Kiyosu
  ■ Kiyosu City Profile  
  ■ History  
  ■ Sightseeing  
  - Kiyosu Castle  
  - Kiyosu Park and
Kiyosu-kojoshi Park		  
  History
[1] Historical Kiyosu
Kiyosu-kojoshi
Kiyosu-kojoshi
People lived in the Kiyosu area as long ago as the Yayoi period, as evidenced by the Takemura shell mound and the adjacent Asahi shell mound, the Owari Plain's largest prehistoric sites. The region is dotted by historical resources such as Kiyosu Castle, built during the beginning of the Muromachi period as a bulwark for Orizu Castle, the administrative seat from which Owari was governed. Following the military commander Oda Nobunaga's capture of Kiyosu Castle from his base at Nagoya Castle in 1555 during Japan's Sengoku period, the town surrounding the castle flourished during the Keicho period as a center of culture, earning the nickname “the mainstay of Kanto.” During this time, the city also occupied a strategically important location in Owari. Later, the Minokaido Road — an extremely important link between Nagoya and the Nakasendo Road over which it is said Tokugawa Ieyasu traveled after his victory at the Battle of Sekigahara — flourished as the Kichireikaido Road, a route that was traveled by numerous superstitious daimyo lords during the Edo period. A flourishing post-town grew up around the road and the Aomonoichi market established by the order of Tokugawa.
Thanks to the precious sweat and sacrifices of large numbers of farmers and local government officials who were spurred on by damage caused by frequent flooding of the Shonai River during the middle Edo period, the Shin River was completed in 1787. The region's traditional culture continues to find expression today in the Owarinishibiwajima Festival, a celebration featuring a procession of five floats manufactured over 200 years ago during the Edo period.


The market of Shimootai as shown in an illustrated guide to
famous places in Owari
[2] Modern Kiyosu
Following the division of the county of Kasugai into the counties of Higashikasugai (to the east) and Nishikasugai (to the west) in 1880, the towns and villages of the new county of Nishikasugai began merging to form ever larger communities.
In 1889, the villages of Shimootai and Kobazukashinden merged to form the town of Nishibiwajima. Several years later in 1906, the villages of Asata and Ichiba merged with the town of Kiyosu to form the new town of Kiyosu, which had annexed the village of Osato and part of the town of Jimokuji by 1943.
Formed by the merger of the villages of Dokinoshinden, Kamigawara, Nakagawara, and Shimogawara in 1889, the village of Shinkawa became a town in 1890 and subsequently merged with the town of Toei and the villages of Terano and Ahara in 1906 to form the new town of Shinkawa.
Finally, the towns of Nishibiwajima, Kiyosu, and Shinkawa merged on July 7, 2005, to form the city of Kiyosu.