Keta

Keta was an inland district of Tajima, made up of river valleys. Its medieval landscape contained estates with very different owners: the Tada lands were associated with Ise Shrine, Mikata with Enryakuji on Mount Hiei, and Rakusaki with aristocratic proprietors. These interests overlaid older district divisions and gave religious institutions far from Tajima a stake in its countryside.

During the Muromachi period the Kakiya, powerful retainers of the Yamana governors, established their influence here. Their great mountain stronghold at Sasanokuma overlooked the Mikata country, while a chain of castles along the Inaba River controlled routes toward Muraoka and Tottori. Hideyoshi's conquest broke their rule. Under the Tokugawa, the district's villages were divided among shogunal administrators, the Izushi and Toyooka domains, and direct retainers of the shogun. Such fragmented lordship could turn a boundary into a serious dispute. In 1689 the villages of Kurisuno, Ota and Higashigouchi sought a shogunal judgment over Shiwagano; the surviving decision map records a ruling in favor of Ota and Higashigouchi.