The
Chiba clan, or branches of it, ruled the
Shimōsa region for about 400 years from the
Kamakura period. During the
Sengoku period, the Chiba clan gained the protection of such powerful clans as the
Odawara Hōjō clan, allowing them to get a stronger foothold over the area. They lost control when the Hōjō clan was overthrown in 1590 by
Toyotomi Hideyoshi. After that, General Kiso Yoshimasa settled in the region. He restored the Ajito Castle, which was the inspiration for the name "Asahi." When poet Nonoguchi Takamasa visited the area in 1852, he wrote a poem about the general, from which the name "Asahi," which can mean "rising sun," was taken: "from Shinano / adoring the rising sun / he came to the eastern land / and there remains the evidence of his earthly life" In the
Edo period, various agricultural changes in the region occurred. The first was the reclamation of the "Sea of Camellias", a vast lake, which was drained into the Pacific Ocean to create the fertile Higata Hachiman-goku. The second was spurred on by the arrival of agrarian scholar Ohara Yugaku in 1835 and other
kokugaku scholars who helped to revive agriculture in the area. During this same time, while Iioka Sukegoro was helping to develop the fishing industry, fishermen from the
Kansai region moved to the area to take advantage of the bountiful fishing grounds available. The town of Asahi was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. It was raised to city status on July 1, 1954. On July 1, 2005, the city of Asahi, the town of
Hikata (from
Katori District), and the towns of
Iioka and
Unakami (both from
Kaijo District) merged on equal terms to form the new Asahi city. In March 2011, the city was greatly affected by
9.0 magnitude earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent
nuclear disaster. Around 15 people were killed, 2,265 buildings were damaged, with 427 buildings destroyed, 716 people were left homeless, and heavy damage was done to the town's port and fishing boat fleet following the triple disaster. ==Geography==