Maebashi

Maebashi 前橋市
Core city
A view of Maebashi with Mt. Akagi, from the top of the Prefectural Government building
Flag Seal
Location of Maebashi in Gunma Prefecture
Maebashi
Coordinates: 36°23′22.2″N 139°3′48.3″E / 36.389500°N 139.063417°E / 36.389500; 139.063417Coordinates: 36°23′22.2″N 139°3′48.3″E / 36.389500°N 139.063417°E / 36.389500; 139.063417
Country	Japan
Region	Kantō
Prefecture	Gunma Prefecture
Government
• -Mayor	Ryu Yamamoto (since February 2012)
Area
• Total	311.59 km2 (120.31 sq mi)
Population (May 2015)
• Total	339,701
• Density	1,081/km2 (2,800/sq mi)
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
- Tree	Ginkgo & Zelkova
- Flower	Rose & Azalea
Phone number	027-224-1111
Address	2-12-1, Ote-Machi, Maebashi-shi, Gunma-ken 371-8601
Website	Official website

Maebashi City Hall

Maebashi (前橋市, Maebashi-shi) is a city located in central Gunma Prefecture in the northern Kantō region of Japan. It is the capital of Gunma Prefecture.^[1]

As of May 2015, the city had an estimated population of 339,701 and a population density of 1081 persons per km². Its total area was 311.59 km².^[2] It was the most populous city within Gunma Prefecture until Takasaki merged with nearby towns between 2006 and 2009.^[3]

Maebashi is known to be the "City of Water, Greenery and Poets" because of its pure waters, its rich nature and because it gave birth to several Japanese contemporary poets, such as Sakutaro Hagiwara.^[4]

Geography

Maebashi is located at the foot of Mt. Akagi in the northeast corner of the Kantō Plain. It is also surrounded by Mount Haruna and Mount Myogi. Two rivers run through the city: the Tone River, Japan's second-longest, and the Hirose River.

Maebashi is the farthest from the sea (about 120 km) of all Japanese prefectural capitals.

Surrounding municipalities

• Gunma Prefecture
  • Isesaki
  • Kiryū
  • Numata
  • Shibukawa
  • Takasaki
  • Shintō
  • Tamamura
  • Yoshioka

Climate

Maebashi has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa). In the winter, the "karakaze", or "dry wind" blows through Maebashi from the north. This is due to the snow clouds coming from the Sea of Japan being blocked by the Echigo Mountain Range between Gunma and Niigata Prefectures. Because of this, the city has a dry winter and is one of the sunniest places in Japan at over 2,210 hours of sunshine per year.^[5] In the summer, it is hot since the location is inland. On July 24, 2001, Maebashi hit 40 °C (104 °F), the fifth-hottest temperature ever in Japan.

History

The modern town of Maebashi was established within Higashigunma District, Gunma Prefecture on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the municipalities system after the Meiji Restoration. Maebashi was raised to city status on April 1, 1892. In 1901, it annexed a portion of Kamikawabuchi village from Seta District. On August 5, 1945 approximately 64.2% of the urban core of the city was destroyed during World War II during air raids which followed the dropping of propaganda leaflets warning of the impending attacks.^[8][9]

In 1951, a portion of Kaigaya Village from Seta District was merged into Maebashi. The city expanded further on April 1, 1954 by annexing the villages of Kamikawabuchi, Shimokawabuchi, Azuma, Minamitachibana, Kaigaya, Haga, Motosōja, and Sōja from Seta District, followed by a portion of Jōnan village in 1957. On April 1, 1960 a portion of Tamamura Town and another portion of Jōnan village were merged into Maebashi, which finally anned the remainder of Jōnan village in 1967. Maebashi hosted the 1999 IAAF World Indoor Championships.

On April 1, 2001, Maebashi was designated a special city (tokureishi) with increased local autonomy. On December 5, 2004 the town of Ōgo, and the villages of Kasukawa and Miyagi (all from Seta District) were merged into Maebashi. On May 5, 2009, the village of Fujimi (Seta District) was merged into Maebashi. Seta District was dissolved as a result of this merger.^[10] Maebashi became a core city (Chūkakushi) on April 1, 2009.

Name Origins

Maebashi area was called Umayabashi (厩橋) during the Nara Period. This name finds its origins in the fact that there was a bridge (hashi 橋) crossing the Tone River and not far from the bridge there was a small refreshment house with a stable (umaya 駅家), often used by people travelling on the Tōzan-dō (the way that was connecting the capital to the eastern regions of Japan). The spelling was officially changed into Maebashi (前橋) in 1649 during the Edo Period when Maebashi became a castle town and the center of Maebashi Domain, a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate.^[11]

Economy

A map showing Maebashi Metropolitan Employment Area.

As of 2010, Greater Maebashi, Maebashi Metropolitan Employment Area, has a GDP of US$59.8 billion.^[12][13] The air conditioning system and compressor manufacturing company Sanden Corporation as well as the tofu and tofu products company Sagamiya Foods have manufacturing sites in the city.^[14] The Gunma Bank is headquartered in Maebashi.

Education

There are 16 high schools, 23 middle schools, and 56 elementary schools in Maebashi.

Universities

• Gunma University
• Maebashi Institute of Technology
• Gunma Prefectural College of Health Sciences
• Maebashi Kyoai Gakuen College
• Gunma University of Health and Welfare

Primary and secondary schools

International schools:

• Gunma Korean Elementary and Junior High School (群馬朝鮮初中級学校) - North Korean school^[15]

Transportation

Railway

• JR East – Jōetsu Line
  • Shin-Maebashi - Gumma-Sōja
• JR East – Ryōmō Line
  • Komagata - Maebashi-Ōshima - Maebashi - Shin-Maebashi
• Jōmō Electric Railway Company – Jōmō Line
  • Chūō-Maebashi - Jōtō - Mitsumata - Katakai - Kamiizumi - Akasaka - Shinzō-Kekkan Center - Egi - Ōgo - Higoshi - Kitahara - Araya - Kasukawa - Zen

Highway

• Kanetsu Expressway – Maebashi IC
• Kita-Kantō Expressway – Maebashi-Minami IC
• National Route 17
• National Route 50
• National Route 291
• National Route 353

Sports

Thespakusatsu Gunma at Shoda Shoyu Stadium Gunma was originally formed in Kusatsu, but plays in Maebashi due to J. League stadium requirements.

Local attractions

• Shikishima Park
• Maebashi Castle
• Gunma Prefectural Government Building
• Site of Kōzuke Kokubun-ji

Festivals

• Ogo Gion Festival

Noted people from Maebashi

• Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, founder of Shinkage-ryū martial arts school and master of Yagyū Munetoshi who later introduced Shinkage-ryū to Tokugawa Ieyasu.^[16]
• Tōru Furusawa, voice actor
• Sakutarō Hagiwara, poet
• Gran Hamada, professional wrestler
• Nobuyuki Kojima, professional soccer player
• Kōhei Oguri, film director
• Tetsuya Ota, racecar driver
• Genichiro Sata, politician
• Takashi Shimizu, film director
• Atsuko Tanaka, voice actress
• Yutaka Yoshie, professional wrestler
• Shigesato Itoi, game designer

Sister-city relations

• Hagi, Yamaguchi, Japan
• Birmingham, Alabama, USA
• Menasha, Wisconsin, USA
• Orvieto, Italy

References

External links

Media related to Maebashi at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website (Japanese)

Gunma Prefecture
Maebashi (capital)
Core cities	Maebashi Takasaki
Special cities	Isesaki Ōta
Cities	Annaka Fujioka Kiryū Midori Numata Shibukawa Tatebayashi Tomioka
Agatsuma District	Higashiagatsuma Kusatsu Naganohara Nakanojō Takayama Tsumagoi
Kanra District	Kanra Shimonita Nanmoku
Kitagunma District	Yoshioka Shintō
Ōra District	Chiyoda Itakura Meiwa Ōizumi Ōra
Sawa District	Tamamura
Tano District	Kanna Ueno
Tone District	Minakami Katashina Kawaba Shōwa
List of mergers in Gunma Prefecture

Metropolitan areas in Japan with a population of over a million
Hokkaido region	Sapporo(ja) Ishikari Shiribeshi Sorachi
Tōhoku region	Sendai(ja) Miyagi
Kantō region	Utsunomiya(ja) Tochigi Maebashi(ja) Gunma Tokyo(ja) Saitama Chiba Tokyo Kanangawa Ibaraki Yamanashi
Chūbu region	Niigata(ja) Niigata Shizuoka(ja) Shizuoka Hamamatsu(ja) Shizuoka Nagoya(ja) Gifu Aichi Mie
Kinki region	Kyoto(ja) Shiga Kyoto Osaka(ja) Kyoto Osaka Hyogo Nara Wakayama Kobe(ja) Hyogo
Chūgoku region	Okayama(ja) Okayama Hiroshima(ja) Hiroshima
Kyushu region	Kitakyushu(ja) Fukuoka Fukuoka(ja) Fukuoka Saga Kumamoto(ja) Kumamoto