Kiso District

...An old name for the forested area in the upper reaches of the Kiso River. The entire area of ​​present-day Kiso District, Nagano Prefecture (formerly Nishichikuma District, renamed in 1968) is surrounded by Mt. Ontake in the west and the Kiso Mountains in the east, with forests making up about 95% of the area, and the Kiso cypress is known as one of the three most beautiful forests in Japan. In the articles for the second year of the Taiho era (702) and the sixth year of the Wadō era (713) of the Shoku Nihongi, there is an article about the provincial governor of Mino opening up the Kiso road, which connected Kiso with the Kinai region and the surrounding areas. As the development of the Kiso forest began, Mino and Shinano began to compete for it, so in 879 (Gangei 3), it was made part of Ena District, Mino Province (Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku).

*Some of the terminology that refers to "Kiso County" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…木曾川上流域森林地帯の古称。現在の長野県木曾郡(1968年西筑摩郡を改称)全域は，西の御嶽山（おんたけさん），東の木曾山脈に囲まれ，面積の約95％を山林が占め，〈木曾檜（ひのき）〉は日本三大美林の一つとして知られる。　《続日本紀》大宝2年(702)条，和銅6年(713)条に美濃の国司が〈吉蘇（きそ）〉路を切り開いた記事が見えるが，これによって木曾と畿内近国とが結ばれ，木曾山林の開発が緒につくにつれて，美濃･信濃両国が争奪を繰り返すようになったため，879年(元慶3)美濃国恵那郡の所属とされた(《日本三代実録》)。…

※「木曾郡」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報