Map showing original extent of Higashitagawa District in Yamagata Prefecture
yellow & green area=original extent in Meiji period; green=present area. 1=Mikawa, 2=Shōnai
Higashitagawa District (東田川郡, Higashitagawa-gun) is a rural district located in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan.
As of October 2013, the district has an estimated population of 29,957 and an area of 282.47 km2. Much of the city of Tsuruoka and a portion of the city of Sakata was formerly part of Higashitagawa District.
Tagawa County was an ancient place name in part of Dewa Province. It was divided into Higashitagawa District and Nishitagawa District after the Meiji restoration. Under the Tokugawa shogunate, much of the area of both districts were ruled as part of Tsuruoka Domain. The area became part of Yamagata Prefecture in 1876. At that time, Higashitagawa District consisted of 259 villages.
Historic Map of Higashitagawa District:
Ōizumi
Hongō
Yamazoe
Kogane
Itsuki
Azuma
Kurokawa
Hirose
Izumi
Watamae
Yokoyama
Oshikiri
Naganuma
Yaejima
Fujishima
Tōei
Toge
Tachiyazawa
Karikawa
Izaai
Yamato
Shōman
Amarume
Niibori
Sakae
Hirono
Purple=Tsuruoka City Pink=Sakata City Red=Shōnai Town Orange=Mikawa Town
With the establishment of the municipality system on April 1, 1889, the district was consolidated into 26 villages.
On May 5, 1918, Amarume was raised to town status
On May 19, 1922, Fujishima was raised to town status
On April 1, 1937, Karikawa was raised to town status
On October 1, 1954, Karikawa merged with the neighboring villages of Kiyokawa and Tachiyazawa to become the town of Tachikawa
On February 1, 1955, the villages of Izumi, Hirose and Toge merged to form the town of Haguro.
On December 1, 1966, Kushibiki was raised to town status
On June 1, 1968, Mikawa was raised to town status
On July 1, 2005 the towns of Amarume and Tachikawa merged to form the new town of Shōnai.