Origin of the place name 'Inagi'

Birth of Inagi Village

On April 1, 1889, six villages—Higashi-Naganuma, Yanokuchi, Omaru, Momura, Sakahama, and Hirao—under the jurisdiction of the Higashi-Naganuma and five other villages' combined village office, were merged into one village due to the promulgation of the village system, resulting in the birth of "Inagi Village." The name Inagi was newly designated for this village at that time.
With the establishment of Inagi Village, an election for the village council was held on April 25 of the same year at Jorakuji Temple in Higashi-Naganuma, where 12 council members were elected.
Furthermore, on June 8, following a resolution by the village council, Kiyonosuke Mori was appointed as the first village head.
At that time, Oshitate Village, which was under the jurisdiction of the Kamizomeya Village office in Kitakama District, was incorporated into the newly established "Tama Village."
Thus, with the village system promulgated in 1888, Inagi Village and Tama Village were born in the following year, leading to the abolition of the long-standing villages since the Edo period, which continued to exist as districts within the new villages.

In the case of town and village mergers, the government instructed that for absorption mergers, the name of the new town or village should be based on the name of the larger town, and for equal mergers, the name should be derived from the names of the former villages, through a process of "mutual consideration."
In the case of Inagi Village, there was no particularly large village among the six villages that would form the new village, and it is believed that discussions for a new village name based on an equal merger were conducted from the beginning.
As the movement for mergers progressed, various candidates for the new village name were proposed and considered, but unfortunately, there are currently no historical documents related to the naming of the new village that can be confirmed, so it is not possible to clarify the origin of the place name "Inagi."
However, there are traditions and old studies that remain, and we will introduce them.

Two Theories on the Origin of the Name 'Inagi'

The late Mr. Takuo Kawashima of Higashi-Naganuma conveys the story of his father, Yoshizo Kawashima, as a tradition.
According to this, the founder of Keigijuku, Zenryo Kubo, was approached by Kiyonosuke Mori, who was the head of the Higashi-Naganuma and five other villages' union and later became the first village mayor, to discuss the new village name. Kubo presented two candidates: "Inaho" and "Inagi," and ultimately, "Inagi" was selected.
In selecting "Inagi," historical facts were considered, such as the presence of fortresses (Ozawa Castle, Naganuma Castle, Omaru Castle) in the areas of Yanokuchi, Higashi-Naganuma, and Omaru, as well as the fact that this region was a rice-producing area known for its good quality rice since ancient times. (Takuo Kawashima, from "Mr. Zenryo Kubo and Keigijuku," published in Showa 61)

Furthermore, in the manuscript "Musashino Village Place Names (Draft)" written by the late Masayoshi Ishii of Komae around 1932 and 1933 (Showa 7 and 8), which is held by the city of Komae, it states, "Inagi Village should be referred to as Inage Village without permission, and Inagi was named with the meaning of Inage."
It is not clear what basis this historical document was stated from, but it is said that the name "Inage Village" was initially chosen and submitted to Kanagawa Prefecture, but permission was not granted, leading to the naming of "Inagi Village" which conveys the meaning.

The only confirmed sources regarding the origin of the village name "Inagi" are the two points mentioned above. Next, I will examine these two theories.

In the historical section of the "Geographical Editing Investigation Book" created in the 19th year of the Meiji era (1886), three years before the birth of Inagi Village, the historical developments of the six villages within the city area are recorded.
Here, it can be seen that each village has almost the same text, stating, "The ancient historical facts are unclear; during the Kamakura period, Inage Saburo Shigenari held this area, and later, Shigenari's relative, Ozawa Sakon Shogen Nobushige, was granted it, and around the Oan period, Ozawa Saemon no Jo Kunitaka held it."
It is recorded that this land was under the possession of the Inage and Ozawa clans during the Kamakura period.
It can be inferred that the villagers of this period shared a common historical recognition of "Inage" and "Ozawa."
Given this context, it does not seem strange that the new village name was chosen as "Inage," but it was not approved, and it remains unclear why it later became "Inagi."

In any case, the birth of the new village may have settled on "Inagi" after much consideration and the thoughts of many people.
At present, we cannot clarify the origin of the place name "Inagi", but we hope to discover new concrete historical materials in the future.

Note: For more details, please refer to the following materials.
"History of Inagi City" Volume 2 (Published by Inagi City in 1991)
"The Progress of Inagi" (Published by Inagi City in 1991)