 The modern village of Hitachi was formed on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of the municipalities system.The area rapidly developed towards the end of the Meiji period under the direction of Fusanosuke Kuhara of the Kuhara zaibatsu with the opening of copper mines, and under Namihei Odaira, the founder of Hitachi.The village of Hitachi was raised to town status on August 26, 1924.