Kitamorokata

Northern Morokata lies in the Miyakonojō basin of southern Hyūga. A branch of the Shimazu family held the district for centuries: in the fourteenth century Shimazu Suketada received land at Hongō, beginning a line later known as the Miyakonojō Shimazu. Under the Edo-period Kagoshima domain, the family remained local lords within a system of outlying districts administered by appointed officials or hereditary rulers.