Minamitama (南多摩郡, ''Minamitama-gun'', South Tama) was a district or county (''gun'') of

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

(''Metropolis''/{refecture),

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 ...

. It was created in the early Meiji era when the old Tama District of

Musashi Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Metropolis, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama. Musashi bordered on Kai, Kōzuke, Sagami, S ...

was divided into four parts and split between Kanagawa and Tokyo. It lost its status as an administrative unit in the 1920s when county governments and councils were abolished across the country. As a geographical unit, it ceased to exist in 1971 when its last two remaining municipalities were promoted to independent cities.

History

* Minamitama District was created in 1878 and initially consisted of more than 120 subdivisions. * When the modern municipality system was set up in 1889, Miniamitama District consisted of one

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

(the county seat of

Hachiōji is a Cities of Japan, city located in the Western Tokyo, western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 561,344, and a population density of 3000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography ...

) and 19

villages A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

. * In 1893, Minamitama District was transferred from Kanagawa Prefecture to Tokyo Prefecture; alongside

Nishitama is a district located in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. It comprises the following three towns and a village: * Hinode *Mizuho *Okutama * Hinohara Historically, the cities of Ōme, Fussa, Hamura, and Akiruno were part of Nishitama District but these ...

(West Tama) and Kitatama (North Tama) Districts. Higashitama (East Tama) District had been part of Tokyo since its creation. Several villages within Minamitama were promoted to towns over the decades. * The first loss of territory came in 1917 when

was elevated city status (becoming the second city in Tokyo Prefecture after

Tokyo City was a Cities of Japan, municipality in Japan and part of Tokyo Prefecture (1868–1943), Tokyo-fu which existed from 1 May 1889 until its merger with its prefecture on 1 July 1943. The historical boundaries of Tokyo City are now occupied by ...

). * In 1941, Komiyama was merged into Hachiōji followed by another six municipalities in 1955. * In 1958, Machida Town absorbed three villages to become Machida City. * In 1963,

Hino Hino may refer to: Places Estonia * Hino, Põlva County * Hino, Võru County ** Lake Hino Japan * Hino, Shiga * Hino, Tokyo * Hino, Tottori ** Hino District, Tottori ** Hino River Transportation * Hino Motors, a Japanese truck manufacturer o ...

Town was elevated to city status after previously merging with other villages. * In 1964, the merger of the village of Yugi into Hachiōji left Minamitama District with only two remaining municipalities: the towns of Tama and

Inagi file:Inagi City Hall.jpg, 270px, Inagi City Hall is a Cities of Japan, city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 92,585 in 41,592 households, and a population density of 5200 persons ...

. Both were elevated to city status on November 1, 1971.

Electoral district

An electoral district for the

Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly The is the Prefectures of Japan, prefectural parliament of Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis. Its 127 members are elected every four years in 42 districts by single non-transferable vote. 23 electoral districts equal the Special wards of Tokyo, special wa ...

is named Minamitama to the day. As of 2013, it still consists of the cities of Tama and Inagi and sends two members to the prefectural legislature. Inagi is also the last municipality in mainland Tokyo that maintains its own municipal fire department, Tama gave up its own fire department in 1975 and transferred the responsibility for fire protection to the

Tokyo Fire Department The Tokyo Fire Department (TFD) (Japanese: 東京消防庁, Tokyo Shōbōchō) is a fire department headquartered in Ōtemachi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan.

External links

Historical administrative divisions: Tokyo/Kanagawa/Musashi, Minamitama
{{authority control Former districts of Japan Geography of Tokyo History of Kanagawa Prefecture