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rural district A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom.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

Gunma Prefecture is a landlocked Prefectures of Japan, 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 . Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fuk ...

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 ...

. As of January 2015, the district had an estimated population of 34,946 and an area of 1,322.23 km², with a population density of 26.4 people per square kilometer.

Towns and villages

* Katashina * Kawaba * Minakami * Shōwa Much of the city of Numata was formerly part of the district.

History

The area of Tone District was formerly part of

Kōzuke Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today Gunma Prefecture. Kōzuke bordered Echigo Province, Echigo, Shinano Province, Shinano, Musashi Province, Musashi and Shimotsuke Province, Shimotsuke Provinces. Its abb ...

. Per a census conducted at the end of 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 ...

, the area was divided into one town and 66 villages administered as ''

tenryō 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 war ...

'' directly by 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 ...

or various ''

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the Shōgun, shogunates in History of Japan, Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred ...

'' and two towns and 47 villages under the control of Numata Domain. One village was under the joint control of the Shogunate and Numata Domain. file: Gumma Tone-gun 1889.png, Historic Map of Tone District in 1889:

1. Numata, 2. Tonami, 3. Shirasawa, 4. Azuma, 5. Katashina, 6. Kawaba, 7. Ikeda, 8. Usune, 9. Komemaki, 10. Minakami, 11.Momono, 12.Yunohara, 13. Kawata, 21. Kuroho, 22. Itonose, 23. Akagine, +. Kuga *April 1, 1889 – With the establishment of the municipalities system, the town of Numata and the villages of Tonami, Gunma, Tonami, Ikeda, Gunma, Ikeda, Usune, Gunma, Usune, Kawada, Gunma, Kawada, Shirasawa, Gunma, Shirasawa, Kawaba, Komemaki, Momono, Azuma, Yunohara, Katashina, and Minakami were placed within the district. (1 town, 12 villages) *April 1, 1896 (1 town, 16 villages) **Absorbed Kitaseta District. The villages of Kuroho, Itonose (now the village of Shōwa), and Akagine (now the city of Numata). **The village of Kuga, Agatsuma District, moved to Tone District. *May 1, 1908 - The villages of Kuga and Yunohara merged to form the village of Niiharu. (1 town, 15 villages) *October 10, 1947 - The village of Minakami gained town status. (2 towns, 14 villages) *April 1, 1954 - The town of Numata and the villages of Tonami, Ikeda, Usune, and Kawada merged to form the city of Numata. (1 town, 10 villages) *April 1, 1955 - The villages of Komemaki and Monono merged to form the town of Tsukiyono. (2 towns, 8 villages) *September 30, 1956 - The villages of Azuma and Akagine merged to form the village of Tone. (2 towns, 7 villages) *November 1, 1958 - The villages of Kuroho and Itonose merged to form the village of Shōwa. (2 towns, 6 villages) *February 13, 2005 - The villages of Shirasawa and Tone merged into the city of Numata. (2 towns, 4 villages) *October 1, 2005 - The towns of Tsukiyono and (former) Minakami, and the village of Niiharu merged to form the town of Minakami. (1 town, 3 villages)

References

Districts in Gunma Prefecture {{Gunma-geo-stub