Shibushi City Office Shibushi branch 200809

is a

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 Kagoshima Prefecture,

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 October 1, 2008, the district has an estimated population of 14,713 and a density of 146 persons/km². The total area is 100.82 km². The district has one town: * Ōsaki

History

The district was once written "囎唹郡," and it was part of

Ōsumi Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today the eastern part of Kagoshima Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Ōsumi bordered on Hyūga and Satsuma Provinces. Osumi's ancient capital was near modern Kokubu. During the Sengoku a ...

. The district broke off into Higashisoo and Nishisoo Districts in May 1878. When the district government was activated on April 1, 1897, Nishisoo was merged with Aira District and Higashisoo was merged with Minamimorokata District (broke off from Morokata District in the former

Hyūga Province was an old province of Japan on the east coast of Kyūshū, corresponding to the modern Miyazaki Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Hyūga''" in . It was sometimes called or . Hyūga bordered on Bungo, Higo, Ōsumi, and Sats ...

) to become Soo District.

Timeline

Soo District (–1887)

*July 22, 1887 - Soo District broke off into Higashisoo and Nishisoo Districts.

Soo District (1897–present)

*April 1, 1897 - Higashisoo District and Minamimorokata District merged to form Soo District. The villages of Sueyoshi, Iwagawa, Tsuneyoshi, Takarabe, Ichinari, Higashishibushi, Nishishibushi, Tsukino, Matsuyama, Ōsaki, and Nogata were formed. (11 villages) *July 1, 1913 - The village of Higashishibushi gained town status and renamed to become the town of Shibushi. (1 town, 10 villages) *October 1, 1922 - The village of Sueyoshi gained town status to become the town of Sueyoshi. (2 towns, 9 villages) *April 1, 1924 - The village of Iwagawa gained town status to become the town of Iwagawa. (3 towns, 8 villages) *April 1, 1926 - The village of Takarabe gained town status to become the town of Takarabe. (4 towns, 7 villages) *January 1, 1936 - The village of Ōsaki gained town status to become the town of Ōsaki. (5 towns, 6 villages) *January 20, 1955 - The town of Iwagawa and the villages of Tsuneyoshi and Tsukino merged to form the town of Ōsumi. (5 towns, 4 villages) *April 1, 1955 - The village of Nogata split and merged into the towns of Ōsumi, Ōsaki, and the village of Nishishibushi. (5 towns, 3 villages) *April 1, 1956 - The village of Ichinari and the village of Mobiki from Kimotsuki District to form the town of Kihoku. (6 towns, 2 villages) *April 1, 1958 (8 towns) **The village of Matsuyama gained town status to become the town of

Matsuyama file:Matsuyama city office Ehime prefecture Japan.jpg, 270px, Matsuyama City Hall file:Ehimekencho-20040417.JPG, 270px, Ehime Prefectural Capital Building is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku in Japan ...

. **The village of Nishishibushi gained town status and renamed to become the town of

Ariake Ariake (有明: "daybreak") may refer to: Places in Japan *Ariake, Kagoshima, a former town in Kagoshima Prefecture *Ariake, Kumamoto, a former town in Kumamoto Prefecture *Ariake, Saga, a former town in Saga Prefecture *Ariake, Tokyo, a district w ...

. *April 1, 1972 - Soo District (囎唹郡) changed their name to Soo District (曽於郡). *July 1, 2005 - The towns of Ōsumi, Sueyoshi, and Takarabe merged to form the city of Soo. (5 towns) *January 1, 2006 (1 town) **The towns of Ariake, Matsuyama, and Shibushi merged to form the city of Shibushi. **The town of Kihoku merged with the city of Kanoya and the towns of Kushira and

Aira ''Aira'' is a genus of Old World plants in the grass family, native to western and southern Europe, central and southwest Asia, plus Africa. The common name, shared with the similar related genera '' Deschampsia'' and ''Koeleria'', is hair-g ...

from Kimotsuki District to form the city of Kanoya.

External links

* {{Coord, 31.439, N, 130.983, E, type:landmark_source:itwiki, display=title Soo District