is a former

rural district A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom.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

. All of the city of

Annaka file:The remains of the Usui Magistrate’s office.jpg, 240px, Edo-period Usui Magistrate's office in Annaka is a Cities of Japan, city located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 47,911 in 24,749 households, and ...

and a tall portion of the city of

Takasaki is a Cities of Japan, city located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 372,369 in 167,345 households, and a population density of 810 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Takasaki is famous as th ...

were formerly part of the district.

History

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 of Usui district contained 33 villages under the control of

Annaka Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Kōzuke Province (modern-day Gunma Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Annaka Castle in what is now the city of Annaka, Gunma. History Ii Naomasa was one of ...

, nine villages under

Takasaki Domain file:Takasaki Castle 20101001-05.jpg, 270px, Surviving yagura of Takasaki Castle, headquarters of Takasaki Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Kōzuke Province (modern-day Gunma Pref ...

, four villages under Yoshii Domain and 29 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 ...

. Usui District was established on December 7, 1878, and with the establishment of the municipality system on April 1, 1889 the area was organized into five towns (Annaka, Haraichi, Sakamoto, Matsuida and Itahana) and 13 villages file:Gumma Usui-gun 1889.png, Historic Map of Usui District in 1889:
purple=Takasaki city, red=Annaka city, red line=border of Usui District
1. Annaka, 2. Haraichi, 3. Matsuida, 4. Usui, 5. Sakamoto, 6. Nishiyokono, 7. Isobe, 8. Higashiyokono, 9. Iwanoya, 10. Itahana, 11.Kawama, 12.Toyooka, 13. Satomi, 14. Akima, 15. Gokan, 16. Sukumo, 17. Hosono, 18. Ubuchi *1890, March 1 – Usui village was raised to town status *1936, July 1 – Isobe village was raised to town status *1954, May 3 – Usui and Sakamoto towns and Nishiyokono, Sukumo, and Hosono villages were merged into Matsuida. *1955, January 20 – Toyooka and Yawata villages are annexed by the city of Takasaki *1955, February 1 – Satomi village merges with Murota village in Gunma District to form the town of Haruna; Ubuchi village merges with Kurata village in Gunma District to form Kurabuchi village *1955, March 1 – Annaka town annexes the towns of Haraichi, Isobe, and Itahana, and villages of Higashiyokono, Iwanoya, Akima and Gokan *1958, November 1 – Annaka was raised to city status *2006, March 16 – Matsuida town was annexed by Annaka city, dissolving Usui District. Gumma Usui-gun

Former districts of Gunma Prefecture {{Gunma-geo-stub