Editing Akita Prefecture (section)

== History ==
{{See also|Historic Sites of Akita Prefecture}}

The region of Akita was created from the ancient provinces of [[Dewa Province|Dewa]] and [[Mutsu Province|Mutsu]].<ref>Nussbaum, "Provinces and prefectures" in {{Google books|p2QnPijAEmEC|p. 780|page=780}}</ref>

Separated from the principal Japanese centres of commerce, politics, and population by several hundred kilometres and by the [[Ōu Mountains|Ōu]] and Dewa mountain ranges to the east, Akita remained largely isolated from Japanese society until after the year 600. Akita was a region of hunter-gatherers and principally nomadic tribes.{{Citation needed|date=February 2008}}

The first historical record of what is now Akita Prefecture dates to 658, when [[Abe no Hirafu]] conquered the native [[Ezo]] tribes at what are now the cities of Akita and [[Noshiro, Akita|Noshiro]]. Abe, then governor of [[Koshi Province (Japan)|Koshi Province]] (the northwestern part of Honshū bordering the [[Sea of Japan]]), established a fort on the [[Mogami River]], and thus began the Japanese settlement of the region.

In 733, a new military settlement (later renamed [[Akita Castle]]) was built in what is now the Takashimizu area of Akita, and more permanent roads and structures were developed. The region was used as a base of operations for the Japanese empire as it drove the native Ezo people from northern Honshū.

Governance of the region shifted hands several times. During the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] it was appropriated to the [[Satake clan]], who ruled the region for 260 years and developed the agriculture and mining industries that are still predominant today. Throughout this period, it was classified as part of [[Dewa Province]].<ref name="nussbaum780"/> In 1871, during the [[Meiji Restoration]], Dewa Province was reshaped and the old [[Han (administrative division)|daimyō domains]] were abolished and administratively reconstructed, resulting in the modern-day borders of Akita.

The famous [[Heian period]] [[Waka (poetry)|waka]] poet, [[Ono no Komachi]], is said to have been born in Yuzawa City, Ogachi Town, located in the southeast of the prefecture.