Aka

Aka was a district of northern Bitchū, east of the Takahashi River around Niimi. The mountain country was a centre of tatara ironmaking, in which iron sand was smelted with charcoal. Niimi also gave its name to a medieval estate whose affairs are recorded in a large collection of documents preserved by Tōji in Kyoto. These records offer a window into the administration of an estate far from its temple proprietors.