Kumamoto Prefecture Reihoku has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall.

During the Edo Period it was tenryō territory under direct control of the Tokugawa shogunate and administered from the office of the Nagasaki bugyō, and it remained the de facto center of the Amakusa region.

After the Meiji restoration, the town of Tomioka, and villages of Sakasegawa, Shiki and Toro were established in Amakusa District, Kumamoto with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889.

Since the Edo period, Reihoku has been known as a producer of Amakusa kaolinite, a raw material for porcelain, and quarrying remains a major component of the local economy.

On February 20, 1954, an accident occurred at the Shiki coal mine when an excavation error caused seawater to flow into the tunnels, killing 36 people.