Naka District, Kanagawa

Naka District (中郡, Naka-gun) is a district located in central Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It currently consists of two towns, Ōiso, and Ninomiya. The majority of the area of the city of Hadano and the entire cities of Hiratsuka and Isehara were formerly part of Naka District.

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

1. - Ōiso, 2. - Ninomiya

As of 2009, the district had an estimated population of 62,522 and a density of 2,380 persons per km². The total area was 26.26 km².

Towns and villages

• Ninomiya
• Ōiso

History

Historic map of Naka District

Naka District was one of the four subdivisions of Sagami Province established by the later Hōjō clan of Odawara during the Sengoku period. In the Edo period, it was nominally part of Odawara Domain, although large portions were tenryō territory controlled by the shōgun in Edo through various hatamoto.

Timeline

After the Meiji Restoration and with the establishment of the district system in 1878, the territory came under the control of Ōsumi District (大住郡, Ōsumi-gun) and Yurugi District (淘綾郡, Yurugi-gun). On March 26, 1896, these two districts were joined to form the modern Naka District, which initially consisted of five towns and 23 villages. Hiratsuka was elevated to city status in 1932, followed by Hadano in 1955 and Isehara in 1971.

Merger table

before 1889	April 1, 1889	1889–1926	1926–1944			1945–1954		1955–1989		1989–Present	Present
Ashigarakami District	Ashigarakami Kamihadano village	Ashigarakami District Kamihadano village	Ashigarakami District Kamihadano village			Ashigarakami District Kamihadano village		July 28, 1955 Nishihadano town	January 1, 1963 merged into Hadano city	Hadano city	Hadano
Ōsumi District	Nishihadano village	Nishihadano village	Nishihadano village			Nishihadano village
	Hadano town	Hadano town	Hadano town			Hadano town		January 1, 1955 Hadano city
	Kitahadano village	Kitahadano village	Kitahadano village			Kitahadano village
	Higashihadano village	Higashihadano village	Higashihadano village			Higashihadano village
	Minamihadano village	Minamihadano village	June 1, 1940 Minamihadano town			Minamihadano town
	Ōne town	Ōne town	Ōne town			Ōne town		April 15, 1955 merged with Hadano city (except Sanada area)
								March 2, 1955 merged with Kaneda village (Sanada area)	October 1, 1957 merged into Hiratsuka city	Hiratsuka city	Hiratsuka
	Kaname village	Kaname village	Kaname village			Kaname village		Kaname village
	Hiratsuka town	Hiratsuka town	Hiratsuka town		April 1, 1932 Hiratsuka city	Hiratsuka city		Hiratsuka city
	Suma village	Suma village	January 1, 1927 Suma town	April 1, 1929 merged into Hiratsuka town
	Konaka village	April 1, 1909 Asahi village	Asahi village			July 15, 1954 merged into Hiratsuka city
Yurugi District	Yamashiro village
Ōsumi District	Ōno village	Ōno village	February 11, 1944 Ōno town			Ōno town		Ōno town	September 30, 1956 merged into Hiratsuka city
	Toyoda village	Toyoda village	Toyoda village			Toyoda village		April 1, 1956 merged into Ōno town
	Kanda village	Kanda village	Kanda village			Kanda village		September 30, 1956 merged into Hiratsuka city
	Jōjima village	Jōjima village	Jōjima village			Jōjima village
	Kaneda village	Kaneda village	Kaneda village			Kaneda village
	Tsuchizawa village	Tsuchizawa village	Tsuchizawa village			Tsuchizawa village
	Okazaki village	Okazaki village	Okazaki village			Okazaki village		September 30, 1956 merged into Hiratsuka city (except Mawatari・Ōku areas)
								September 30, 1956 merged into Isehara city (Mawatari・Ōku areas)	March 1, 1971 Isehara city	Isehara city	Isehara
	Isehara town	Isehara town	Isehara town			December 1, 1954 Isehara town		Isehara town
	Naruse village	Naruse village	Naruse village
	Ōta village	Ōta village	Ōta village
	Takabeya village	Takabeya village	Takabeya village
	Ōyama town	Ōyama town	Ōyama town
	Hibita village	Hibita village	Hibita village
	Aikawa village	Aikawa village	Aikawa village			Aikawa village		July 8, 1955 merged into Atsugi city		Atsugi city	Atsugi
Yurugi District	Ōiso town	Ōiso town	Ōiso town			Ōiso town	December 1, 1954 Ōiso town	Ōiso town		Ōiso town	Ōiso
	Kokufu village	Kokufu village	Kokufu village			April 1, 1952 Kokufu town
	Azuma village	Azuma village	November 3, 1935 Ninomiya town			Ninomiya town		Ninomiya town		Ninomiya town	Ninomiya