is a

rural district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of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

located in

Akita Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is approximately 966,000 (as of 1 October 2019) and its geographic area is 11,6 ...

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 n ...

. As of August 2013, the district has an estimated population of 24,553 and an area of 449.94 km². All of the cities of Oga and

Katagami is a city located in Akita Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 32,858 in 13,897 households, and a population density of 330 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Katagami is located in the coastal ...

and part of the city of

Akita is a Japanese name and may refer to: Places * 8182 Akita, a main-belt asteroid * Akita Castle, a Nara period fortified settlement in Akita, Japan * Akita Domain, also known as Kubota Domain, feudal domain in Edo period Japan * Akita, Kumamoto ...

were formerly part of Minamiakita District.

Towns and villages

* Gojōme * Hachirōgata * Ikawa * Ōgata

History

The area of Minamiakita District was formerly part of Akita District a

Dewa Province was a province of Japan comprising modern-day Yamagata Prefecture and Akita Prefecture, except for the city of Kazuno and the town of Kosaka. Dewa bordered on Mutsu and Echigō Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . History Early per ...

, and came under the new province of

Ugo Province is an old province of Japan in the area of Akita Prefecture and some parts of Yamagata Prefecture (specifically Akumi District).Newland, Amy Reigle. (2005). ''The Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints,'' p. 428. It was sometimes calle ...

on January 19, 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 practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

. At the time, the area consisted of 2 towns and 166 villages formerly under the control of

Kubota Domain was a feudal domain in Edo period Japan, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Akita Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Kubota Castle in what is now the city of Akita and was thus also known as the . It was governed for the whole of its his ...

, based at

. The area became part of Akita Prefecture in 1871, and was organized as Minamiakita District in 1878. Akita MinamiAkita-gun 1889

With the establishment of the municipality system on April 1, 1889, one town ( Tsuchizaki Minato) and 35 villages were established. Funakawa Minato was raised to town status on October 24, 1894, followed by Gojōme on January 19, 1896 and Kitaura on June 4, 1902. Funakoshi became a town on December 20, 1904, followed by Okubo on April 1, 1924 and Hitoichi on December 1, 1925 and Terauchi on August 1, 1933, Iitagawa on November 30, 1935. Tsuchizaki Minato and Terauchi were annexed by Akita City on April 1, 1941 and the towns of Iitagawa and Okubo joined to form the town of Showa on March 24, 1942. However, on September 28, 1950 a portion of the town of Showa split away to re-create the town of Iitagawa. The town of Funakawa merged with four neighboring villages to create the city of Oga on March 31, 1954, which subsequently annexed the towns of Funakoshi and Kitaura on March 1, 1955. On September 30, 1956, Hitoichi was renamed Hachirōgata. Tenno was raised to town status on November 3, 1961, followed by Wakami on November 1, 1970 and Iikawa on August 1, 1974. In 2006, as part of the

Heisei period The is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Emeritus Akihito from 8 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the day after the death of the Emperor Hirohit ...

Municipal mergers and dissolutions in Japan can take place within one municipality or between multiple municipalities and are required to be based upon consensus. History There have been waves of merger activity between Japanese municipalities. The first merger, known as , had happened ...

, the remaining seven towns and one village in the district were reduced to the present three towns and one village: *On March 22, 2005 - the towns of Iitagawa, Shōwa and Tennō were merged to create the city of

. *On March 22, 2005 - the town of Wakami was merged into the expanded city of Oga. {{Authority control Districts in Akita Prefecture