Ota/Kiryu

Ota/Kiryu

The Ota/Kiryu area is located in the southeast region of Gunma Prefecture, along the border with Tochigi Prefecture and Saitama Prefecture. Located in the basin of the Tone and Watarase rivers, the area boasts an abundance of water and greenery. Many relics from the Jomon Period (approximately 10,000 BC to the 4th century BC) and even earlier eras have been discovered throughout the region, indicating that humans have settled there from very ancient times.
With the third highest population in Gunma Prefecture, the City of Ota is one of the Northern Kanto region's top industrial cities. Ota was the birthplace of Nitta Yoshisada (1301-1338), the feudal warlord who overthrew the Kamakura Shogunate, and many related historic sites remain.
From early times, the Kiryu area has been home to an active textiles industry, and even today, a textile factory and other buildings erected in the Taisho Period provide visitors a view of a cityscape that brings to mind bygone days.