Kozukata

{{nihongo|Kozukata|不来方 or 古志方{{cite web |url=http://www.bunka.pref.iwate.jp/seikatsu/chimei/data/shimei.html#morioka |title=Place-name etymologies of Iwate Prefecture |author= |date= |work=Iwate Prefecture homepage |publisher=Iwate Prefectural Government |accessdate=29 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140316201021/http://www.bunka.pref.iwate.jp/seikatsu/chimei/data/shimei.html#morioka |archive-date=16 March 2014 |url-status=dead }}}} is an old name for the area that is now occupied by the center of the city of Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, Japan.{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Dijitaru Daijisen |title=不来方 |url=http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ |accessdate=2013-02-07 |year=2013 |publisher=Shogakukan |location=Tokyo |language=Japanese |trans-title=不来方 |oclc=56431036 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825113418/http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ |archivedate=2007-08-25 }} Nanbu Toshinao (1576 – 1632), head of the Nanbu clan, took control of Kozukata after his participation in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Toshinao disliked the name "Kozukata", and changed it first to "Morigaoka" and later "Morioka" early in the Edo period (1603 – 1868).{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Nihon Rekishi Chimei Taikei |title=岩手県：盛岡市 ＞ 盛岡城下 ＞ 〔築城以前の盛岡〕 |url=http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ |accessdate=2013-02-07 |year=2013 |publisher=Shogakukan |location=Tokyo |language=Japanese |trans-title=Iwate Prefecture: Morioka, Morioka Castle, Morioka prior to the construction of the castle |id=dlc 2009238904 |oclc=173191044 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825113418/http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ |archivedate=2007-08-25 }}

Literally meaning "come-not-way", a folk etymology for the name states that it derives from the legend that the demon Rasetsu, after he was driven out of the area, will never return.{{cite book |last1=Hirano |first1=Tadashi |authorlink1= |title=Iwate no Densetu |trans-title=The Legends of Iwate |year=1976 |publisher=Tsugaru Shobō |location=Hirosaki |language=Japanese |isbn= |page=15 |trans-chapter=The Handprint of the Mitsuishi Demon |chapter=Mitsuishi no Oni no Tegata |quote=}}