It was established on March 6, 2006, by the merger of the former towns of Akaike, Hōjō and Kanada, all from Tagawa District.
Minagawa lived alone in the Momochi apartment building in Nishijin, Sawara-ku, Fukuoka, near Seinan Gakuin University, until 2005, when she moved to Keijuen, a special nursing home in her native Akaike.