When Emperor Go-Daigo began his Kemmu Restoration, the still very young prince, along with Kitabatake Akiie, in 1333 went to Tagajō in what is now Miyagi Prefecture, at the time Mutsu Province, to return the eastern samurai to their allegiance and destroy the remnants of the Hōjō clan.
The area of present-day Funagata was part of ancient Dewa Province and is mentioned in Nara period documents as a location of a fortified settlement on the road connecting Akita Castle on the Sea of Japan with Tagajo on the Pacific coast.
During the Ritsuryō period, roads from Kinai to the Tagajō were divided into two: the Tōkaidō eastern sea road (via Nagoya, Hamamatsu, Tokyo and Mito) and the Tōsandō eastern mountain road (via Gifu, Shiojiri, Takasaki and Utsunomiya).
The area of present-day was Kaneyama part of ancient Dewa Province and during the Nara Period and early Heian period was an important fortified point on the road connecting Akita Castle on the Sea of Japan with Tagajo on the Pacific Ocean.
The area of present-day Ōishida was part of ancient Dewa Province and is mentioned in the Engishiki records as the location of a fortified settlement on the highway connecting Akita Castle on the Sea of Japan with Tagajo on the Pacific coast.
During the Nara period in the 7th Century, the neighbouring city of Tagajō was the capital of the entire Mutsu country/province, which forms the majority of modern Tōhoku.
The area of present-day was Tozawa part of ancient Dewa Province and during the Nara Period and early Heian period was an important fortified point on the road connecting Akita Castle on the Sea of Japan with Tagajo on the Pacific Ocean.