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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

located in

Ehime Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,334,841 and a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Toku ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The district contains two

towns A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

: Masaki and Tobe. As of 2004 the estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

is 52,832 with a total area of 121.89 km².

History

In 1887, the villages of Habu and Yodo were reassigned from Iyo District to the Onsen District (now part of the city of Matsuyama). In 1889, the village of Nakayama, originally in Kita District, was moved to the Shimoukena District. The village of Kurita merged into the village of Hirota within the Shimoukena District. In 1896, several villages, including Haramachi, Tobe, Hirota, Nakayama, Izubuchi, Saredani, Kaminada, and Shimonada, were reassigned from the Shimoukena District to the Iyo District. This reorganization resulted in one town and fifteen villages. On January 1, 1907, the village of Izubuchi merged into the village of Nakayama, reducing the count to one town and twelve villages. On September 30, 1908, parts of the village of Shimonada were incorporated into the village of Michiho (now the town of Uchiko) in the Kita District. On September 3, 1921, the village of Kaminada gained town status, resulting in two towns and thirteen villages. On October 31, 1922, the village of Masaki achieved town status, bringing the total to three towns and twelve villages. On April 1, 1925, portions of the village of Kaminada merged into the village of Minamiyamasaki. The village of Nakayama attained town status, resulting in four towns and eleven villages. On November 10, 1928, the village of Tobe gained town status, increasing the count to five towns and ten villages. On March 15, 1929, parts of the village of Hirota (formerly the Kurita area) merged into the town of Nakayama On January 1, 1940, the village of Gunchū merged into the town of Gunchū, leaving five towns and nine villages. On January 1, 1955, the villages of Minamiyamasaki, Kitayamasaki, Minamiiyo, and the town of Gunchū combined to form the city of Iyo, resulting in four towns and six villages. On February 1, 1955, the village of Saredani merged into the town of Nakayama, maintaining four towns and five villages. On March 31, 1955, the village of Haramachi merged into the town of Tobe, leaving four towns and four villages. The villages of Kitaiyo and Okada merged into the town of Masaki, resulting in four towns and two villages. The town of Kaminada and the village of Shimonada combined to form the town of Futami, with four towns and one village. On November 1, 1958, parts of the city of Iyo merged into the town of Tobe. On January 1, 2005, the village of Hirota merged into the town of Tobe, resulting in a total of four towns. On April 1, 2005, the towns of Nakayama and Futami combined to form the city of Iyo, resulting in a total of two towns.

Historical significance

The district is home to ancient

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

shrine A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...

s, and historic landmarks. Notable sites include Iyo-Mishima Shrine, Tobe Zoological Park, and Masaki Castle Ruins. Iyo District preserves traditional crafts like Iyo Kasuri, a distinctive

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

technique. Here, local

artisan An artisan (from , ) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art, sculpture, clothing, food ite ...

s create beautiful

fabrics Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not ...

using intricate patterns. The district’s scenic landscapes, including Mt. Ishizuchi, Japan’s highest peak in western

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

, attract nature enthusiasts. Cherry blossoms, lush forests, and serene rivers contribute to its charm. The Iyo Taisai Festival celebrates local traditions with

processions A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner. History Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...

, music, and dance. Residents come together to honor their heritage during these lively events.

Notable people

Masanobu Fukuoka was a Japanese farmer and philosopher celebrated for his natural farming and re-vegetation of desertified lands. He was a proponent of no-till, herbicide and pesticide-free cultivation methods from which he created a particular method of agr ...

(1913-2008), Japanese

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

. * Daichi Kamada (born 1996), Japanese

professional footballer Association football is the world's most popular sport and is worth US$600 billion worldwide. By the end of the 20th century it was played by over 250 million players in over 200 countries. Around the world, the sport is played at a profes ...

References

Iyo District {{Ehime-geo-stub