The remains of the Usui Magistrate’s office

is a former

rural district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of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

Gunma Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima ...

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 ...

. All of the city of

Annaka 240px, Edo-period Usui Magistrate’s office in Annaka is a city located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 47,911 in 24,749 households, and a population density of 210 persons per km². The total area of the ...

and a tall portion of the city of

Takasaki is a city located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 372,369 in 167,345 households, and a population density of 810 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Takasaki is famous as the hometown of th ...

were formerly part of the district.

History

Per a census conducted at the end 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 ...

, the area of Usui district contained 33 villages under the control of

Annaka Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Kōzuke Province (modern-day Gunma Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Annaka Castle in what is now the city of Annaka, Gunma. History Ii Naomasa was one of Tok ...

, nine villages under

Takasaki Domain 270px, Surviving yagura of Takasaki Castle, headquarters of Takasaki Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Kōzuke Province (modern-day Gunma Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Takasaki Cas ...

, four villages under

Yoshii Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Kōzuke Province (modern-day Gunma Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Yoshii ''jin'ya'' in what is now part of the city of Takasaki, Gunma. Yoshii was ruled thr ...

and 29 villages administered as ''

tenryō 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 ...

'' directly by 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 ...

. Usui District was established on December 7, 1878, and with the establishment of the municipality system on April 1, 1889 the area was organized into five towns (Annaka, Haraichi, Sakamoto, Matsuida and Itahana) and 13 villages file:Gumma Usui-gun 1889.png, Historic Map of Usui District in 1889:
purple=Takasaki city, red=Annaka city, red line=border of Usui District
1. Annaka, 2. Haraichi, 3. Matsuida, 4. Usui, 5. Sakamoto, 6. Nishiyokono, 7. Isobe, 8. Higashiyokono, 9. Iwanoya, 10. Itahana, 11.Kawama, 12.Toyooka, 13. Satomi, 14. Akima, 15. Gokan, 16. Sukumo, 17. Hosono, 18. Ubuchi *1890, March 1 – Usui village was raised to town status *1936, July 1 – Isobe village was raised to town status *1954, May 3 – Usui and Sakamoto towns and Nishiyokono, Sukumo, and Hosono villages were merged into Matsuida. *1955, January 20 – Toyooka and Yawata villages are annexed by the city of Takasaki *1955, February 1 – Satomi village merges with Murota village in Gunma District to form the town of Haruna; Ubuchi village merges with Kurata village in Gunma District to form Kurabuchi village *1955, March 1 – Annaka town annexes the towns of Haraichi, Isobe, and Itahana, and villages of Higashiyokono, Iwanoya, Akima and Gokan *1958, November 1 – Annaka was raised to city status *2006, March 16 – Matsuida town was annexed by Annaka city, dissolving Usui District. Gumma Usui-gun

Former districts of Gunma Prefecture {{Gunma-geo-stub