List of Provinces of Japan were first-level administrative divisions of Japan from the 600s to 1868. Provinces were established in Japan in the late 7th century under the Ritsuryō law system that formed the first central government. Each province was divided into and ...

Tōsandō is a Japanese geographical term. It means both an ancient division of the country and the main road running through it. It is part of the ''Gokishichidō'' system. It was situated along the central mountains of northern Honshu, specifically th ...

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 ...

> Oshika District *

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

> Oshika District Map showing original extent of Oshika 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rural district A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom.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 ...

located in

, in the

of northern

. Most 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 ...

was formerly within the district. From 2006, the district has consisted only of the town of Onagawa. As of 2021, the district has an 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 ...

of 5,636 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 86.2 persons per km². The total area was 65.35 km².

History

During the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

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 ...

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 Oshika District becoming part of Rikuzen Province, and from 1872, part of Miyagi Prefecture. In 1889, with the establishment of the municipalities, Oshika District was administratively divided into 2 towns (Ishinomaki and Watanoha) and 6 villages. 1. Ishinomaki; 2. Hebita; 3.Inai 4. Watanoha; 5. Oginohama; 6. Ohara; 7. Ayukawa; 8. Onagawa; Blue = no change in status; Purple = Ishinomaki City

Timeline

* April 1, 1923 : The village of Onagawa gained town status. (3 towns, 5 villages) * April 1, 1933 : Ishinomaki annexes part of Hebita and is raised to city status. (2 towns, 5 villages) * December 1, 1940 : The village of Ayukawa is raised to town status. (3 towns, 4 villages) * January 1, 1955 : Ishinomaki annexes the remainder of Hebita village. (3 towns, 3 villages) * March 26, 1955 : The town of Ayukawa and village of Ohara merge to form the town of Oshika. (3 towns, 2 villages) * April 10, 1955 : The village of Oginohama is merged into Ishinomaki (3 towns, 1 village) * April 1, 1959 -:The village of Inai is raised to town status (4 towns) * May 15, 1959 : Oginohama is divided between Ishinomaki and Inai (3 towns) * March 23, 1967: The town of Inai is annexed by Ishinomaki. (2 towns) *On April 1, 2005 : the town of Oshika merged with the towns of Kahoku, Kanan, Kitakami, Monou, and Ogatsu, all from Monou District, and Ishinomaki City to form a larger new Ishinomaki City. (1 town) {{Authority control Districts in Miyagi Prefecture