Map showing original extent of Motoyoshi District in Miyagi Prefecture
colored area=original extent in Meiji period; green=present area
is a
rural district
A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. I ...
in
Miyagi Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,265,724 (1 August 2023) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akit ...
, 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 (): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata.
Tōhoku retains ...
of northern Japan.
At present, the district consists only of the town of
Minamisanriku with a combined population () of 11,860 people, a population density of 72.6 people per km
2 and an area of . All of the city of
Kesennuma and a small part of the city of
Tome and part 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 ...
were formerly part of the district.
History
Under the
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868.
The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...
, the district was within
Mutsu Province and was under the control of the
Date clan
The is a Japanese samurai kin group.Edmond Papinot, 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 fam ...
of
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 ...
. 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...
, Mutsu Province was divided, with the area of Motoyoshi District becoming part of
Rikuzen Province
is an old province of Japan in the area of Miyagi Prefecture (excluding Igu, Katta and Watari Districts) and parts of Iwate Prefecture (specifically Kesen District). Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Rikuzen''" in . It was sometimes c ...
, and from 1872, part of Miyagi Prefecture. In the establishment of the modern municipalities system, the district was organized into one town (Kesennuma (気仙沼)) and sixteen villages (Nusazaki (麻崎村), Yokoyama (横山村), Jusanhama (十三浜村), Tokura (戸倉村), Iriya (入谷村), Motoyoshi (本吉村), Utatsu (歌津町), Koizumi (小泉村), Mitake (御嶽村), Oya (大谷村), Hashigami (階上村), Matsuiwa (松岩村), Niizuki (新月村), Shishiori (鹿折), Karakura (唐桑村), Oshima (大島村)).
file:Miyagi Motoyoshi-gun 1889.png, 1. Nusazaki; 2. Yokoyama; 3. Jusanhama; 4. Tokura; 5. Iriya; 6. Shizugawa; 7. Utatsu; 8. Koizumi; 9. Mitake; 10. Oya; 11. Hashigami; 12. Matsuiwa; 14. Kesennuma; 15. Shishiori; 16. Karakuwa; 17. Oshima; Purple = Ishinomaki City; Red= Tome City; Orange = Minamisanriku Town; Violet = Kesennuma City
*October 31, 1894: The village of Motoyoshi was elevated to town status and renamed Shizugawa (志津川町)
*November 1, 1906: The village of Nusazaki was elevated to town status and renamed Yanaizu (柳津町)
*November 3, 1941: The village of Mitake was elevated to town status and renamed Tsuya (津谷町)
*April 1, 1951: The village of Shishiori was elevated to town status
*June 1, 1953: Shishiori and the village of Matsuiwa merge with Kesennuma
*February 11, 1955: The village of Karakuwa was elevated to town status
*March 1, 1955: The villages of Tokura and Iriya merge with Shizugawa town.
*March 30, 1955: The town of Tsuya and villages of Koizumi and Oya merge to for the two o Motoyoshi (本吉町); the village of Jusanhama was transferred to
Monou District
*April 1, 1955: The villages of Niizuki, Hashikami and Oshima merge form the town of Utatsu (歌津町)
*On April 1, 2005, the town of Tsuyama merged with the eight other towns of the former
Tome District to form the city of
Tome.
*On October 1, 2005, the town of
Shizugawa and the town of
Utatsu merged to form the new town of
Minamisanriku.
*On March 31, 2006, the town of
Karakuwa merged into the city of Kesennuma.
*On September 1, 2009, the town of
Motoyoshi merged into the city of Kesennuma.
Motoyoshi District was devastated by the magnitude 9.0
March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami which occurred off the coast of Japan; an estimated 9,500 people are reported missing from the town of
Minamisanriku alone.
Devastating pictures from the port where 10,000 are missing after it was swept away by the megaquake
''peoplestar.co.uk'', Retrieved on 2011-03-13. Early estimates indicate that this could represent as much as 90% of the total casualties in Japan.
References
{{Authority control
Districts in Miyagi Prefecture