The name
Hirano probably goes back to the end of the
Heian period, and was formally known as Hirano-shou in
Sumiyoshi-gun (district) of the
Settsu province. The second son of
Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, Sakanoue no Hirono, was the feudal lord in charge of the development of Hirano and was called
Hirano-tono (
tono being the title given to noblemen). There are a couple of theories as to the origin of the name
Hirano. One is that it is a corruption or mispronunciation of the word
kouya (広野). Another theory is that it comes from the time when many lakes and marshes were reclaimed and the fields (野) were widened (平らになった) making the kanji combination 平野.
Hirano During the late
Muromachi and
Sengoku periods, Hirano developed into a self-governing town with economic significance. Then Hirano was governed by seven famous merchant families called
Shichimyoke. Also, In this period, Hirano maintained close relations with the neighbouring autonomous city of
Sakai governed by
Egoshu. This cooperative relationship is often referred to as the "
Hirano–Sakai Alliance and is generally understood as having been reinforced in order to protect their political and economic autonomy amid increasing pressure from territorial daimyō, including
Oda Nobunaga. Along with
Osaka (
Ishiyama Hongan-ji),
Sakai and Hirano are often described as forming the Three Major Cities of Osaka (大坂三都市), each characterised by a relatively high degree of self-governance during the late medieval period. Although Hirano was still keeping self-governance during
Azuchi-Momoyama Period, but was completely destroyed by fire during the
Siege of Osaka. This was because one of the consuls of Hirano then,
Sueyoshi Yoshiyasu, provided substantial support to the
Tokugawa side. In
Edo Period, Yoshiyasu invested his personal fortune in the reconstruction effort, and Hirano was rebuilt as one of the largest
Zaigocho, a city actually acting as a city, but legally treated as an outland area. One document states that the population of Hirano was well over 10,00 in
1704.
Kire According to the Hirano-ku History, (喜連) was developed between
Yayoi Period and
Asuka Period. There are various theories of the name origin "Kire", one popular theory says that
Kurehito (伎人), group of immigrants from
Baekje is considered the most likely. In the Middle Ages, Kire was also moated as Kire Castle (喜連城 Kire-jo), and fulfilled their role as one of castles affected from Ishiyama Hongan-ji.
Uriwari The name of
Uriwari (瓜破) came from
Dōshō, a Japanese monk who played important role of spreading
Japanese Buddhism. When Dōshō was walking through Uriwari, a watermelon (瓜) flew to his head and cracked (割れた破れた) then. ==Transportation==