The area of Tone District was formerly part of
Kōzuke Province. Per a census conducted at the end of the
Edo period, the area was divided into one town and 66 villages administered as
tenryō directly by the
Tokugawa shogunate or various
hatamoto and two towns and 47 villages under the control of
Numata Domain. One village was under the joint control of the Shogunate and Numata Domain. • April 1, 1889 – With the establishment of the municipalities system, the town of Numata and the villages of
Tonami,
Ikeda,
Usune,
Kawada,
Shirasawa, Kawaba, Komemaki, Momono,
Azuma,
Yunohara, Katashina, and Minakami were placed within the district. (1 town, 12 villages) • April 1, 1896 (1 town, 16 villages) • Absorbed
Kitaseta District. The villages of Kuroho, Itonose (now the village of Shōwa), and Akagine (now the city of Numata). • The village of
Kuga,
Agatsuma District, moved to Tone District. • May 1, 1908 - The villages of Kuga and Yunohara merged to form the
village of Niiharu. (1 town, 15 villages) • October 10, 1947 - The village of Minakami gained town status. (2 towns, 14 villages) • April 1, 1954 - The town of Numata and the villages of Tonami, Ikeda, Usune, and Kawada merged to form the
city of Numata. (1 town, 10 villages) • April 1, 1955 - The villages of Komemaki and Monono merged to form the
town of Tsukiyono. (2 towns, 8 villages) • September 30, 1956 - The villages of Azuma and
Akagine merged to form the
village of Tone. (2 towns, 7 villages) • November 1, 1958 - The villages of
Kuroho and
Itonose merged to form the village of Shōwa. (2 towns, 6 villages) • February 13, 2005 - The villages of Shirasawa and Tone merged into the city of Numata. (2 towns, 4 villages) • October 1, 2005 - The towns of Tsukiyono and (former) Minakami, and the village of Niiharu merged to form the town of Minakami. (1 town, 3 villages) == References ==