When the Minister of Home Affairs Toshimichi OKUBO drew up a draft of prefectural reorganization in 1876, Okubo consulted with Tsutomu SAKURAI, who was a high-rank official at the Ministry of Home Affairs and came from Tajima Province, about the consolidation of Toyooka Prefecture and Tottori Prefecture.
明治9年の府県統廃合の原案作成をしていた内務卿・大久保利通は、内務省高官で但馬国出身の桜井勉に、豊岡県と鳥取県の合併について意見を求めた。