total area of the city is Geography Kamaishi is ...

with the exception of the village of Tōni were formerly part of Kamihei District.

Towns and villages

The district consists of one town: *

History

Under Mutsu Province

Hei District was one of 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 ...

districts of

Mutsu Province was an old province of Japan in the area of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori Prefectures and the municipalities of Kazuno and Kosaka in Akita Prefecture. Mutsu Province is also known as or . The term is often used to refer to the comb ...

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 ...

and was completely under the control of

Nanbu clan The was a Japanese samurai clan who ruled most of northeastern Honshū in the Tōhoku region of Japan for over 700 years, from the Kamakura period through the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The Nanbu claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji of Kai Pr ...

Morioka Domain 300px, Ruins of Morioka Castle was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan. It was ruled throughout its history by the Nanbu clan. It was called during the early part of its history. It was located in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, ...

. 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 ...

, on January 4, 1879 Hei District came under

Rikuchū Province was an old province in the area of Iwate and Akita Prefectures. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Rikuchū''" in . It was sometimes called , with Rikuzen and Mutsu Provinces. Rikuchu covered most of modern-day Iwate Prefecture: with the ...

and was divided into four parts. With the establishment of the municipality system, Nishihei District was organized with one town (Tōno) and 10 villages, and Minamihei District consisted of two towns (Kamaishi and Ōtsuchi) and four villages.

Subsequent timeline

*April 1, 1897 – Nishihei and Minamihei Districts merged to form Kamihei District (3 towns, 14 villages) *May 5, 1937 - The town of Kamaishi was elevated to town status. (2 towns, 14 villages) *December 1, 1954 - The villages of Ayaori, Otomo, Matsuzaki, Tsukimoushi, Tsuchibuchi, Aozasa, and Kamigō merged into the city of Tono. (1 towns, 7 villages) *February 11, 1955 - The villages of Miyamori, Masuzawa and Tassobe merged to form the village of Miyamori. (1 town, 5 villages) *April 1, 1955 - The villages of Unosumai, Kurihashi and Kashi, and the village of Tōni from Kesen District were merged with Kamaishi. (1 town, 2 villages) *April 1, 1955 - The village of Kanazawa merged with Ōtsuchi. (1 town, 1 village) *October 1, 2005 - The village of Miyamori merged into the expanded city of Tōno. (1 town) {{Authority control Districts in Iwate Prefecture