Ashigarakami District, Kanagawa

Map of Ashigarakami District with Meiji period area in yellow, modern area in green

1 - Nakai, 2 - Ōi, 3 - Matsuda, 4 - Yamakita, 5 - Kaisei

Ashigarakami District (足柄上郡, Ashigarakami-gun) is a district located in western Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Most of the mountainous district is sparsely populated, and is part of the Tanzawa-Ōyama Quasi-National Park. Parts of the cities of Hadano and Odawara, and the entire city of Minamiashigara were formerly part of Ashigarakami District.

As of 2009, the district had an estimated population of 67,954 and a density of 224 persons per km². The total area was 303.44 km².

Towns and villages

• Nakai
• Ōi
• Matsuda
• Yamakita
• Kaisei

History

Historic Map of Ashigarakami District

Ashigarakami District was one of the ancient subdivisions of Sagami Province, per the Nara period Ritsuryō system, under the name as Ashinokami District (足上郡, Ashinokami-gun). The area was under control of the late Hōjō clan in the Sengoku period, and part of Odawara Domain during the Edo period. Following disasters caused by eruptions of nearby Mount Fuji, a portion also came to be held as tenryō territory administered by the Tokugawa shogunate.

Timeline

After the Meiji Restoration, it initially formed part of the short-lived Ashigari Prefecture, before was established as a district of Kanagawa Prefecture under the cadastral reform of 1878. In 1889, it was administratively divided into 26 villages.

On April 1, 1972, part of Ashigarakami District became the city of Minamiashigara.

Merger table

Kanagawa Prefecture Yokohama (capital city) Wards Aoba Asahi Hodogaya Isogo Izumi Kanagawa Kanazawa Kōhoku Kōnan Midori Minami Naka Nishi Sakae Seya Totsuka Tsurumi Tsuzuki Kawasaki Wards Asao Kawasaki Miyamae Nakahara Saiwai Takatsu Tama Sagamihara Wards Chūō Midori Minami Other cities Atsugi Ayase Chigasaki Ebina Fujisawa Hadano Hiratsuka Isehara Kamakura Minamiashigara Miura Odawara Yamato Yokosuka Zama Zushi Aikō District Aikawa Kiyokawa Ashigarakami District Kaisei Matsuda Nakai Ōi Yamakita Ashigarashimo District Hakone Manazuru Yugawara Kōza District Samukawa Miura District Hayama Naka District Ninomiya Ōiso Other areas Shōnan Enoshima

Coordinates: 35°24′14″N 139°04′26″E / 35.40389°N 139.07389°E / 35.40389; 139.07389