Natori District, Miyagi

Natori District (名取郡) was a district located in Rikuzen Province (formerly in the central part of Mutsu Province) in Miyagi Prefecture.

From Ancient Establishment to Pre-modern Alignment (7C - 19C)
Many kofuns had been built in the area of the future Natori district since the 5th century. Especially Raijinyama Kofun was the largest in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.

The district was founded in the 7th century. Kōriyama Site had been the capital of Mutsu province since the end of the 7th century until 724.

Natori Dan (Natori Battalion) had been long maintained as one of two, six or seven battalions of the province.

Heijō-kyō excavation team discovered a wood tag attaching kombu (sea grass) tribute in 729 from "Natori district of Mutsu province" to the palace. And although date and year are unknown, a word Notori was written on a cup excavated at the Kōriyama Site. The first appearance in reliable literature is in Shoku Nihongi when Kimikobe Okina, a person of Natori District, was permitted to change his family name (kabane) in 769.

Northern border with Miyagi District changed several times. Originally Natori River and its branch Hirose River were the border of their east side. Sendai Domain fixed the district borders in the end of the 16th century or the beginning of the 17th century. Then the boundary around Sendai are changed to Tatsunokuchi River, where is a small branch of the Hirose. This arrangement gave the Sendai Castle to the Miyagi district. Natori district was divided to 61 villages. The Nagamachi office (Nagamachi daikansho) administrated 31 villages of Northern (Kitakata, 北方) Natori and the Masuda office did 30 villages of Southern (Minamikata, 南方) Natori.

Start of the Municipal Law System (1886)
When Municipal Law was enforced to Natori on April 1 of 1889, 1 town and 14 villages' municipalities were established from 61 old villages.
 * The town of Iwanuma (岩沼) from Iwanuma-Hongō(岩沼本郷).
 * The village of Masuda (増田) from Masuda, Takō (田高), Tekurada (手倉田) and 下余田 (Shimo-yōden).
 * The village of Mogasaki (茂ヶ崎) from Nagamachi (長町) and Kōriyama (郡山).
 * The village of Rokugō (六郷) from Iida (飯田), Imaizumi (今泉), Okino (沖野), Tanetsugi (種次), Nippe (日辺), Futagi (二木), Ido-hama (井戸浜) and Fujizuka-hama (藤塚浜).
 * The village of Higashi-taga (東多賀) from Yuriage (閖上), Ushino (牛野),Ō magari (大曲), Kotsukahara (小塚原), Takayanagi (高柳).
 * The village of Shimo-masuda (下増田) from Shimo-masuda and Sugigafukuro (杉ヶ袋).
 * The village of Tatekoshi (館腰) from Uematsu (植松), Iinozaka (飯野坂), Horiuchi (堀内) and Hongō (本郷).
 * The village of Tamaura (玉浦) from Shimonogō (下野郷), Oshiwake (押分), Hayamata (早股) and Terashima (寺島).
 * The village of Sengan (千貫) from Kita-hase (北長谷), Minami-hase (南長谷), Ogawa (小川), Shiga (志賀), Nagaoka (長岡) and Miiroyoshi (三色吉).
 * The village of Medeshima (愛島) from Kitame (北目), Shiote (塩手), Kasashima (笠島) and Azukishima (小豆島).
 * The village of Takadate (高館) from Yoshida (吉田), Kawakami (川上) and Kumanodō (熊野堂).
 * The village of Nakada (中田) from Maeda (前田), Shirōmaru (四郎丸), Fukurohara (袋原) and Yanagiu (柳生).
 * The village of Nishi-taga (西多賀) from Tomizawa (富沢), Ōnoda (大野田), Kagitori (鉤取), Tomita (富田) and Yamada (山田).
 * The village of Oide (生出) from Moniwa (茂庭) and Tsubonuma (坪沼).
 * The village of Akiu (秋保) from Nagafukuro (長袋), Sakaino (境野), Baba (馬場), Yumoto (湯元) and Nikkawa (新川).

Merging History to Dissolve (1886 - 1988)
Japanese district exclude city status municipality. So the Natori district had gradually diminished with incorporation or promotion of its municipalities to cities. Finally the original area had been divided to three cities of Sendai, Natori and Iwanuma by 1988.
 * June 30, 1896 The village of Masuda gained town status. (2 towns and 13 villages)
 * February 1, 1915 The village of Mogasaki gained town status and renamed to Nagamachi (長町). (3 towns and 12 village)
 * April 1, 1928 The town of Nagamachi merged into the city of Sendai. The village of Higashi-taga gained town status and renamed to the town of Yuriage. (3 towns, 11 villages)
 * October 1, 1932 The village of Nishi-taga merged into the city of Sendai. (3 towns, 10 villages)
 * September 15, 1941 the villages of Nakada and Rokugo merged into the city of Sendai. (3 towns and 8 villages)
 * April 1, 1955
 * The towns of Masuda and Yuriage, and the villages of Shimomasuda, Tatekoshi, Takadate, and Aishiwa merged to form the town of Natori. (2 towns, 4 villages)
 * The town of Iwanuma and the villages of Sengan(千貫村), and Tamaura(玉浦村) merged to become the town of Iwanuma.(2 towns, 2 villages)
 * Nikkawa, a part of the village of Akiu merged into the village of Miyagi.
 * April 1, 1956 The village of Oide merged into the city of Sendai. (2 towns and 1 village)
 * 1958 The town of Natori granted city status to become the city of Natori.(1 town, 1 village)
 * April 1, 1967 The village of Akiu granted town status to become the town of Akiu.(2 towns)
 * 1971 The town of Iwanuma granted city status to become the city of Iwanuma.(1 town)
 * March 1, 1988 The town of Akiu merged into the city of Sendai and Natori District dissolved.