file:Iwate Shiwa-gun.png, Map showing original extent of Shiwa District in Iwate Prefecture
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District office Shiwa District in Iwate Prefecture

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rural district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of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

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 ...

. As of June 1, 2019, 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 59,822 and a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...

of 195 persons per km². The total area was 306.30 km². The district consists of two towns: * Shiwa *

Yahaba is a town in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 27,227, and a population density of 400 persons per km² in 10,131 households. The total area of the town is . Geography Yahaba is located in central Iwate Prefectur ...

History

Under Mutsu Province

Shiwa District was one of the six districts of northern Mutsu Province (六奥郡）created in 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. ...

after the conquest of the

Kitakami River The is the fourth largest river in Japan and the largest in the Tōhoku region. It is long and drains an area of . page 793 It flows through mostly rural areas of Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures. The source of the river is the Mount Nanashirug ...

Valley from the

Emishi The (also called Ebisu and Ezo), written with Chinese characters that literally mean "shrimp barbarians," constituted an ancient ethnic group of people who lived in parts of Honshū, especially in the Tōhoku region, referred to as in contemp ...

tribes by the Japanese army led by General

Sakanoue no Tamuramaro was a court noble, general and ''shōgun'' of the early Heian period of Japan. He served as Dainagon, Minister of War and ''Ukon'e no Taisho'' (Major Captain of the Right Division of Inner Palace Guards). He held the ''kabane'' of Ōsukune and ...

. The districts were named by

Emperor Heizei , also known as ''Heijō-tennō'', was the 51st emperor of Japan,#Kunaichō, Emperor Heizei, Yamamomo Imperial Mausoleum, Imperial Household Agency according to the traditional List of Emperors of Japan, order of succession. Heizei's reign las ...

. Shiwa District was part of the northern border of Japan until the Enkyu-Emishi War of 1070, which extended the frontier to the northern coast of Honshu. As with the rest of the region, the early history of Shiwa District is uncertain as are its borders, as

Shiwa Castle was an early Heian period ''jōsaku''-style Japanese castle located in what is now part of the city of Morioka, Iwate Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of far northern Honshu, Japan. The site was proclaimed a Monuments of Japan, National Historic S ...

is located in what is now Iwate District, indication that Shiwa District was originally much larger than its present area. The area came to be ruled by the

Abe clan The was one of the oldest of the major Japanese clans (''uji''); and the clan retained its prominence during the Sengoku period and the Edo period.Meyer, Eva-Maria"Gouverneure von Kyôto in der Edo-Zeit." Universität Tübingen (in German). The ...

until the

Former Nine Years War The , also known in English as the Former Nine Years' War or the Early Nine Years' War, was fought between the Imperial Court and the Abe clan in Mutsu Province, in Northeast Japan, from 1051 to 1063. It resulted in Imperial Court victory and t ...

(1051-1063), followed by the

Kiyohara clan The was a powerful clan of the far north of Japan during the Heian period, descended from Prince Toneri, son of Emperor Tenmu (631–686). Kiyohara no Fusanori (9th century) had two sons: the elder was the ancestor of the samurai branch fam ...

until the

Gosannen War The Gosannen War (後三年合戦, ''gosannen kassen''), also known as the Later Three-Year War, was fought in the late 1080s in Japan's Mutsu Province on the island of Honshū. History The Gosannen War was part of a long struggle for power wi ...

(1083-1089) and the

Northern Fujiwara The Northern Fujiwara (奥州藤原氏 ''Ōshū Fujiwara-shi'') were a Japanese noble family that ruled the Tōhoku region (the northeast of Honshū) of Japan during the 12th century as their own realm.

until 1189. During the

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

, the area was claimed by the

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 ...

of northern Mutsu, but was ruled by the local Shiba clan until that clan was destroyed by the Nanbu in 1588. 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 ...

, Shiwa county consisted of 71 villages under the control of

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, ...

and 4 villages under the control of

Hachinohe Domain was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan It is located in Mutsu Province, in northern Honshū. The domain was centered at Hachinohe Castle, located in the center of what is now the city of Hachinohe in Aomori Prefecture. History On ...

Early Meiji period

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 ...

, Shiwa 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 became part of Morioka Prefecture in 1871, with the exception of 4 villages which briefly became an exclave of Hachinohe Prefecture until absorbed into Morioka Prefecture as Shiwa Village a few months later. Morioka Prefecture became Iwate Prefecture in 1872.

District Timeline

*1955 - Kemuyama, Fudō and Tiokuda merge to form Yahaba village *1955 - Iioka, Minae and Otobe merge to form Tonan village *1955 - Hizume, Furudate, Mizuwake, Shiwa, Akaishi, Hikobe, Sahinai, Akasawa, Nagaoka merge to form Shiwa town *1992 - The village of Tonan merged into the city of

Morioka is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. On 1 February 2021, the city had an estimated population of 290,700 in 132,719 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . ...

. Districts in Iwate Prefecture {{Iwate-geo-stub