Map showing original extent of Oshika District in Miyagi Prefecture

colored area=original extent in Meiji period; green=present area 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rural district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of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 ...

located in

Miyagi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,305,596 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the nort ...

, in the

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains a ...

of northern

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 ...

. Most of the city of

Ishinomaki is a city located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 138,538, and a population density of 250 persons per km2 in 61,919 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Ishinomaki is in northeastern Miya ...

was formerly within the district. From 2006, the district has consisted only of the town of

Onagawa is a town located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 6,319, and a population density of 97 persons per km2 in 3,110 households. The total area of the town is . Geography Onagawa is located on the rugged San ...

. As of 2021, the district has an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 5,636 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of 86.2 persons per km². The total area was 65.35 km².

History

During 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 ...

, the district was within

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 ...

and was under the control of the

Date clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Date", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 5 retrieved 2013-5-5. History The Date family was founded ...

Sendai Domain The , also known as the , was a domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871. The Sendai Domain was based at Aoba Castle in Mutsu Province, in the modern city of Sendai, located in the Tōhoku region of the i ...

. In 1869, 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 ...

, Mutsu Province was divided, with the area of Oshika District becoming part of Rikuzen Province, and from 1872, part of Miyagi Prefecture. In 1889, with the establishment of the municipalities, Oshika District was administratively divided into 2 towns (Ishinomaki and Watanoha) and 6 villages. 1. Ishinomaki; 2. Hebita; 3.Inai 4. Watanoha; 5. Oginohama; 6. Ohara; 7. Ayukawa; 8. Onagawa; Blue = no change in status; Purple = Ishinomaki City

Timeline

* April 1, 1923 : The village of Onagawa gained town status. (3 towns, 5 villages) * April 1, 1933 : Ishinomaki annexes part of Hebita and is raised to city status. (2 towns, 5 villages) * December 1, 1940 : The village of Ayukawa is raised to town status. (3 towns, 4 villages) * January 1, 1955 : Ishinomaki annexes the remainder of Hebita village. (3 towns, 3 villages) * March 26, 1955 : The town of Ayukawa and village of Ohara merge to form the town of Oshika. (3 towns, 2 villages) * April 10, 1955 : The village of Oginohama is merged into Ishinomaki (3 towns, 1 village) * April 1, 1959 -:The village of Inai is raised to town status (4 towns) * May 15, 1959 : Oginohama is divided between Ishinomaki and Inai (3 towns) * March 23, 1967: The town of Inai is annexed by Ishinomaki. (2 towns) *On April 1, 2005 : the town of Oshika merged with the towns of Kahoku, Kanan, Kitakami, Monou, and Ogatsu, all from Monou District, and Ishinomaki City to form a larger new Ishinomaki City. (1 town) {{Authority control Districts in Miyagi Prefecture