Annaka ( 安中市 , Annaka-shi ) is a city located in Gunma Prefecture , Japan . As of 31 July 2020, the city had an estimated population of 47,911 in 24,749 households, and a population density of 210 persons per square kilometre. The total area of the city is 276.31 km (106.68 sq mi).
52-551: Annaka is located in the southwestern portion of Gunma Prefecture at the very northernmost point of the Kantō Plain , bordered by Nagano Prefecture to the west. The Usui Pass connects Annaka with neighboring Karuizawa, Nagano . Gunma Prefecture Nagano Prefecture Annaka has a Humid continental climate (Köppen Cfa ) characterized by warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Annaka
104-529: A mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 20 members. Annaka contributes two members to the Gunma Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Gunma 5th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan . Annaka is a regional commercial center and transportation hub. Toho Zinc operates a large plant in
156-569: A fertile agricultural region which produced much of the food for the Kantō region. During the Edo period , many fudai daimyōs ruled small domains within the Saitama area. At the end of the early modern Edo period , large parts of present-day Saitama were part of the shogunate domain ( baku-ryō ) or the often subsumed holdings of smaller vassals ( hatamoto -ryō) around Edo, major areas were part of
208-452: A few municipalities to Tokyo in the 1890s/1900s (see below) and several smaller, 20th century changes through cross-prefectural municipal mergers or transfers of neighbourhoods, Saitama had reached its present extent. In the modern reactivation of districts as administrative unit in 1878/79, Saitama was subdivided into originally 18 districts based on the ancient divisions of Musashi, but with only nine (joint) district government offices, and
260-527: A governor ([ken-]chiji) who is directly elected to four-year terms since 1947. The current incumbent is Motohiro Ōno , a former DPFP member of the Diet who was elected in August 2019 with centre-left support (CDP, DPFP, SDP) and 47.9% of the vote against centre-right supported (LDP, Kōmeitō) former baseball player Kenta Aoshima (44.9%) and three other candidates. Also as in all prefectures, prefectural by-laws,
312-484: Is 13.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1,227 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.3 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.5 °C. Per Japanese census data, the population of Annaka has recently declined after decades of relative stability. Annaka is located within traditional Kōzuke Province . During the Edo period , central Annaka
364-465: Is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu . Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km (2,456 sq mi ). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture to the north, Nagano Prefecture to the southwest, Saitama Prefecture to the south, and Tochigi Prefecture to the east. Maebashi
416-556: Is bordered by Tokyo , Chiba , Ibaraki , Tochigi , Gunma , Nagano , and Yamanashi Prefectures. It is located central-west of the Kanto region, measuring 103 km from east to west and 52 km from north to south. At 3,797.75 km , it ranks as the ninth-smallest prefecture. The eastern border with Chiba Prefecture is defined by the Edo River . The northern and north-western border lines with Gunma Prefecture are marked by
468-576: 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. The sports teams listed below are based in Gunma. 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
520-414: Is situated in a rich natural environment. The region is very popular among residents of Saitama and neighboring prefectures for short trips, as it is easily accessible via the railroad network. Kobaton ( コバトン ) is the prefectural mascot, a Eurasian collared dove, which is also the prefectural bird. Kobaton was made originally as the mascot of the fifty-ninth annual national athletic meeting held in
572-651: Is sometimes referred to as Jomo (上毛, Jōmō ). For most of Japanese history, Gunma was known as the province of Kozuke . 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. The Tenmei eruption of Mount Asama occurred in 1783, causing enormous damage. The first modern silk factories were built with Italian and French assistance at Annaka in
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#1732797789891624-410: Is the capital and Takasaki is the largest city of Gunma Prefecture, with other major cities including Ōta , Isesaki , and Kiryū . 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
676-858: Is to the south. Some of the major mountains in Gunma are Mount Akagi , Mount Haruna , Mount Myōgi , Mount Nikkō-Shirane and Mount Asama , which is located on the Nagano border. Major rivers include the Tone River , the Agatsuma River , and the Karasu River . As of 1 April 2012, 14% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks , namely Jōshin'etsu-kōgen , Nikkō , and Oze National Parks and Myōgi-Arafune-Saku Kōgen Quasi-National Park . Twelve cities are located in Gunma Prefecture: These are
728-518: The North Tama and North Toshima districts of Tokyo. In the creation of modern cities, towns and villages in 1889, these districts were subdivided into originally 40 towns and 368 villages . The first city in Saitama was only established in 1922 when Kawagoe Town from Iruma District became Kawagoe City . The prefectural capital, Urawa in North Adachi, remained a town until 1934. After
780-729: The Tone River and the Kanagawa River and the drainage divides of the Arakawa River and Kanagawa River. The southwestern border is defined by the drainage divides of the Arakawa River, Tama River , and Fuefuki River . The eastern section of the southern border line, however, does not overlap with any geological feature. The topography of Saitama Prefecture is largely divided by the Hachiōji Tectonic Line, which runs through Kodama , Ogawa , and Hannō , into
832-455: The replacement of -han with -ken , the associated territorial consolidation (removal of feudal era ex-/enclaves) and first wave of prefectural mergers in 1871/72, Oshi and Iwatsuki prefectures were merged into Urawa; after consolidation, it consisted of the entire Saitama District and Northern parts of Adachi and Katsushika (But at that time, "major and minor districts", 大区, daiku and 小区, shōku , served as administrative subdivisions) and
884-539: 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 . In
936-618: The 2022 election) in the House of Councillors . The latest prefecture-wide election was the House of Councillors by-election in October 2019 to fill the seat vacated by Motohiro Ōno; it was won by the previous governor Kiyoshi Ueda who has a centre-left background (DPJ member of the House of Representatives for Saitama's 4th district before his term as governor), but without full-scale party backing and without any other major party-backed candidate in
988-486: The Dead , the main character Akira Tendo is from Gunma Prefecture. Saitama Prefecture Saitama Prefecture ( 埼玉県 , Saitama-ken ) is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu . Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (January 1, 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 km (1,466 sq mi ). Saitama Prefecture borders Tochigi Prefecture and Gunma Prefecture to
1040-545: The Great Shōwa mergers of the 1950s, the number of municipalities in Saitama had shrunk to 95, including 23 cities by then. The Great Heisei mergers of the 2000s pushed the number below 70. After World War II , as Tokyo expanded rapidly and modern transportation allowed longer commutes, the lack of available land in Tokyo led to the rapid development of Saitama Prefecture, where the population has nearly tripled since 1960. Most of
1092-538: The Greater Tokyo Area, offering transfers to and from Shinkansen high-speed lines. The Musashino serves as a freight bypass line as well as a passenger line. Chichibu Railway the northwestern, Seibu Railway the southwestern, Tobu Railway the midwestern and the eastern, the New Shuttle and Saitama Railway the southeastern parts of the prefecture respectively. The Tsukuba Express line crosses
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#17327977898911144-682: The Kantō Mount Range, including the Hiki Hills and Sayama Hills. The latter are mainly surrounded by alluvial flood plains. In the southeastern portion of the prefecture, the Ōmiya Plateau stands in a southeastward direction, sandwiched by the Furutone River to the east and the Arakawa River to the west. The western side of the prefecture belongs to the Kantō Mountain Range with Chichibu Basin located in its center. The area to
1196-632: 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. There are various manga and anime that have based their settings in Gunma, such as: In Zom 100: Bucket List of
1248-519: The Western part of present-day Saitama. In 1873, Iruma was merged with Gunma (capital: Takasaki Town, Gunma District) to become Kumagaya (capital: Kumagaya Town, Ōsato District). But Kumagaya was split up again in 1876: The area of Kōzuke province came back as a second Gunma prefecture, and the territories in Musashi province/former Iruma prefecture were merged into Saitama. Except for the transfer of
1300-458: The budget and the approval of important prefectural administrative appointments such as the vice-governors or members of the public safety commission, are the prerogative of the assembly which is elected directly to four-year terms on an independent electoral cycle. That may or may not be synchronized with the gubernatorial term; currently, it is not, as it is still part of the unified local election cycle (Saitama gubernatorial elections already left
1352-466: The cities in the prefecture are closely connected to downtown Tokyo by metropolitan rail, and operate largely as residential and commercial suburbs of Tokyo. In 2001, Urawa City was merged with Ōmiya City and Yono City to create Saitama City ( Saitama-shi ; but unlike the district or the prefecture written with Kana ) as the new enlarged capital. It became the prefecture's first (and so far only) designated major city in 2003. Saitama Prefecture
1404-661: The city, as does Shin-Etsu Chemical . Annaka has 12 public elementary schools and five public middle schools operated by the city government, and two public high schools operated by the Gunma Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one private combined middle/high school. [REDACTED] JR East – Hokuriku Shinkansen [REDACTED] JR East – Shin'etsu Main Line [REDACTED] Media related to Annaka, Gunma at Wikimedia Commons Gunma Prefecture Gunma Prefecture ( 群馬県 , Gunma-ken )
1456-528: The closing of the last horse race track in Takasaki in 2004. Gunma has many hot spring resorts and the most famous is Kusatsu Onsen . Another draw to the mountainous Gunma is the ski resorts. Other attractions include: 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,
1508-466: The creation of the modern municipalities system after the Meiji Restoration . On March 1, 1955, Annaka merged with neighboring Haraichi, Isobe and Itahana towns, and Higashiyokono, Iwanoya, Akima and Gokan villages. It was raised to city status on November 1, 1958. On March 18, 2006, the town of Matsuida , merged with Annaka. Usui District was dissolved as a result of this merger. Annaka has
1560-530: The east of the prefecture, are largely disused following the introduction of motorised land transport. Traces of water transport are found on the Tone River , which forms the border between Saitama and Gunma Prefecture, and on the Arakawa River , which includes a tourist attraction in Nagatoro . See Mass media in Saitama Prefecture . Like all prefectural administrations, Saitama's is headed by
1612-627: The farms in the village of Tsumagoi are cabbage farms. Also, the city of Ōta is famous for the car industry, notably the Subaru factory. 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. In 2007, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries held an event to find
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1664-794: The fiefdoms ( -han ) Kawagoe (ruled by Matsui/ Matsudaira , fudai ), Oshi (Okudaira-Matsudaira, fudai ) and Iwatsuki ( Ōoka , fudai ); few territories were held by domains seated in other provinces. In the Meiji Restoration , after being briefly united with other rural shogunate territories in Musashi under Musashi governors (Musashi chikenji) , many former shogunate/hatamoto territories in Northwestern Musashi became Ōmiya Prefecture (大宮県, Ōmiya-ken ), soon renamed to Urawa (浦和県, -ken ) in 1868/69, with some territories held by other short-lived prefectures ( Iwahana [ ja ] /later mainly Gunma and Nirayama [ ja ] /later mainly Shizuoka, Kanagawa and Tokyo). In
1716-460: The high peaks do not let the wind go past them. For this reason, the wind changes into the kara-kaze . 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
1768-456: The name of Subaru née Fuji Heavy Industries. In the 1930s, German architect Bruno Julius Florian Taut lived and conducted research for a while in Takasaki. The Girard incident , which disturbed US-Japanese relations in the 1950s, occurred in Gunma in 1957, at Sōmagahara Base [ ja ] near Shibukawa . Four modern prime ministers are from Gunma, namely, Takeo Fukuda , Yasuhiro Nakasone , Keizo Obuchi , and Yasuo Fukuda ,
1820-406: 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. When Mount Haruna erupted in the late 6th century, Japan was still in
1872-423: The north, Nagano Prefecture to the west, Yamanashi Prefecture to the southwest, Tokyo to the south, Chiba Prefecture to the southeast, and Ibaraki Prefecture to the northeast. Saitama is the capital and largest city of Saitama Prefecture, with other major cities including Kawaguchi , Kawagoe , and Tokorozawa . According to Sendai Kuji Hongi ( Kujiki ), Chichibu was one of 137 provinces during
1924-410: The number of districts was formally merged down to nine in 1896/97: North Adachi , Iruma , Hiki , Chichibu , Kodama , Ōsato , North Saitama , South Saitama , and North Katsushika . Niikura (also known as Niiza, Shiki or Shiragi) , one of the original 1878/79 modern districts, was first merged into North Adachi in 1896, but a substantial part of its former territory was subsequently transferred to
1976-567: 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. 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
2028-481: The race. Saitama Prefecture has a number of sister city relationships with states and a province as listed below (in chronological order). The sports teams listed below are based in Saitama. Most of the popular tourist sites in Saitama are located in the northwestern part of the prefecture, which is known as the Chichibu Region. This region mostly consists of a hilly and moderately mountainous area, and
2080-473: The reign of Emperor Sujin . Chichibu Province was in western Saitama. The area that would become Saitama Prefecture in the 19th century is part of Musashi Province in the Ritsuryō (or ryō-system; ritsu stands for the penal code, ryō for the administrative code) Imperial administration of antiquity (see Provinces of Japan and the 5 (go) capital area provinces (ki)/7 (shichi) circuits (dō) system) which
2132-553: The son of Takeo. 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
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2184-459: The southeastern corner of the prefecture. Haneda Airport and Narita International Airport are the closest major civil airports. Commuter helicopter flights from Kawajima to Narita Airport are offered. Honda Airport for general aviation , and the JASDF's Iruma Air Base and Kumagaya Air Base . Rivers and canals, including those developed in the Edo period (17th – 19th centuries) in
2236-544: The top 100 best local dishes across all of Japan. Three dishes were featured from Gunma; yaki-manju, okkirikomi , and konnyaku . 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 tactile vibration through the wheels into the car body . The roads can be found in Katashina, Minakami, Takayama, Kanna, Ueno, Kusatsu, Tsumagoi, Nakanojo, Takasaki, Midori, and Maebashi. Each
2288-587: The towns and villages in each district : Radial transportation to and from Tokyo dominates transportation in the prefecture. Circular routes were constructed as bypasses to avoid congestion in central Tokyo. The Jōban , Kan-etsu , Shuto , Tōhoku , and Tokyo-Gaikan expressways form parts of the nationwide expressway network. National highway Routes 4 , 16 , and 17 are important routes in Kantō region. Ōmiya Station in Saitama City forms East Japan Railway Company 's northern hub station in
2340-516: The towns and villages in each district : 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
2392-540: 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
2444-641: The unified cycle in 1949). In the last round in April 2019 , the LDP maintained its outright majority with 48 of the 93 seats in the assembly. As in most prefectures, the Saitama assembly was established legally in 1878 and first convened 1879. In the National Diet , Saitama's directly elected delegation consists of 15 members of the House of Representatives and currently seven (four per class, but only raised from three in 2019, so it will only grow to eight after
2496-562: The west of the basin features high peaks such as Mount Sanpō (2,483 m; 三宝山, Sanpō-yama according to the GSI, but often read Sanpō-zan ) on the Western border with Nagano, Saitama's highest mountain, and Mount Kōbushi (2,475 m), in which the Arakawa River has its source. Most of the land is contained in Chichibu Tama Kai National Park . The area to east of the basin consists of relatively low mountains. These are
2548-408: The western mountain area and the eastern lowland area. The altitude, highest on the western side, gradually lowers eastward from mountain ranges to hills to plateaus to lowlands. The eastern lowlands and plateaus occupy 67.3% of the area. The eastern side, part of the Kantō Plain , can be further divided into nine separate expanses of hills and ten plateaus. The former occupy small areas neighboring
2600-637: Was nominally revived in the Meiji restoration but has lost much of its administrative function since the Middle Ages. Saitama District (Saitama-gun) was one of Musashi's 21 ritsuryō districts . In the fifth year of the Keiun era (708), deposits of copper were reported to have been found in the Chichibu District of what is now Saitama Prefecture. The Saitama area was historically known as
2652-890: Was renamed to Saitama . The government of the prefecture was to be set up in Iwatsuki Town, Saitama District in November 1871 by the Dajōkan ordinance to set up the prefecture, but ultimately remained in Urawa's previous prefectural government seat in Urawa Town in Adachi District. Kawagoe Prefecture was consolidated with other territories into Iruma Prefecture [ ja ] (入間県, Iruma-ken ; government seat unchanged from Kawagoe domain/prefecture: Kawagoe Town, Iruma District) which consisted of 13 districts of Musashi in
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#17327977898912704-672: Was the jōkamachi of Annaka Domain , a feudal domain held by the Itakura clan under the Tokugawa shogunate . The area also prospered from its location on the Nakasendō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto . Post stations located within the borders of modern Annaka were: Itahana-shuku , Annaka-shuku , Matsuida-shuku and Sakamoto-shuku . Annaka Town was created within Usui District, Gunma Prefecture on April 1, 1889, with
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