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Maebashi 前橋市
Core city
FlagSeal
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; 139.063417
Country	Japan
Region	Kantō
Prefecture	Gunma
First official record	4th century AD
City settled	April 1, 1892
Government
• Mayor	Akira Ogawa (小川晶) (from February 2024)
Area
• Core city	311.59 km (120.31 sq mi)
Population
• Core city	335,352
• Density	1,100/km (2,800/sq mi)
• Metro	1,263,034 (12th)
Time zone	UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
- 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 (前橋市, Maebashi-shi) is the capital city of Gunma Prefecture, in the northern Kantō region of Japan. As of 31 August 2020, the city had an estimated population of 335,352 in 151,171 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km. The total area of the city is 311.59 km (120.31 sq mi). It was the most populous city within Gunma Prefecture until Takasaki merged with nearby towns between 2006 and 2009. 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 Sakutarō Hagiwara.

Etymology

The 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 road 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.

History

The town of Maebashi was established within Higashigunma District, Gunma Prefecture on April 1, 1889, with the creation of the modern 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.

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 annexed 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, as well as 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.

Maebashi became a core city (Chūkakushi) on April 1, 2009.

Geography

Maebashi is located at the foot of Mount Akagi in the northeast corner of the Kantō Plain. It is also surrounded by Mount Haruna and Mount Myōgi. Two rivers run through the city: the Tone River, Japan's second-longest, and the Hirose River. Although it is located inland more than 100 kilometers away from the coast, the elevation of the southern part of the city is only around 100 meters. The highest elevation is 1823 meters above sea level on the south side of Mt. Kurohino, a peak of Mount Akagi. Maebashi is the farthest from the sea (about 120 km) of all Japanese prefectural capitals. The surrounding cities comprise an urban zone of over 1 million people, separated by farmland to the south from the built up areas of Greater Tokyo.

Surrounding municipalities

Gunma Prefecture

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

Climate

Maebashi has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa). In the winter, the karakkaze, 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. In the summer, it is hot since the location is inland, although less hot than coastal Tokyo on average. On July 24, 2001, Maebashi hit 40 °C (104 °F), the fifth-hottest temperature ever in Japan.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Maebashi has recently plateaued after a long period of growth.

Government

Maebashi has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 38 members. Maebashi contributes eight members to the Gunma Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Gunma 1st district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Successive mayors

Source:Maebashi City

Economy

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2015)

As of 2010, Greater Maebashi, Maebashi Metropolitan Employment Area, has a GDP of US$59.8 billion. 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. The Gunma Bank is headquartered in Maebashi.

Education

Universities

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

Primary and secondary schools

Maebashi has 54 public elementary schools and 21 public middle schools operated by the city government, and two private elementary and two private middle schools. The city has nine public high schools operated by the Gunma Prefectural Board of Education and one by the city government. There are five private high schools and one private combined middle/high school.

International schools:

• Gunma Korean Elementary and Junior High School (群馬朝鮮初中級学校) – North Korean school

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

• Kan-etsu Expressway – Maebashi Interchange
• Kita-Kantō Expressway – Maebashi-Minami Interchange
• National Route 17
• National Route 50
• National Route 291
• National Route 353

Sports

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

Local attractions

• Gunma Prefectural Government Building
• Kōzuke Kokubun-ji ruins, a National Historic Site
• Maebashi Castle
• Maebashi Tōshō-gū
• Michaelsoft Binbows
• Shikishima Park

Festivals

• Ogo Gion Festival

Notable people

• Tōru Furusawa, voice actor
• Great-O-Khan, Japanese professional wrestler (Real Name: Tomoyuki Oka, Nihongo: 岡 倫之, Oka Tomoyuki)
• Sakutarō Hagiwara, poet
• Gran Hamada, Japanese professional wrestler (Real Name: Hiroaki Hamada, Nihongo: 浜田 広秋, Hamada Hiroaki)
• Hajime Hosogai, professional football player
• Shigesato Itoi, game designer, copywriter, essayist, lyricist, and actor
• Nobuyuki Kojima, professional soccer player
• Nigo (Real Name: Tomoaki Nagao, Nihongo: 長尾 智明, Nagao Tomoaki), fashion designer, DJ, record producer, and entrepreneur
• Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, founder of Shinkage-ryū martial arts school and master of Yagyū Munetoshi, who later introduced Shinkage-ryū to Tokugawa Ieyasu.
• Kōhei Oguri, film director and screenwriter
• Tetsuya Ota, race car driver
• Sho Sakurai, singer, actor and newscaster
• Genichiro Sata, politician
• Takashi Shimizu, film director and creator of the Ju-On franchise.
• Atsuko Tanaka, voice actress
• Yutaka Yoshie, professional wrestler

Sister cities

Maebashi is twinned with:

• Birmingham, United States

In addition, Maebashi has friendly relations with Menasha, United States and Orvieto, Italy.

References

1. "UEA Code Tables". Center for Spatial Information Science, University of Tokyo. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
2. Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), "Maebashi area"; retrieved 2015-5-10.
3. "Maebashi City official statistics" (in Japanese). Japan.
4. Takasaki City Office. September 30, 2014. "Demography Study"
5. Maebashi City Office. March 27, 1989. "Declaration from the Municipal Council" Archived 2014-10-12 at the Wayback Machine
6. Maebashi no Rekishi (History of Maebashi) Archived 2018-08-17 at the Wayback Machine (July 24, 2012)
7. Craven, Wesley; Cate, James, eds. (1953). The Pacific: Matterhorn to Nagasaki. The Army Air Forces in World War II. Volume V. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. pp. 656, 675. OCLC 256469807.
8. Caidin, Martin (1960). A Torch to the Enemy: The Fire Raid on Tokyo. Bantam War Books. ISBN 0-553-29926-3.
9. "7th IAAF World Indoor Championships". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 2024-08-13.
10. Archived August 21, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
11. 前橋市の歴史／前橋市 [History of Maebashi City] (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 June 2024.
12. "Monthly total of sunshine duration (h)". Japan Meteorological Agency. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
13. 気象庁 / 平年値（年・月ごとの値）. Japan Meteorological Agency. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
14. "47624: Maebashi (Japan)". ogimet.com. OGIMET. 28 June 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
15. "Gunma Prefecture - Maebashi population statistics". City Population.de. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
16. 市長の部屋／前橋市 [Mayor's Room] (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 June 2024.
17. Yoshitsugu Kanemoto. "Metropolitan Employment Area (MEA) Data". Center for Spatial Information Science, The University of Tokyo.
18. Conversion rates - Exchange rates - OECD Data
19. "Major Corporations in Gunma Prefecture". Department of Industry and Economy, Gunma Prefecture. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
20. アクセス. Gunma Korean Elementary and Junior High School. December 11, 2007. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved October 14, 2015. 群馬朝鮮初中級学校 群馬県前橋市荒牧町 2-2
21. Yagyū, Toshinaga (1957, 1989) Shōden Shinkage-ryū. Kōdansha, reprinted by Shimazu Shobō, ISBN 4-88218-012-X.
22. ^ "国際交流" (in Japanese). Maebashi. Retrieved 2023-11-28.

External links

• Official Website (in Japanese)
• Maebashi Living Guide

v t e Gunma Prefecture
Maebashi (capital)
Core cities	Maebashi Takasaki
Special cities	Isesaki Ōta
Cities	Annaka Fujioka Kiryū Midori Numata Shibukawa Tatebayashi Tomioka
Districts	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

v t e Cities in Japan with a population of 200,000+
2,000,000 and more	Tokyo (capital) Yokohama Osaka Nagoya
1,000,000–1,999,999	Sapporo Fukuoka Kobe Kyoto Kawasaki Saitama Hiroshima Sendai
500,000–999,999	Kitakyushu Chiba Setagaya Sakai Niigata Hamamatsu Shizuoka Sagamihara Nerima Okayama Ōta Kumamoto Edogawa Adachi Kagoshima Funabashi Hachiōji Kawaguchi Himeji Suginami Itabashi Matsuyama Higashiōsaka Utsunomiya
200,000–499,999	Matsudo Nishinomiya Kurashiki Ichikawa, Chiba Oita Fukuyama Amagasaki Kanazawa Nagasaki Kōtō Katsushika Yokosuka Toyama Toyota Takamatsu Machida Gifu Hirakata Fujisawa Kashiwa Toyonaka Nagano Toyohashi Ichinomiya Wakayama Okazaki Miyazaki Nara Suita Takatsuki Shinagawa Asahikawa Iwaki Kochi Takasaki Kōriyama Tokorozawa Kawagoe Kita Akita Ōtsu Koshigaya Maebashi Naha Nakano, Tokyo Shinjuku Yokkaichi Aomori Kurume Kasugai Morioka Akashi Fukushima Tsu Shimonoseki Nagaoka Ichihara Hakodate Yao Ibaraki, Osaka Fukui Meguro Kakogawa Tokushima Mito Hiratsuka Toshima Yamagata Sasebo Fuchū, Tokyo Kure, Hiroshima Hachinohe Saga Neyagawa Sōka Sumida Fuji Kasukabe Chigasaki Matsumoto Atsugi Yamato Ageo Takarazuka Chōfu Ōta, Gunma Tsukuba Numazu Joetsu Shibuya Minato Kumagaya Isesaki Nishitokyo Kishiwada Tottori

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

• Maebashi
• Cities in Gunma Prefecture