Location of Shimokita District in Aomori Prefecture.Japanese monkeysLocation of Shimokita-gun, Aomori Prefecture, highlighted in green; with former areas in yellow.
Current status of the district.
Ōma-machi
Higashidōri-mura
Kazamaura-mura
Sai-mura
Colored areas are in the district.
Tanabu-machi (now part of Mutsu-shi)
Higashidōri-mura
Kazamaura-mura
Ōminato-machi (now part of Mutsu-shi)
Ōhata-machi (now part of Mutsu-shi)
Ōma-machi
Sai-mura
Wakinosawa-mura (now part of Mutsu-shi)
Kawauchi-machi (now part of Mutsu-shi)
Shimokita District (下北郡, Shimokita-gun) is a district located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. It occupies most of the northern handle of Shimokita Peninsula with the exception of Mutsu City and contains the most northern point on the island of Honshū. It is also home to the Japanese macaque, making it the northernmost natural habitat for monkeys anywhere in the world.
As of 2009, the district has an estimated population of 18,297 and a density of 33.2 persons per km2. The total area was 551.08 km2.
The Nanbu clan sided with the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei during the Boshin War of the Meiji Restoration and were punished by the new Meiji government by loss of their northern territories. In November 1869, Kita-gun and neighboring Sannohe District became part of the newly created Tonami Domain (斗南藩, Tonami-han), a 30,000 koku holding created to resettle the dispossessed Matsudaira clan from Aizu-Wakamatsu. In July 1871, with the abolition of the han system, Tonami Domain became Tonami Prefecture, and was merged into the newly created Aomori Prefecture in September 1871.
During the early Meiji period administrative reorganization of Japan on July 22, 1878, Shimokita and Kamikita were divided from former Kita County, and Shimokita was divided into 33 villages. In the cadastral reform of April 1, 1889, the number of villages was reduced through consolidations and mergers to nine.
District Timeline
On January 1, 1899 - The village of Tanabu was elevated to town status.
On October 31, 1917 - The village of Kawauchi was elevated to town status.
On November 10, 1928 - The Imperial Japanese Navy port of Ōminato was elevated to town status.
On May 1, 1934 - The village of Ōhata was elevated to town status.
On November 3, 1942 - The village of Ōma was elevated to town status.
On September 1, 1959 - The towns of Ōminato and Tanabu merged to create the city of Ōminato-Tanabu, later renamed Mutsu.
On March 14, 2005 - The towns of Kawauchi and Ōhata and the village of Wakinosawa were merged into the expanded city of Mutsu.
References
^"青森県の衆議院小選挙区の区割りについて(平成29年以降)" [About the division of Aomori Prefecture's House of Representatives single-member constituency (2017-)] (in Japanese). Retrieved 7 May 2020.
