Maebashi is the capital and Takasaki is the largest city of Gunma Prefecture, with other major cities including Ōta, Isesaki, and Kiryū.[3] Gunma Prefecture is one of only eight landlocked prefectures, located on the northwestern corner of the Kantō Plain with 14% of its total land being designated as natural parks.
The ancient province of Gunma was a center of horse breeding and trading activities for the newly immigrated continental peoples (or Toraijin). The arrival of horses and the remains of horse tackle coincides with the arrival of a large migration from the mainland. From this point forward, the horse became a vital part of Japanese military maneuvers, quickly displacing the older Yayoi tradition of fighting on foot.[citation needed]
When Mount Haruna erupted in the late 6th century, Japan was still in the pre-historical phase (prior to the importation of the Chinese writing system during the Nara period). The Gunma Prefectural archaeology unit in 1994 was able to date the eruption through zoological anthropology at the corral sites that were buried in ash.[citation needed]
In the past, Gunma was joined with Tochigi Prefecture and called Kenu Province. This was later divided into Kami-tsu-ke (Upper Kenu, Gunma) and Shimo-tsu-ke (Lower Kenu, Tochigi). The area is sometimes referred to as Jomo (上毛, Jōmō). For most of Japanese history, Gunma was known as the province of Kozuke.[4]
In the early period of contact between western nations and Japan, particularly the late Tokugawa, it was referred to by foreigners as the "Joushu States", inside (fudai, or loyalist) Tokugawa retainers and the Tokugawa family symbol is widely seen on public buildings, temples, and shrines.[citation needed]
The first modern silk factories were built with Italian and French assistance at Annaka in the 1870s.
In the early Meiji period, in what was locally called the Gunma Incident of 1884, a bloody struggle between the idealistic democratic westernizers and the conservative Prussian-model nationalists took place in Gunma and neighboring Nagano. The modern Japanese army gunned down farmers with new repeating rifles built in Japan. The farmers in Gunma were said to be the first victims of the Murata rifle.[citation needed]
In the twentieth century, the Japanese aviation pioneer Nakajima Chikushi of Oizumi, Gunma Prefecture, founded the Nakajima Aircraft Company. At first, he produced mostly licensed models of foreign designs, but beginning with the all-Japanese Nakajima 91 fighter plane in 1931, his company became a world leader in aeronautical design and manufacture, with its headquarters at Ota, Gunma Ken. The factory now produces Subaru motorcars and other products under the name of Subaru née Fuji Heavy Industries.[7]
In the 1930s, German architect Bruno Julius Florian Taut lived and conducted research for a while in Takasaki.[8]
Map of Gunma Prefecture City Town VillageMaebashiTakasakiŌtaKiryū
One of only eight landlocked prefectures in Japan, Gunma is the northwesternmost prefecture of the Kantō plain. Except for the central and southeast areas, where most of the population is concentrated, it is mostly mountainous. To the north are Niigata and Fukushima prefectures, while to the east lies Tochigi Prefecture. To the west lies the Nagano Prefecture, and the Saitama Prefecture is to the south.
Because Gunma is situated in inland Japan, the difference in temperature in the summer compared to the winter is large, and there is less precipitation. This is because of the karakkaze ("empty wind"), a strong, dry wind that occurs in the winter when the snow falls on the coasts of Niigata. The wind carrying clouds with snow are obstructed by the Echigo Mountains, and it also snows there, although the high peaks do not let the wind go past them. For this reason, the wind changes into the kara-kaze.
Average yearly precipitation: 1,163 mm (approx. 45.8in)
Average yearly temperature: 14.2 degrees Celsius (approx. 57.6 degrees Fahrenheit)
Economy
Gunma prefecture population pyramid in 2020
Gunma's modern industries include transport equipment and electrical equipment, concentrated around Maebashi and the eastern region nearest Tokyo. More traditional industries include sericulture and agriculture. Gunma's major agricultural products include cabbages and konnyaku. Gunma produces over 90% of Japan's konnyaku, and two-thirds of the farms in the village of Tsumagoi are cabbage farms.[11] Also, the city of Ōta is famous for the car industry, notably the Subaru factory.
Culture
There is a local dialect, known in Japanese as 'gunma-ben' or 'jōshū-ben'.
Gunma has a traditional card game called Jomo Karuta (上毛かるた). It features people, places, and things of regional and/or cultural importance.
Famous foods
In 2007, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries held an event to find the top 100 best local dishes across all of Japan. Three dishes were featured from Gunma; yaki-manju, okkirikomi, and konnyaku.[12]
Melody Roads
As of 2018, Gunma is home to eleven of Japan's over thirty Melody Roads. 2,559 grooves cut into a 175-meter stretch of the road surface in transmit a tactilevibration through the wheels into the car body.[13][14][15] The roads can be found in Katashina, Minakami, Takayama, Kanna, Ueno, Kusatsu, Tsumagoi, Nakanojo, Takasaki, Midori, and Maebashi. Each is of a differing length and plays a different song. Naganohara also used to be home to a Melody Road playing "Aj lučka, lučka široká", though the road in question was paved over in 2013 due to noise complaints.
Songs
Kusatsu - "Kusatsu-Bushi"
Takayama - "When You Wish Upon a Star"
Tsumagoi - "Oh My Darling Clementine"
Nakanojo - "Always With Me" (Japanese title: いつも何度でも, itsumo nando demo) from Spirited Away when driven at 40 km/h
Gunma is also famous for its ski resorts in the mountains.
Gunma was the only prefecture in Japan to have all 4 legal types of gambling on races: horse, bicycle, auto and boat. This changed with the closing of the last horse race track in Takasaki in 2004.
The prefectural symbol consists of the first kanji of the word 'Gunma' surrounded by three stylized mountains symbolizing the three important mountains of Gunma Prefecture: Mount Haruna, Mount Akagi, and Mount Myōgi.
For marketing, the Prefectural Government also uses Gunma-chan, a small super deformed drawing of a horse character wearing a green cap. It is used on promotional posters, banners, and other notable printed materials from the Prefectural Government. Other agencies and companies formally or informally use variations of its likeness and other horse-shaped characters when making signs or notices for work on buildings, roads, and other public notices.
In popular culture
There are various manga and anime that have based their settings in Gunma, such as:
^"こんにゃくをめぐる事情"(PDF). 農林水産省の公式HP. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Archived from the original(PDF) on 27 December 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
^"JAPAN'S TASTY SECRETS". 農林水産省の公式HP. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
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