Tottori City History
The name of "Tottori" comes from the name of an ancient community Tottori-go, which existed on the plain around Mt. Kyusho. The name of the community, in turn, is said to stem from an ancient group of local residents called "Totoribe", who settled there. Tottori became a castle town after Toyotomi Hideyoshi (then known as Hashiba Hideyoshi) attacked the Tottori Castle in 1581. In 1617, Himeji Castle lord Ikeda Mitsumasa was transferred to Tottori Castle and made great efforts to develop the castle town. His achievements included digging the Fukuro River, assigning residences to his retainers, developing residential areas for merchants and engineers, and establishing temples. All this contributed greatly to creating the fundamental layout of the old Tottori City. In 1871, as part of the government policy to abolish the clans and establish prefectures (haihan-chiken), Inaba and Hoki (the old names of the eastern and western parts of Tottori Prefecture) were merged to form the present Tottori Prefecture. Although Tottori Prefecture was temporarily incorporated into Shimane Prefecture in 1876, Tottori regained its position as an independent prefecture in 1881 and Tottori City has been the prefectural capital since then. |
Number | Date | Area (km²) |
Notes |
① | Oct. 1, 1889 | 6.61 | City municipality established |
② | May 10,1923 | 10.75 | Merger with Fuso Village |
③ | Apr. 1, 1932 | 21.82 | Merger with Inaba Village |
④ | Apr. 1, 1933 | 34.82 | Merger with Nakanogo Village |
⑤ | Oct. 1, 1933 | 40.11 | Merger with Miho Village |
⑥ | Feb. 15, 1937 | 45.12 | Merger with Karo Village |
⑦ | Jul. 1, 19531 | 219.44 | Merger with the villages of Kando, Yamato, Miho, Taisho, Togo, Toyomi, Meiji, Yoshioka, Osato, Suetsune, Koyama, Matsuho, Chiyomi, Omokage, and Kurata |
⑧ | Jul. 20, 1955 | 227.39 | Merger with Yonesato Village |
⑨ | Apr. 22, 1963 | 237.25 | Merger with Tsunoi Village |
⑩ | Dec. 1, 1976 | 237.29 | Partial revision of city limits |
⑪ | Nov. 1, 1984 | 237.28 | Revision of boundary with Kokufu Town |
⑫ | Nov. 10, 1989 | 237.01 | Revision of official land area value (Geographical Survey Institute) |
⑬ | Jul. 27, 1990 | 237.06 | Public water area reclaimed |
⑭ | Nov. 2, 1990 | 237.09 | Public water area reclaimed |
⑮ | Jul. 1, 1997 | 237.20 | Public water area reclaimed |
⑯ | Nov. 1, 2004 | 765.66 | Merger with the towns of Kokufu, Fukube, Kawahara, Mochigase, Ketaka, Shikano, Aoya, and Saji Village |